Dec 7th
- Thread starter Nitt1300
- Start date
78th anniversary
It has been 78 years since the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I wish all the WW2 vets a happy anniversary. Take care and God bless.
It has been 78 years since the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I wish all the WW2 vets a happy anniversary. Take care and God bless.
thanks - we can never forget
The second pic is of the flagship of the Pacific Fleet at the time of the attack, the USS Pennsylvania. She was fortunately in dry dock at the time of the attack and suffered only very minor damage.
She was the sister ship (and only sister ship) of the Arizona.
She was the sister ship (and only sister ship) of the Arizona.
I read this morning that the bell from the Pennsylvania sits outside the Wagner Bldg on campus. If I knew that, I had forgotten.
Also, the ship was restored and used post-Pearl Harbor.
Correct, she served as part of the "OBB" squadron (Old Battleships) which were primarily used for shore bombardment in the Pacific. She and the other old ships were still effective, but not fast enough to keep up with the carrier task groups- the newer battleships did that job.
She was sunk after being used in an A-bomb test after the war.
Thanks Bob
Link: https://www.psu.edu/ur/about/markers/others/bell.html
U.S.S. Pennsylvania
BACK to Historical Commemoratives
BACK to Historical Markers
BACK to About Penn State
Bell from the Battleship Pennsylvania
The battleship U.S.S. Pennsylvania, commissioned in 1916, was at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, where she received one bomb hit. The Pennsylvania was modernized in 1942 and was the only U.S. battleship to take part in every amphibious operation in the Pacific theatre during World War II. She was hit by a torpedo at Okinawa and was one of only four battleships awarded the navy Unit Commendation. After the war, the Pennsylvania participated as an unmanned target vessel in atomic bomb damage assessment tests at Bikini Atoll and was scuttled in 1948. Penn State received the bell on permanent loan from the Department of the Navy in 1955 and placed it on display in the new HUB courtyard. In 1959, with the opening of Wagner Building, home of the University's ROTC programs, the bell was moved to its current site near the main entrance to that building.
Click HERE for a close-up of the above bell plaque
Click HERE for a transcription of the plaque text
MORE about the Battleship U.S.S. Pennsylvania
U.S.S. Pennsylvania in 1916. Note position of bell (at right)
Last edited:
I recall my 6th grade teacher spending the whole day talking about Pearl Harbor on the 50th anniversary of the attack. Hard to believe that was 28 years ago and most everyone who was there that day is no longer with us.
I was thinking that very thought today. Pearl Harbor had such a profound effect on that generation. My parents always said that they remembered exactly where they were and what they were doing.
I had the chance to shake hands with and thank a WW II vet today. That doesn’t happen often anymore.
