USS ARIZONA MEMORIAL Submerged Cultural Resources Study: USS
Arizona and Pearl Harbor National Historic Landmark Chapter IV:
Biofouling And Corrosion Study Corrosion and Steel Fabric
Thickness Study Twelve stations were selected on hull and
superstructure surfaces that had access to metal edges (Figure
4.8). At each station, divers used a claw hammer to chip away a
few square inches of fouling growth and corrosion from both
sides of the metal edge to expose shiny metal. Observations were
then made of the thicknesses of dense fouling, black and grey
oxides, and shiny steel that were visible in the exposed end
sections. These measurements were made in order to permit future
corrosion engineers to estimate corrosion rates at those
locations. Metal thicknesses of the steel fabric at the specific
locations will have to be obtained from drawings/specifications
of the ship that show its condition immediately prior to 1945.
Those thicknesses can then be compared to the thicknesses
obtained in later observations to es