NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Jacqueline Ashwell: The memorial’s flag will be brought down each night, the superintendent says
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The USS Arizona Memorial will remain dark at night until ongoing electrical problems identified earlier this week are resolved.
The National Park Service said there’s “an irregularity in the electrical ground for the power line that provides electricity from Ford Island to the USS Arizona Memorial.” The power won’t be turned on until repairs are finished, which is taking longer than originally anticipated.
“This means the memorial will be dark at night until work is complete,” World War II Valor in the Pacific Superintendent Jacqueline Ashwell said. “Because of the darkness, the flag will be brought down at closing each night and raised again the following day.”
Visits to the memorial will continue, and the USS Missouri Memorial, Bowfin Submarine Museum and Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor are also open as usual.
Earlier this week a report was released on an incident in May that prompted closure of the Arizona Memorial to visitors for more than a week.
The USNS Mercy struck the dock when the pilot and ship’s captain lost track of where the ship was going as it was leaving Pearl Harbor, an investigation by the U.S. Military Sealift Command found.
After the May 27 incident, the memorial was shut down for repairs to the dock.
The memorial honors the 1,177 sailors and Marines on the Arizona who died when Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941. Most of those killed are still entombed on the battleship, which lies in the harbor.