Return to Naval History and Heritage Command home page. Return to Online Library listing

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMAND
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # 80-G-19930: Rescuing a survivor from the water alongside the sunken USS West Virginia, during or shortly after the 7 December 1941 Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor.

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- EVENTS -- World War II in the Pacific --

Pearl Harbor Raid, 7 December 1941 --
USS West Virginia and USS Tennessee during the Pearl Harbor Attack

The battleships Tennessee (BB-43) and West Virginia (BB-48) were moored together on "Battleship Row" when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. West Virginia was struck by up to nine enemy torpedoes, tearing open her midships and forward hull and wrecking her rudder. She initially listed severely to port, but quick counterflooding by her crew allowed her to settle to the bottom on a relatively even keel. Her Commanding Officer, Captain Mervyn S. Bennion, was one of over a hundred of her officers and men killed in the raid.

West Virginia, sunk, largely full of water and further damaged by fire and bombs, was subsequently the subject of a massive salvage operation and a very thorough modernization. She did not return to active service until mid-1944.

USS Tennessee, the inboard ship of the pair, was hit by two bombs, which disabled her second and third 14" gun turrets but caused no further serious damage. She was set afire in several places by burning debris when USS Arizona , moored just astern, exploded. Her hull plates were also damaged by oil fires. Tennessee was wedged tightly between the sunken West Virginia and her mooring quay and had to be blasted free. She was given initial repairs at Pearl Harbor Navy Yard and steamed to the west coast for further work later in December. Five of her crew were killed in the attack.

This page features views of USS West Virginia and USS Tennessee on 7 December 1941, and provides a link to images taken after that date.

For pictures of USS West Virginia and USS Tennessee during the days following the Pearl Harbor Attack, see:

  • USS West Virginia and USS Tennessee after 7 December 1941.

    For pictures and information on USS West Virginia officers and men who were cited for heroism during the Pearl Harbor attack, see:

  • Captain Mervin Sharp Bennion; and
  • Cook Third Class Doris Miller.

    For further images of the "Battleship Row" area during and shortly after the Japanese raid, see:

  • "Battleship Row" during the Pearl Harbor Attack.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 94378

    Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941


    Battleships West Virginia (BB-48) (sunken at left) and Tennessee (BB-43) shrouded in smoke following the Japanese air raid.

    Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute Photograph Collection.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 87KB; 740 x 610 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 97398

    Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941


    USS West Virginia (BB-48) afire forward, immediately after the Japanese air attack.
    USS Tennessee (BB-43) is on the sunken battleship's opposite side.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

    Online Image: 93KB; 740 x 610 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 94379

    Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941


    Small craft standing by West Virginia (BB-48) as burning oil drifts past the sunken battleship, shortly after the end of the Japanese air raid.
    USS Tennessee (BB-43) is moored on West Virginia's starboard side. Both ships are shrouded in smoke from the burning USS Arizona (BB-39), out of view to the right.

    Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute Photograph Collection.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 85KB; 740 x 610 pixels

     
    Photo #: 80-G-19930

    Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941


    Sailors in a motor launch rescue a survivor from the water alongside the sunken USS West Virginia (BB-48) during or shortly after the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor.
    USS Tennessee (BB-43) is inboard of the sunken battleship.
    Note extensive distortion of West Virginia's lower midships superstructure, caused by torpedoes that exploded below that location.
    Also note 5"/25 gun, still partially covered with canvas, boat crane swung outboard and empty boat cradles near the smokestacks, and base of radar antenna atop West Virginia's foremast.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 119KB; 740 x 620 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: USA C-5904 (Color)

    Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941

    Sailors in a motor launch rescue a survivor from the water alongside the sunken USS West Virginia (BB-48) during or shortly after the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor.
    USS Tennessee (BB-43) is inboard of the sunken battleship.
    Note: This is a color-tinted version of Photo # 80-G-19930. It is not an actual color photograph.

    Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

    Online Image: 120KB; 740 x 610 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: NH 64477

    Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941


    USS Tern (AM-31) fighting fires aboard the sunken USS West Virginia (BB-48), on 7 December 1941, immediately after the Japanese raid.
    Note radar antenna, paravanes and 16"/45 twin gun turrets on the battleship.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

    Online Image: 92KB; 740 x 605 pixels

     
    Photo #: 80-G-19947

    Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941


    Fighting fires on the sunken battleship West Virginia (BB-48), 7 December 1941. The garbage lighter YG-17 is at right, with her crewmen playing two fire hoses at the flames. Assisting or standing by are a motor launch and an officer's motorboat.
    USS Tennessee (BB-48) is inboard of West Virginia.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 102KB; 740 x 595 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     


    For pictures of USS West Virginia and USS Tennessee during the days following the Pearl Harbor Attack, see:

  • USS West Virginia and USS Tennessee after 7 December 1941.

    For pictures and information on USS West Virginia officers and men who were cited for heroism during the Pearl Harbor attack, see:

  • Captain Mervin Sharp Bennion; and
  • Cook Third Class Doris Miller.

    For further images of the "Battleship Row" area during and shortly after the Japanese raid, see:

  • "Battleship Row" during the Pearl Harbor Attack.


    NOTES:

  • To the best of our knowledge, the pictures referenced here are all in the Public Domain, and can therefore be freely downloaded and used for any purpose.

  • Some images linked from this page may bear obsolete credit lines citing the organization name: "Naval Historical Center". Effective 1 December 2008 the name should be cited as: "Naval History and Heritage Command".


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval History and Heritage Command home page.

    Page made 21 October 2000
    Coding updated 21 April 2009