December 7th Pearl Harbor Day

   On December 7, 1941, the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii was attacked by surprise by Japanese bombers, fighters, and torpedo planes. Four United States battleships were sunk, two more damaged. There were 2,403 Americans killed-68 of which were civilians. Nearly half, 1,177 of those killed were on the USS Arizona. The sunken Arizona is now the base of the Pearl Harbor Memorial.

   I saw the Pearl Harbor Memorial when I was a kid back in the 70s, but I don't have any photos from that trip. Shown on this page at two battleships that are on display here in the United States. Above is the USS Texas. She was commissioned in 1914 and served during World War I. As World War II broke out, she began patrols in the Atlantic. On December 7th she was on rest in Maine. The Texas now is moored next to the San Jacinto Monument near Houston, Texas.
   Below is the USS North Carolina, moored across the Cape Fear River from downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. The NC was commissioned in 1940. She was still in training when Pearl Harbor happened. During World War II she spent time in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. She was decommissioned in 1947 and brought to Wilmington in the 1960s. She is a memorial to all those from North Carolina who were killed in World War II.