Franklin Van Valkenburgh commanded USS Arizona during the Pearl Harbor attack.
Arizona was a Pennsylvania-class battleship commissioned by the United States Navy in 1916. In December 1941, it was moored at Pearl Harbor with other battleships along Battleship Row.
A Japanese armor-piercing bomb penetrated Arizona’s forward deck and triggered a catastrophic explosion in the ship’s ammunition magazines. The battleship was destroyed and sank rapidly, causing the deaths of more than 1,000 people aboard.
Arizona is often confused with USS Oklahoma because both battleships suffered devastating losses during the attack. Oklahoma capsized, while Arizona remained sunk in place and became the site of the later national memorial. Arizona’s wreck is still treated as an active U.S. Navy war grave.