The National Park Service Submerged Resources Center Deputy Chief, Brett Seymour, invited A-1 owners Lynn and Scott Taylor to assist on a USS Arizona project in Hawaii that included underwater imaging and an underwater broadcast.

The anticipation and strong emotions before our adventure were like nothing we’d ever experienced. From the moment we met at the National Park Service Office, NPS Deputy Chief Brett Seymour and Chief of NPS Cultural and Natural Resources, Scott Pawlowski, we felt their tremendous sense of responsibility, dedication and respect for the USS Arizona. The breadth of their knowledge combined with their unbelievable passion made us quickly realize the importance of protecting and preserving this important underwater memorial.

During our initial briefing they pointed out that we would be participating in a “live dive” underwater presentation on the 99th anniversary of the commissioning of the USS Arizona, October 17, 1916. They reminded us that on December 7th, 1941 1177 sailors and Marines perished on the Arizona during the surprise attack and that several hundred bodies remain entombed in the ship. Click here https://vimeo.com/143046491 to watch the live dive.

As we entered the Pearl Harbor Visitors Center there was an overwhelming feeling of sadness, pride, anger, disbelief, horror, honor and more. We walked around the area and then entered the theater to watch a film about the events leading to and the day of the historic attack. The complete silence before the film started continued as everyone exited the theater to board the shuttle boat to the WWII Valor of the Pacific National Monument. The mood of the 150 passengers on the shuttle was somber and not a word was spoken. Once we arrived at the memorial we disembarked with the others, unloaded our gear and prepared the underwater photography equipment for a test dive. Admittedly, despite our many years of diving we were both very apprehensive and our anxiety was high.

We entered the water from the pier and began our descent. I felt chills throughout my body and my breathing was rapid. The visibility was poor and we didn’t see ships stern until we were within 6′. The moment I saw the ship I stopped, my eyes welled up and I realized the remains of several hundred men were inside the structure next to us. Our dive leader, Scott Pawlowski, lead us on an amazing underwater tour. He pointed out the contorted and twisted metal from the explosions and invited us to look inside various portholes. Inside one you could a desk and in another the head post of a bed. There were a few areas where we could feel the teak wood that had once covered much of the deck. As we approached the bow we saw kitchen bowls, a broken dish and a couple heavily incrusted coke bottles.

The most striking image was that of the three giant bow guns. It’s hard to imagine these 40+ foot-long guns could propel a 1700 pound, 14″ shell up to seventeen miles. As I shinned my dive light inside one of the barrels I could only think of the damage it could have done to the enemy had the ship not been destroyed.

At that point it was time to return to stern and ascent to the pier but before we ascended I was compelled to turn to the ship and salute my fellow veterans. When we reached the surface we simply looked at each other and nodded our heads, knowing we’d just visited the most sacred underwater graveyard in the world. It was a day and a dive we will never forget!

A couple of days later Brett Seymour asked us to assist him on what would be our fourth and final dive on the Arizona. The mission was to capture a small amount of the ships remaining fuel in a small glass container. He planned to present it to one of the few remaining survivors of the USS Arizona who happens to live in Colorado. As we watched Brett carefully fill the bottle it felt as though we were witnessing him touching the ships life blood. Once he’d finished filling the bottle he gently placed it in the pocket of his BCD and escorted us to areas of the ship we’d yet to see. We were taken by surprise when we came upon a glass bottle with the raised letters “HAIR TONIC” that was embedded in a heavily incrusted area just outside the galley. As we approached an overhang near the bow, Brett pointed to several “live” 50 caliber shells that were scattered about. I held one in my hand and once again became very emotional as I began thinking of what it represented.

We proceeded to the bow and descended to the ships breakwater. We were amazing to see the amount of coral and sponges that covered the outer area of her hull. Before we knew it Brett indicated it was time to head to the stern and end our dive. We reached the stern and another salute to a place that will remain in our heart, mind, and soul for the rest of our life.

We want to thank Brett Seymour, Scott Pawlowski and the National Park Service for their passion, expertise and commitment to preserve the USS Arizona and the memory of those who were serving on that horrific day on December 7, 1941.

“UPON THIS SACRED SPOT, WE HONOR THE SPECIFIC HEROS WHO SURRENDERED THEIR LIVES ………………………… SO THAT WE COULD HAVE OUR SHARE OF FULL TOMORROWS.”