The battleship, USS Arizona, was hit by a bomb which ignited the forward magazine hold and destroyed the ship in one huge explosion. 1,177 men on board at the time were killed.
Today the wreck lies where it sank, still visible just beneath the shallow waters of the harbour, an official war grave. A memorial has been built across (but not touching) the remains of the hull. It is open to the public as part of an organized tour.
The first part of the tour is a 30 minute documentary made from cine archive footage. Astonishingly, the moment when the Arizona explodes is captured on film. It is an incredible, shocking moment. You also see Presdient Roosevelt addressing the nation the next day speaking of the "diabolical act of treachery", and I wondered what the Japanese tourists were feeling at this point.
The audience was quiet when we were lead to the navy launch that would ferry us over to the Memorial. Manned by navy personnel in crisp white uniforms, it was carried out in a dignified, professional manner.
At the Memorial, the atmosphere was sombre, you could see parts of the wreck and there is still oil slowly finding its way from the depths to the surface.
At the far end of the Memorial there are the names of all those killed. I know that the Second World War claimed millions of lives and this was just a miniscule part of that, but you could not help being moved.
