Skip to main content
Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

Tags
Related Content

The repair ship Vestal (AR-4), moored outboard of the battleship Arizona on the morning of 7 December 1941, was hit by two Japanese bombs and received additional damage from the force and heat of Arizona's explosion. Casting loose from the sunk and burning battleship at about 8:30 AM, Vestal moved up the harbor a short distance and anchored. However, one of the bomb hits caused her to flood aft, and the water could not be controlled in the ship's old hull. Accordingly, she hoisted her anchor and was beached on Aiea Shoal, in Pearl Harbor's northeastern corner. Vestal was repaired by mid-February 1942.