TUCSON, Ariz (KGUN) — On the University of Arizona campus there was a different sort of Veterans Day remembrance—–for the crew of the Battleship Arizona, where almost 12 hundred sailors and Marines died in the attack on Pearl Harbor. It included sailors from a new warship named Arizona who came to soak up the spirit of the old Battleship.
The Battleship Arizona had a big crew, proud of the powerful ship, but the big ship meant to fight in the open sea fell to the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor that brought the U.S. into World War Two. 1,177 Sailors and Marines died on Arizona that day.
Now a new Virginia Class fast attack submarine will take the Arizona name back to sea, with torpedoes and missiles instead of big guns. The new sub is still under construction, for now it’s called PCU (Pre-Commissioning Unit) Arizona. It will become USS Arizona when it’s complete, and commissioned:
KGUN UA holds much of the spirit of the Battleship Arizona, including the ship’s bell and a monument made from the ship’s anchor chain, so sailors from the new Arizona came to campus to make some of that spirit their own.