Florence, S.C.'s Piece of USS Arizona's Bulwark Undergoing Stabilization

From the Feb. 29, 2020, SCNow site by Matthew Robertson.

It is destined for the Florence Veterans Park and is a month into its stabilization.  It is a roughly 4-by-five piece of metal and sits in a tub with a solution of  water and baking soda while electricity and two stainless steel electrodes  work to remove both salt and rust from it.

Bob Butler is in charge of the process.    He and his son also worked on the cannons of the Confederate warship CSS Pee Dee which are now on display outside  Florence County's  veterans services building.

Plans currently are to show it as is and to preserve it.  But, it is not known whether it will be stand alone or part of a larger World War II display.

The ship was commissioned in 1916 and had escorted President Woodrow Wilson to the Paris Peace Conference after World War I.  It was sunk December 7, 1941, during the attack on Pearl Harbor.  The harbor itself is shallow, so much of the ship's superstructure  and tripod masts remained above the surface afterwards.

These were cut off during efforts to clean up and salvage sunken and damaged ships.  The part in Florence is from that effort.

The program to distribute parts of the Arizona has been ongoing since 1994 and so far, 105 pieces have been supplied around the nation for display.

I Wish Someone Around the Chicagoland Area Would get a Piece of the Arizona.  --GreGen