USS Arizona Memorial Update
Navy Region Hawaii | Published on 5/17/2025
he U.S. Navy and the Pearl Harbor National Memorial will begin placing containment buoys and anchors in the waters surrounding the USS Arizona Memorial site May 19 as a precautionary measure and in preparation for the upcoming removal of the two mooring platforms constructed on the hull of the sunken battleship.
After a year of focused planning and analysis, the installation of this mooring system is a necessary precaution to ensure environmental protection ahead of removing the platforms later this year. Additionally, this action supports the platform removal emergency response plan"
The mooring platforms, visible above the water to millions of visitors since the monument was opened in May 1962, were not part of the battleship when it was sunk. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy attached the platforms to the vessel in 1942 to facilitate salvage operations of the Arizona’s main guns and other equipment needed for the war effort.