The site commemorates the events of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which killed over 2,400 Americans and sank twelve ships. The site includes the USS Arizona Memorial, the USS Utah memorial, the USS Oklahoma memorial, six chief petty officer bungalows on Ford Island, mooring quays F6, F7, and F8, which formed part of Battleship Row, and the visitor center at Halawa Landing.
A visitor center and park features galleries on the Pacific theater of World War II, a theater showing a film about the attack, and memorial sculpture. Visitors may take a ferry to the Arizona memorial.