After the USS Arizona, the second-largest number of lives lost on December 7, 1941 was aboard the battleship USS Oklahoma. Numerous Japanese torpedoes struck the ship early in the attack and it capsized at dock, trapping hundreds of men below decks. Ultimately, 429 of the crew died during the attack and afterwards (some while still trapped below decks). This open-air memorial is close to the USS Missouri and can be reached on the same shuttle buses from the NPS Visitor Center.
The Oklahoma was eventually salvaged and towed away. Many of her dead were buried in mass graves at the Punchbowl, the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. The memorial has full details about the ship and one thin white marble column for each man who died.
