Why didn't they remove the bodies from the Arizona?
Ava Arnold
Updated on March 12, 2026
Caitlin said: “When it was determined that the USS Arizona could not be salvaged, the navy decided that it would be 'too difficult to remove the dead in a respectful manner'. “So 1,102 people remain entombed in the USS Arizona, considered buried at sea.”
Why couldn't they get the bodies out of the USS Arizona?
It was decided that the men would be considered buried at sea because it would be too difficult to remove them in a respectful manner. The decision to leave the USS Arizona underwater at the bottom of Pearl Harbor was made after much deliberation. The same decision was made for the USS Utah.Did they get all the bodies out of the USS Arizona?
After the attack, the ship was left resting on the bottom with the deck just awash. In the days and weeks following, efforts were made to recover the bodies of the crew and the ship's records. Eventually, further recovery of bodies became fruitless and the bodies of at least 900 crewmen remained in the ship.Why can't the USS Arizona be raised?
She would simply fall to pieces. With every year she remains in the water, Arizona becomes more and more compromised as rust eats away at her metal components. She will eventually erode to a degree where she's largely unrecognizable, but with the current rate of corrosion, that will be quite some time.How many bodies are in the USS Arizona?
The USS Arizona Memorial, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors and Marines killed on USS Arizona during the Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and commemorates the events of that day.These 3 People Went To Mexico For Weight-Loss Surgery And Now They Regret It | Megyn Kelly TODAY
Are there skeletons on the USS Arizona?
The majority of those have never been recovered from the wreckage. According to DPAA, their remains are entombed in the USS Arizona Memorial. As of December 1, 2021, DPAA reports more than 81,600 Americans remain missing from WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and the Gulf Wars or other conflicts.Has anyone been inside the USS Arizona?
Of the 1,177 USS Arizona sailors and Marines killed at Pearl Harbor, more than 900 could not be recovered and remain entombed on the ship, which sank in nine minutes. A memorial built in 1962 sits above the wreckage. Sixty died on the Utah, and three have been interred there.Can you dive the USS Arizona?
Because the Arizona is considered to be a memorial, it is unlawful for divers to enter the ship, so careful egresses are made using underwater rovers that document interior conditions. Members of PVA dive the waters of the USS Arizona along with the National Park Service. (File photo 2018 National Park Service).How deep down is the USS Arizona?
“Today, Arizona rests where she fell, submerged in about 40 feet of water just off the coast of Ford Island,” the National Park Service says. The ship isn't all that remains underwater. More than 900 sailors and Marines could not be recovered, either.Is there still oil leaking from the USS Arizona?
Fuel continues to leak from USS Arizona's wreckage.However, despite the raging fire and ravages of time, some 500,000 gallons are still slowly seeping out of the ship's submerged wreckage: Nearly 70 years after its demise, Arizona continues to spill up to 9 quarts of oil into the harbor each day.