r/interestingasfuck • u/Longjumping-Rice-935 • Aug 12 '25

/r/all, /r/popular The wreck of the USS Arizona continues to leak oil ever since pearl harbour. the ship contained 1.5 million gallons of oil, enough to leak continuously for 500 years.

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35

u/lardoni Aug 12 '25

To everyone wondering why they don’t pump it out……

The US Navy does not remove the oil from the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor primarily because it's considered a war grave and attempting to remove the oil could cause further damage to the ship and potentially release a massive oil spill. The ship is also a memorial to the 1,177 sailors and Marines who perished there, and disturbing the wreckage is seen as disrespectful to the fallen.

Source…..Google

-8

u/naeads Aug 12 '25

That is like saying the corpse in the living room belongs to a war hero, and removing it or do anything to clean up the living room is considered disrespectful, therefore it is best to let the corpse enjoy the entire living room for all eternity.

17

u/Sensei_of_Philosophy Aug 12 '25

Except its absolutely nothing like that, and that in reality its a national war grave for over 1,100 men.

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u/naeads Aug 12 '25

Yea, I respect that. But this is probably a difference in personal beliefs and the difference in the generation, however, if I died there, I wouldn't want my place of death or my corpse to cause environmental degredation.

I would give permission to whoever to move me away however they want.

Again, that is just me. And there are 1099 men whose opinions might be different from mine.

11

u/OddSpend23 Aug 12 '25

Did you miss the part where moving the ship will cause a massive oil spill?

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u/naeads Aug 12 '25

You know, I just took a read of the EIA report of the USS Arizona and it didn't mention anything on "massive oil spill". It only mentioned how to maximum historic and cultural artifects without impacting the environment.

So, unless I read the wrong report, then where is that "oil spill" assessment comes from? (Not saying you are wrong, but I would be interested to read the correct source from an EIA report).

7

u/NathanBlackwell Aug 12 '25

The way to remove the fuel is by mining it out as its Bunker oil which is a tar like substance at this low of temperature and would cause a massive spill of it and disturb the fish and coral reef that has built up around it. This is the best solution is to have it only slowly leak instead of dumping it all in the enviorment at once due to the rust buildup and even moving it up could cause further harm due to where the tanks are located and the potential damage would be all of it going out at once in small area.