She was the Battleship USS Nevada.

It was Sunday, December 7, 1941.

Battleship Row basked in the glory of the early morning sun.

At 7:55 her band lined up in five separate rows along her stern.

All decked out in their dress uniforms, they had no idea what they were about to learn.

Five minutes later, the Signals Officer motioned to the conductor, and the Anthem began to play.

It was supposed to be yet another calm and peaceful day.

Suddenly, Japanese planes began to race overhead from the left and right.

It was truly a devastating sight.

Once the Anthem was over, the band threw away their instruments and raced up the duns.

Air raid alarms blared away and the XO gave orders to man all the guns.

Within an instant the great ship took one torpedo hit on her forward bow.

She was going to be a sitting duck, unless something was done, right now.

The captain then ordered her boilers to be fired up to full power.

A plan of escape was being hatched in her main observation tower.

She had accumulated enough steam at 8:40.

slowly she backed away from her moorings, to begin her famous sortie.

Steering course 215, she began steaming past the stricken ships along Battleship Row.

Whether she could make it to safety, nobody could know.

Gathering speed and momentum, she approached the main channel lanes.

Suddenly, she was relentlessly bombed and strafed by 30 Japanese planes.

Her anti-aircraft gunners fought back with incredible courage and daring.

They managed to wax seven enemy planes that crashed into the harbor like a siren blaring.

Just 100 yards from the main channel, she was about to make one final turn.

Then, she was brutally hit by six bombs in rapid succession, and began to ferociously burn.

Her legendary and heroic sortie finally came to an end when she was beached near Hospital Point.

Her sacrifice to save the rest of the Harbor made her beloved and anoint.

She was the Battleship USS Nevada.