A priority list will be drawn up.
Some of the old wrecks are already leaking. The most notable of them is the 608-foot USS Arizona, sunk at Pearl Harbor on that fateful day back on Dec. 7, 1941 (of which we are approaching the 70th anniversary in a few weeks). It sank with a loss of 1,177 lives and 1.1 million gallons of fuel, about half of which still remains and leaks into the harbor.
I have seen the oil bubbles coming up from the hull by the Arizona Memorial. I'd estimate there are about 4-5 bubbles a minute, not enough to really damage the harbor, but if a tank ruptures and all of it escapes at once, that would have a major negative impact.
As it stands, though, those bubbles are somewhat comforting and a connection to that event from 70 years ago. The ship still lives.
At a Baltimore conference in June, David Conlin of the NPS said that new studies show that the previously intact fuel tanks are corroding, rupturing and releasing their contents. However, there is "no pressing need" for "invasive" procedures to enter the ship.
"Three hundred and sixty years from now, in the core part of the USS Arizona, the oil bunkers here will still have significant structural integrity," he said.
This is a bit confusing information. How safe are the Arizona's fuel bunkers?
I probably spent ten minutes with those bubbles when I was there. A real connection with history.
A Day of Infamy. --DaCoot
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