Which U.S. battleship capsized during the Pearl Harbor attack?

USS Oklahoma capsized during the Pearl Harbor attack.

Japanese torpedoes struck Oklahoma repeatedly while the battleship lay at anchor. The flooding caused the ship to roll onto its side, trapping many crewmen inside its overturned hull. Rescue teams later freed 32 sailors from the wreck, but 429 officers and crewmen died aboard the ship.

Unlike USS Arizona, which remains largely in place as a memorial war grave, Oklahoma was salvaged and eventually removed from Pearl Harbor. Salvage work continued for months, and the ship was formally decommissioned in September 1944. It was later being towed to the United States mainland when it sank in the Pacific in 1947.

Oklahoma’s loss demonstrates the destructive effect of torpedoes in the harbor’s shallow water. Japanese attackers adapted torpedoes with wooden fins so they could operate effectively in that environment.