Pearl Harbor Raid, 7 December 1941
USS Nevada during the Pearl Harbor Attack
USS Nevada (BB-36), eldest (by a few months) of the battleships in Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, was hit by one torpedo during the last part of the Japanese torpedo planes' attack. This opened a large hole in the ship's port side below her two forward turrets. Her anti-torpedo protection, of a type back-fitted to the Navy's older battleships, resisted the warhead's explosion fairly well. However, serious leaks were started in the inmost bulkhead, allowing a considerable amount of water into the ship.
The damaged Nevada got underway at 0840, about a half-hour after she was torpedoed, backed clear of her berth, and began to steam down the channel toward the Navy Yard. The slowly moving battleship was an attractive target for Japanese dive bombers, which hit and near-missed her repeatedly, opening up her forecastle deck, causing more leaks in her hull, starting gasoline fires forward and other blazes in her superstructure and midships area. Now in serious trouble, Nevada was run aground on the Navy Yard side of the channel, just south of Ford Island.
As her crew fought her many fires, the ship twisted around until she was facing back up the harbor. With the help of tugs, Nevada then backed across the way and grounded, stern-first, on the other side of the channel. Her old, much-modified structure proved itself to be anything but watertight, and water traveled inexorably throughout the ship. By the following day, she had settled to the bottom, fortunately in fairly shallow water. There she was to remain for over two months, the subject of one of the first of Pearl Harbor's many demanding salvage projects. Of USS Nevada's crew of nearly 1500, fifty officers and men were killed in action during the Pearl Harbor raid.
This page features views of USS Nevada on 7 December 1941 and during the following days.
For other views of Nevada during and soon after the Pearl Harbor raid,
For pictures and information on USS Nevada officers who received the Medal of Honor for heroism during the Pearl Harbor attack,
For further images of the "Battleship Row" area
during and shortly after the Japanese raid
Click photograph for larger image.
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Photo #: NH 97397 Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 USS Nevada (BB-36) headed down channel past the Navy Yard's 1010 Dock, under Japanese air attack during her sortie from "Battleship Row". A camouflage Measure 5 false bow wave is faintly visible painted on the battleship's forward hull. Photographed from Ford Island. Small ship in the lower right is USS Avocet (AVP-4). Note fuel tank "farm" in the left center distance, beyond the Submarine Base. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, NHHC Collection. Online Image: 82KB; 585 x 765 |
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Photo #: KN-32031 (Color) "The Japanese Sneak Attack on Pearl Harbor" Charcoal and chalk by Commander Griffith Bailey Coale, USNR, Official U.S. Navy Combat Artist, 1944. For more information on this artwork, Photo # KN-32031 (complete caption). Courtesy of the U.S. Navy Art Center, Washington, D.C. Official U.S. Navy Photograph. Online Image: 73KB; 900 x 300 Reproductions may also be available at National Archives. |
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Photo #: 80-G-32443 Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 USS Nevada (BB-36) heading down channel, afire from several Japanese bomb hits, as seen from Ford Island during the later part of the attack. Ship whose boom and flagstaff are visible at left is USS Avocet (AVP-4). Note camouflage Measure 5 false bow wave painted on Nevada. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 600 Reproductions may also be available at National Archives. |
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Photo #: 80-G-32894 Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 USS Nevada (BB-36) afire and down at the bow, after she was bombed by Japanese planes while attempting to get to sea. Photographed from Ford Island. Note men in Nevada's main top, manning .50 caliber machine guns. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, National Archives collection. Online Image: 77KB; 595 x 765 Reproductions may also be available at National Archives. |
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Photo #: NH 97396 Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 USS Nevada (BB-36) headed down channel after being intensely attacked by Japanese dive bombers. Photographed from Ford Island, with USS Avocet (AVP-4) in the foreground and the dredge line in the middle distance. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, NHHC Collection. Online Image: 87KB; 740 x 545 |
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Photo #: 80-G-19948 Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 Sailors stand amid wrecked planes at the Ford Island seaplane base, watching as USS Shaw (DD-373) explodes in the center background, 7 December 1941. USS Nevada (BB-36) is also visible in the middle background, with her bow headed toward the left. Planes present include PBY, OS2U and SOC types. Wrecked wing in the foreground is from a PBY. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, National Archives Collection. Online Image: 80KB; 740 x 610 Reproductions may also be available at National Archives. |
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Photo #: 80-G-32457 Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 USS Nevada (BB-36) afire off the Ford Island seaplane base, with her bow pointed up-channel. USS Shaw (DD-373) is burning in the floating dry dock YFD-2 in the left background. Photographed from Ford Island, with a dredging line at left. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, National Archives Collection. Online Image: 108KB; 740 x 605 Reproductions may also be available at National Archives. |
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Photo #: 80-G-32445 Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 Gunners on board USS Avocet (AVP-4) look for more Japanese planes, at about the time the air raid ended. Photographed from atop a building at Naval Air Station Ford Island, looking toward the Navy Yard. USS Nevada (BB-36) is at right, with her bow afire. Beyond her is the burning USS Shaw (DD-373). Smoke at left comes from the destroyers Cassin (DD-372) and Downes (DD-375), ablaze in Drydock Number One. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, National Archives Collection. Online Image: 92KB; 740 x 600 Reproductions may also be available at National Archives. |
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