The spelling of the word "USS Arizona" can be confusing, but it can be broken down with the help of phonetics. The "U" sounds like "uh" (/ʌ/), the first "S" sounds like "ess" (/s/), the second "S" sounds like "z" (/z/), and "Arizona" is pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable and a long "a" sound (/ærɪˈzoʊnə/). So, the correct pronunciation is "uh-s ess z air-uh-zoh-nuh." The USS Arizona was a battleship that was infamously bombed during the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
USS Arizona refers to a battleship that was a part of the United States Navy during World War II. It was one of the Pennsylvania-class battleships and originally constructed for the US Navy in the early 1910s. The USS Arizona (BB-39) had a displacement of approximately 32,600 tons and was around 608 feet in length. It was powered by twelve Babcock and Wilcox boilers that generated steam for four reciprocating steam engines, enabling the ship to reach a top speed of 21 knots.
The most notable event associated with the USS Arizona is the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. During this surprise attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy air forces, the battleship suffered extensive damage after being hit by several bombs. It was the explosion of one of these bombs that triggered a catastrophic explosion in the ship's forward ammunition magazine, causing the ship to sink and resulting in the deaths of 1,177 crew members.
Since the attack, the wreckage of the USS Arizona has remained submerged in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It serves as a memorial to honor the lives lost during the attack. The USS Arizona Memorial, dedicated on Memorial Day in 1962, spans the submerged hull of the ship and is visited by millions of tourists every year. It acts as a reminder of the sacrifice made by those on board and the importance of remembering the events of Pearl Harbor as a pivotal moment in American history.
The word "USS Arizona" is not derived from any particular etymology since it is an abbreviation for "United States Ship Arizona". "USS" is the prefix used to designate a ship of the United States Navy, and "Arizona" refers to the state of Arizona in the United States. Therefore, the term "USS Arizona" does not have a distinct etymology but is simply a combination of the ship prefix and the ship's name.