On Wednesday a memorial that marks the final resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors and Marines that were killed on the USS Arizona during the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was struck by either a U.S. Navy hospital ship or a tugboat that was maneuvering it through a narrow channel.

As reported by the USNI News, at around 7:30 a.m the tug was pushing the hospital ship USNS Mercy past the memorial near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam when either the tug or Mercy hit a dock next to the WWII memorial.

An early statement released from the Navy Region Hawaii said that: “Initial reports indicated that a tugboat hit the Memorial, but an investigation is underway.”

As reported by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Abby Wines, a spokeswoman for the USS Arizona Memorial, had initially stated that it was in fact the tug towing the Mercy that had hit the dock. That information was, however, corrected by Wednesday afternoon.

The much visited memorial will be closed for several days while the park service and the Navy assesses the damage that to the site.

Paul DePrey, the USS Arizona Memorial superintendent, expressed his concern and regret over the accident in a news release, saying: "We deeply regret the impact this will have on visitors' experience, but we want to make sure that everyone has a safe visit. We will work closely with the Navy to resume access to the Memorial as soon as safety allows."

Despite the USS Arizona Memorial being off limits to the public, the park service has announced that the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center as well as the Battleship Missouri Memorial, Pacific Aviation Museum, and the USS Bowfin Submarine will stay open.

According to officials over 5,000 visitors come to the Pearl Harbor Historic sites on a daily basis.