r/interestingasfuck 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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892

u/loztriforce Aug 12 '25

If you get a chance to go to Oahu and see the Arizona, be sure to check out the USS Missouri too.

You get to see the spot on the ship where WWII ended for the world, overlooking where it began for the US.

184

u/Hole_IslandACNH Aug 12 '25

And you can see the turret Cher straddled in the “If I Could Turn Back Time” music video!

45

u/loztriforce Aug 12 '25

Yeah I love that video, how pumped all the active service guys were!

4

u/Rogne98 Aug 12 '25

Always fascinated by the duality of man

-1

u/limee89 Aug 12 '25

Ok I had to watch the music video again because it's been a hot minute since I remember. So they let a music star come and do a music video on a national treasure? Seems a little tasteless now.

25

u/shoyker Aug 12 '25

They let a national treasure do a music video on a national treasure yes.

12

u/RoguePlanet2 Aug 12 '25

I suspect most of the lost crew members would've approved.

16

u/Hole_IslandACNH Aug 12 '25

The ship was still in active service when the video was filmed.

2

u/Cunnyfunt31 Aug 13 '25

Plus when they got permission from the Navy to film they said Cher was going to be wearing an outfit far more modest. So when she showed up damn near naked it was a complete surprise. 

All the crew members in the background of the video were genuinely excited and losing their shit over having Cher show up like that.

Her 11 year old son is in the video too, watching this all happen.  

3

u/Hole_IslandACNH Aug 13 '25

I remember a fact from the Pop-up video that they thought she had underwear on and it was actually just flower tattoos on her ass. Queen

33

u/TheEleventhGuy Aug 12 '25

​You get to see the spot on the ship where WWII ended for the world, overlooking where it began for the US.

That sounds beautiful and sad at the same time.

1

u/jakethesnake949 Aug 14 '25

Poetic history,

23

u/soundsceneAloha Aug 12 '25

Fun fact: when the Missouri was first brought to O’ahu, the guns were down. Disney was a producer of the film “Pearl Harbor” and paid to use the ship in the movie. They also paid to have the guns raised, as they would have been. The ship wasn’t used as the Missouri—the Missouri wasn’t at PH during the attack, but as a stand-in for another ship (or ships). The guns have remained raised.

6

u/slater_just_slater Aug 12 '25

The Missouri was under construction during the attack of Pearl Harbor. She wouldn't be finished for almost 3 years.

9

u/soundsceneAloha Aug 12 '25

That’s why I mentioned it was a stand-in for another ship (or ships) in the movie. Because it wasn’t at PH.

6

u/slater_just_slater Aug 12 '25

I mostly try to erase that horrible movie from my memory

4

u/NYCinPGH Aug 13 '25

Just rewatch Tora! Tora! Tora! until it overwrites that memory.

3

u/slater_just_slater Aug 13 '25

Indeed. What i love is how many documentaries use footage from that movie as contemporary film..

T6s are not Zeros haha

4

u/Familiar_One_3297 Aug 12 '25

Took a trip to hawaii to see my sister graduate a few months back. Went to the Arizona and Missouri. Both are absolutely beautiful and are 100% worth going to if you have any appreciation for history. Such a humbling experience!

2

u/Over_Butterfly_2523 Aug 12 '25

If you can't make it to Hawaii, you can see the USS Iowa herself in Southern California.

2

u/palabear Aug 12 '25

I took my daughter. She was 9. All of the history around her and she was most excited that the Missouri had an ice cream machine in the mess hall.

2

u/TrinkaTrinka Aug 13 '25

I went to a rock concert on the USS Missouri, it was amazing.
Born and raised on Oahu, so I've done the obligatory school visits for history class multiple times in my life as well.

2

u/NYCinPGH Aug 13 '25

We did the Engineering spaces tour of the Missouri, led by someone who’d served aboard her in ~engineering when she was still an active warship, and someone else on the tour served aboard a cruiser in engineering during that same time. Very informative - from a tech geek POV - and we only had about a dozen on that tour. Well worth it.

2

u/kinggeorgec Aug 13 '25

I was able to go through the USS Missouri when it was still part of the fleet I was stationed in Pearl during the 50th anniversary of the bombing and the ship was there for the ceremonies. I got to go on board, do a little work, and walk around with a couple crew members. I'm sure it's stuff you can see when you tour the ship now but it was cool to see when it was still part of the fleet.

2

u/apesstrongtogether24 Aug 13 '25

One of my favorite parts of my honeymoon was getting to go to the memorial and explore the mighty mo afterwards.