The USS Arizona was bombed by the Japanese Navel Forces on December 7, 1941. The memorial is built over the remains of the sunken battleship which is the final resting place for many of the 1,177 crewmen. This loss of life represents over half of the Americans killed on that "Day of Infamy", the worst naval disaster in American History.

Managed by the National Park Service, the tour of the Memorial consists of a brief introduction, a short film on the history of the Pearl Harbor attack, and then a trip to the actual Memorial aboard a Navy operated launch.