Its striking black granite walls symbolize the massive hull of the formidable battleship it memorializes. The white marble standards represent the heroes who manned the USS OKLAHOMA , and are dedicated to the 429 sailors and marines who lost their lives when the ship sank during the 1941 strike on PEARL HARBOR .
Located on Ford Island, the OKLAHOMA MEMORIAL features the names of those who lost their lives when the ship rolled over at its mooring on BATTLESHIP ROW . Here, visitors learn yet another dimension of the Pearl Harbor story: Less than two-thirds of the crew escaped, leaving a death toll topped only by the USS ARIZONA ’s 1,177 casualties. In 1942, the Navy created a plan to salvage the ship by attaching cables to its hull that were in turn connected to more than 20 electric streetcar motors. Righting the huge vessel was a massive job, but it was finally floated in early 1943, and the bodies of the 429 casualties were recovered for burial.
Unfortunately, the ship went down again while under tow to Oakland, California. She rests 540 miles northeast of the islands.
