Are there still people trapped in the USS Arizona?

Answer 1

Nearly 1200 sailors died among the Arizona's crew. Some were completely vaporized in the massive explosion when the ship's own magazines were detonated by a bomb, destroying the forward half of the ship. Others were blown overboard, or were killed where they were on the upper decks or the main weather deck of the ship. These were easily recovered. Some were burned very badly and removed to hospitals, where they later died.

For several months after the attack the Navy tried to recover the remaining hundreds of bodies from within the interior spaces of the Arizona. This was very dangerous work, carried on by divers in deep sea rigs, with air hoses trailing back to the surface. The ship was full of jagged edges that could tear the suit, rip the air hose, snag a diver's equipment and trap him forever. It was completely dark in the ship, and any bodies found were in an ever-advancing state of decomposition.

The Arizona was destroyed about 12 minuted into the attack, and Condition Z was never set. This means the ship's watertight doors were not dogged shut. There may be air pockets remaining in the top of some interior spaces, but most of those spaces would be full of water. The hundreds of remains still aboard were completely skeletonized long ago.

All the superstructure was cut away during the war, and some of the scraps of that wreckage are still on Ford Island. Any bodies overlooked in those areas would have been found then. The two aft main battery gun turrets were removed and remounted on land as coast defense batteries, one on Oahu, I cant recall where the other was placed.

The Arizona has been leaking fuel oil continuously since she went down almost seventy years ago. She still leaks a few quarts every day. The wreckage is growing increasingly fragile, and will one day collapse into an unrecognizable heap on the Harbor floor.

Answer 2

There are no people trapped alive, obviously. And as found with most sunken ships, even enclosed submarines, the remains of the bodies would be decomposed or eaten by bacteria and marine life.

Answer 3

Yes. The USS Arizona served as a "burial at sea" for 1,177 sailors during the attack.

Answer 4

The USS Arizona was attacked in Pearl Harbor in 1941. 1,177 men onboard died in the bombing. There is a US Memorial constructed over the site.