Navy will name new sub USS Arizona
Similar nuclear vessel will be the Oklahoma
The secretary of the Navy announced Monday that a new submarine will bear the name USS Arizona, decades after the last USS Arizona was destroyed in the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The announcement was heavy with significance, coming just a few weeks after the anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1941, bombing that left the battleship submerged, 1,177 Marines and sailors on its crew dead, and its hulking body a lasting memorial.
In another tribute to a ship destroyed during the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Navy said Monday it also plans to give the name USS Oklahoma to a similar new submarine.
The announcements mean two storied names that have been out of service since 1941 will be back in active duty.
“Truly, there is no greater honor I can think of for the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the nation than to build and commission into active service two state-of-the-art American warships carrying the spirit of those heroes of
the Greatest Generation, as well as that of their families and the Grand Canyon and Sooner states as they sail through a new American maritime century,” said Secretary of the Navy Thomas B. Modly.
Pearl Harbor survivor: ‘A great thing to honor all the shipmates’
In Colorado Springs, Colorado, one of the last three surviving crew members of the battleship Arizona gave the idea his thumbs up.
Donald Stratton, 97, was aboard the Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941, and was among the last six crewmen to escape the burning hulk as it sank into Pearl Harbor. He has returned to the USS Arizona Memorial in Honolulu several times and told his story in a book.
“I think it’s a great thing to honor all the shipmates,” he said Monday of the Navy’s announcement. “But there is still only one USS Oklahoma and one USS Arizona.”
The other two survivors, Ken Potts and Lou Conter, both 98, echoed their crewmate’s view of the Navy’s decision. Randy Stratton, Donald Stratton’s son, spoke with Potts and Conter earlier Monday.
“Ken said, ‘Oh, that’s a great thing to honor the crew,’” Randy Stratton said. “I told him what my dad said about how there was only one USS Arizona and he said, ‘That’s exactly what I was thinking.’”
Conter also praised the Navy’s decision while remaining loyal to his battleship as the Arizona most people would remember.
The last USS Arizona was commissioned in 1916 and was, at a time, one of the most heavily armed vessels in the fleet. It escorted President Woodrow Wilson to the Paris Peace Conference in 1918. And by the end of 1941, it was in Hawaii.
While more than 300 crew members escaped the ship during the Japanese attack, most perished. The Arizona would go down as one of four battleships that sank in the battle. The USS Oklahoma capsized.
The USS Arizona was later deemed unsalvageable and continues to sit in about 40 feet of water. The site is now a memorial.
The new USS Arizona will be a Virginia-class fast-attack submarine — a nuclear-powered vessel staffed with a crew of around 130 designed to replace the older Los Angeles-class submarines, though it has raised concerns about costs and defective materials.
“This ship and the name, ‘USS Arizona,’ hold special meaning for our country, its history and the people of Arizona,” Gov. Doug Ducey said in a statement Monday. “And today, that legacy begins a new chapter.”