USS UTAH  BB-31 / AG-16

The Forgotten Ship of Pearl Harbor

Joseph N. Karabon

Fireman 1/c


Joseph Nicholas Karabon was born on March 19, 1919 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Nichola Karabon and Agnes (Wolke) Karabon. His father had died in 1929 and his mother later married Robert Hamilton while Joseph was a teenager. Joseph enlisted in the Navy on February 13, 1940 and reported for duty to the USS Utah on May 10, 1940. He was killed in action on December 7, 1941 during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Joseph was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously and remains on duty with his shipmates aboard the Utah. He is commemorated on the Memorial Tablets of the Missing, National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii.


Joseph N. Karabon
Joseph N. Karabon