The USS Arizona, sunk in Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1941, is corroded, aging and leaking oil.

The National Park Service wants to know how the ship is holding up after 58 years beneath the sea.

The national historic landmark attracts about 1.5 million visitors annually.

The Arizona went down with between 800,000 to 1.7 million gallons of oil inside and although it burned for three days after the attack, no one knows how much fuel it still holds.

Less than 2.5 gallons of oil leak from the ship each day.

In addition, 1,177 men perished in the attack and the bodies of more than 900 of them are still entombed in the ship.

To avoid a potential environmental problem if the vessel breaks up, Donald L. Johnson Met E ’50, MSc Met ’56 and other researchers are trying to determine how the sea life living in the ship and the pollutants in the harbor are affecting the ship’s rate of corrosion.

Johnson, a professor emeritus from University of Nebraska who holds a doctorate from there in chemical engineering, is part of a team of researchers and marine archaeologists studying the problem. In October, the researchers visited the memorial to study hull samples and presented "USS Arizona—Corrosion, Metallurgy and X-ray Studies" at the USS Arizona Visitor Center auditorium.

Johnson is one of the forces behind the effort to understand the state of the Arizona’s hull.

After visiting the memorial as a tourist in 1998, he convinced two young Nebraska colleagues to join him in the study. Although the university paid for the recent trip to Hawaii, the rest of the research is a volunteer effort. Johnson’s colleagues became certified divers this summer and were able to inspect the wreck at close range. John-son participated via interactive video.

"One of the important things we’re looking at is the thickness of the hull after 58 years of exposure," says Johnson. "Does it have 50 more years? I don’t know if it will go that long. It may."

One problem is that the researchers don’t know the hull’s original thickness. This is being researched at the national archives.

Johnson says they are now analyzing the steel used when ship construction began in 1913 and when the ship was modernized between 1929-1931. Results of metallographic examination and chemical analysis of these materials was presented at the International Metallographic Society Convention Nov. 1-4. Vertical hull surfaces are covered by an approximate 3/4 inches hard biofouling layer, an entwined and calcified mass of oyster and vermetid shells. X-ray studies of the metal/biofouling are now in progress to determine how the two interact in the corrosion process.

Although the Arizona is not in imminent danger of breaking up, the National Park Service would like to be prepared.

Johnson, together with William Weins and John Makinson of the University of Nebraska, hopes to develop a better understanding of hull corrosion in about 40 feet of water and 20 feet of mud and water.His research is made possible, in part, by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Emeriti Association through the Maude E. Wisherd Funds.

Mines Magazine, November/December 1999