(CNN)The
USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, will be closed to
visitors until at least June 4 after a dock to the memorial that sits
atop the sunken battleship was damaged in an accident Wednesday, the
National Park Service says.
The
damage occurred when tugboats were "assisting" the USNS Mercy, an
894-foot-long, 69,000-ton hospital ship, inside the harbor, the U.S.
Navy Region Hawaii said in a statement on its Facebook page.
"Initial
visual assessments show that the dock was moved about 10 feet toward
the Memorial. A small area of concrete was damaged where the dock's ramp
joined the Memorial. The dock's ramps and railings were also damaged,"
the statement said.
"It is not safe for
visitors to disembark at the USS Arizona Memorial," said the National
Park Service, which administers the memorial, part of the World War II
Valor in the Pacific National Monument.
Military.com, which first reported the accident,
said it occurred around 7 a.m. Hawaii time on Wednesday. A photo on the
website shows the hospital ship dangerously close to the 184-foot-long
memorial.
The Navy said the accident is under investigation.
The
USS Arizona was sunk on December 7, 1941, during Japan's surprise
attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into World War II.
The remains of many of the 1,177 U.S. military personnel who died
aboard the Arizona are still inside the wreck. It was the greatest loss
of life ever in an attack on a U.S. warship, the park service says.
The memorial was dedicated in 1962. About 5,000 people visit it every day.
The
Mercy, which has its home port in San Diego, is in Hawaii to
participate in Pacific Partnership 2015, a humanitarian and disaster
relief exercise, according to the Navy. LINK
Posts
