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Photo # 80-G-19933: USS Vestal beached in Pearl Harbor following the 7 December 1941 Japanese raid.

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

Pearl Harbor Raid, 7 December 1941 --
USS Vestal during the Pearl Harbor Attack

The repair ship Vestal (AR-4), moored outboard of the battleship Arizona on the morning of 7 December 1941, was hit by two Japanese bombs and received additional damage from the force and heat of Arizona's explosion. Casting loose from the sunk and burning battleship at about 8:30 AM, Vestal moved up the harbor a short distance and anchored. However, one of the bomb hits caused her to flood aft, and the water could not be controlled in the ship's old hull. Accordingly, she hoisted her anchor and was beached on Aiea Shoal, in Pearl Harbor's northeastern corner. Vestal was repaired by mid-February 1942.

This page features views of USS Vestal on and shortly after 7 December 1941.

For pictures and information on a USS Vestal officer who was cited for heroism during the Pearl Harbor attack, see:

  • Commander Cassin Young, USN, Commanding Officer, USS Vestal.

    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 #: 80-G-19933

    Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941

    USS Vestal (AR-4) beached on Aiea shoal, Pearl Harbor, after the Japanese raid. She is listing from damage caused by two bombs that hit her during the attack.

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

    Online Image: 67KB; 740 x 600 pixels

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

     
    Photo #: NH 64480

    Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941

    USS Vestal (AR-4) after she was beached in Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. She had been damaged by Japanese bomb hits during the raid.
    An Officers' Motor Boat is alongside her starboard quarter.

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

    Online Image: 93KB; 740 x 610 pixels

     


    For pictures and information on a USS Vestal officer who was cited for heroism during the Pearl Harbor attack, see:

  • Commander Cassin Young, USN, Commanding Officer, USS Vestal.

    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 22 October 2000
    Coding updated 21 April 2009