Fact check: Viral image does not show underwater flag and shipwreck at Pearl Harbor

Devon Link, USA TODAY
·3 min read

The claim: Image shows a diver replacing an American flag at Pearl Harbor

In the days leading up to Memorial Day, some social media users shared an image of an American flag attached to a shipwreck to commemorate the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor. However, the claim premised on the image is not true.

“A diver at Pearl Harbor dives every three years to replace this Flag,” claims text in an image posted on Instagram on May 29.

The Dec. 7, 1941, attack on the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii, killed more than 2,400 people. However, the ship in the photograph has nothing to do with that attack.

Fact check: Image claiming to show Blue Angels' 'Hand of God' maneuver is a digital drawing

USA TODAY reached out to several accounts that posted the claim for comment.

Smoke rises from the battleship USS Arizona as it sinks during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Smoke rises from the battleship USS Arizona as it sinks during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

National Park Service: Photo does not show Pearl Harbor

A spokesperson for National Park Service told USA TODAY the image was not taken at the Pearl Harbor Memorial. Emily Pruett, a public information officer for the Pearl Harbor Memorial, said the image could not have been taken at the memorial site.

“The two ships remaining from the December 7th attack are much (too) close to the water line and certain sections are visible above the water,” she wrote in an email. “The National Park Service does not maintain underwater flags.”

Photo could be wreckage in the Florida Keys

While the image's origin remains unknown, it likely shows the wreckage of the USNS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg off the coast of Florida.

The Vandenberg is a retired Navy ship that conservationists intentionally sunk and turned into an artificial reef on May 27, 2009. Located 7 miles south of Key West, the shipwreck is the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary’s largest artificial reef and a popular diving destination.

A representative of the sanctuary told Check Your Fact the image appears to be of the Vandenberg.

Divers deployed a massive flag onto the Vandenberg wreckage in 2014.

Fact check: Meme miscaptions image from Beirut port explosion as part of conflict in Middle East

Since then, the flag has been a popular attraction for divers. Underwater photographer Larson Wood took a similar photo of the Vandenberg that was published in X-Ray Mag in 2016.

Wood has not responded to USA TODAY’s request for comment.

Our rating: False

We rate the claim that a viral image shows a flag deployed on the underwater wreckage at Pearl Harbor FALSE because it is not supported by our research. A spokesperson from the National Park Service, which operates the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, confirmed the image does not show Pearl Harbor.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: False claim underwater flag is on Pearl Harbor wreckage