Where Are the 8 Pearl Harbor Battleships Today?

Eight U.S. battleships faced Pearl Harbor, but their final destinations could hardly be more different. The familiar aerial view omits Pennsylvania in dry dock and often invites Utah into the count, even though Utah was already a target ship. From that corrected roster, the story follows Arizona, Oklahoma, Nevada, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, California, Tennessee, and Maryland from salvage and renewed service to testing, disposal, memorials, and deep water.

The payoff is a precise present-day ledger: which hull remains at Pearl Harbor, which wreck has been located nearly 3 miles down, which 2 sites remain unconfirmed, and what survives of the 4 ships sent to the breakers. The larger answer is not simply battle damage; it is the chain linking salvage, military usefulness, postwar disposal, ownership, money, and timing. It explains why ships that returned to combat never became floating museums, while scattered bells, guns, and memorial pieces still carry their names. If one unconfirmed site could be surveyed next, would you choose Oklahoma or Pennsylvania—and why?

Stock footage and photos: Pexels.com and Pixabay.com.

#PearlHarbor #Battleships #NavalHistory #Shipwrecks #USSArizona #USSNevada

Sources:
- Homer N. Wallin — Pearl Harbor: Why, How, Fleet Salvage and Final Appraisal (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1968) — Explains the damage assessment, righting, repair, and disposal of the Pearl Harbor fleet.
- Daniel Madsen — Resurrection: Salvaging the Battle Fleet at Pearl Harbor (Naval Institute Press, 2003) — Details the engineering work that returned most of the battleships to service.
- Robert J. Cressman — The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II (Naval Institute Press, 2000) — Anchors the ships’ wartime movements, repairs, and final combat operations.
- Samuel Eliot Morison — Leyte: June 1944–January 1945 (Little, Brown and Company, 1958) — Covers the Pearl Harbor veterans’ return at the Battle of Surigao Strait.