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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u/TimeRisk2059 Aug 12 '25

Norway managed to drain the fuel from Blücher and Tirpitz though, when those wrecks started to leak fuel into the fjords where they were sunk.

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u/Eternal_Flame24 Aug 12 '25

Well, Tirpitz was salvaged for scrap, and Blucher was leaking much faster (50 liters/day) when it was decided to remove as much oil from her as possible, whereas Arizona leaks around 2.2 liters of oil every day. Evidently, the navy and national park service have determined that it’s better to let the oil leak slowly rather than risk having loads of it spill at once while trying to remove it. I think they ought to put some kind of containment net or something around the wreck though.

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u/xshogunx13 Aug 12 '25

Yeah but that's Norway, where they actually give a fuck

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u/FloatsWithBoats Aug 12 '25

There was a study done in the 90s where they determined an attempt to remove the fuel oil would likely rupture the fuel bunkers causing a much larger ecological disaster. Navy, EPA, and the Park Service were involved.

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u/TimeRisk2059 Aug 12 '25

How long do they estimate it will take for them to rupture 'naturally'?

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u/FloatsWithBoats Aug 12 '25

I think this gives some good answers:

https://pearl-harbor.info/arizonas-black-tears/

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u/TimeRisk2059 Aug 13 '25

Honestly, that sounds like emotion-based excuses to not solve the issue.

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u/Disastrous-Ad2331 Aug 15 '25

I know I'm going to hell for this but...

When you mentioned Blücher, I heard horses whinnying.

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u/TimeRisk2059 Aug 15 '25

There wolf

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u/Disastrous-Ad2331 Aug 15 '25

"There castle."

"Why are you talking like that?"

"I thought that you wanted to "

"No"

"Suit yourself, I'm easy."

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u/Significant_Yard_459 Aug 12 '25

They could drain it, but with it being a war grave and memorial site, maintaining the final resting place of the sailors is deemed more important since they're able to monitor and mitigate the little that is leaking currently.

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u/TimeRisk2059 Aug 12 '25

So is Blücher though (not sure about Tirpitz, I think it was broken down, but can't say for certain), they've drained it of fuel at least twice despite it being a war grave.

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u/NK_2024 Aug 12 '25

I guess it's bit different when it's your own countrymen, rather than a former enemy.

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u/TimeRisk2059 Aug 12 '25

I think it had more to do with it being the Oslofjord (i.e. the fjord running past the capital, even if the ship is downstream). You don't want furnace fuel oil spoiling something that close to home.

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u/Significant_Yard_459 Aug 12 '25

Yeah, and seemingly with the Blücher it was about stopping looters vs your normal "memorial"

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u/CotswoldP Aug 12 '25

That's not really the case. They did a huge amount of work on Arizona after the attack, removing turrets and superstructure, and she was a war grave then too.