Hawai'i, October, 2008

These photos are from a business trip to Hawai'i in October, 2008

Wednesday

On Wednesday (October 8, 2008) I went to Pearl Harbor, having some time during the day before my flight left that evening. I got there between 09:00 and 09:30 and went directly to the line for the free tickets to the Arizona memorial. I should have gotten there earlier as there was a long line. When I got to the head of the line, I got a (free) ticket for 12:15 pm, so I had some time to explore. Here is a photo of an anchor from the Battleship Arizona near the head of the line.

Then I headed toward the submarine that I could see from the line. This is the submarine U.S.S. Bowfin SS 287, a National Historic Landmark.

Here is a photo from the submarine area of Ford Island. This is where the U.S.S Missouri is moored, which is the battleship where the treaty with Japan was signed after their surrender. So at this site, you can see both the beginnings and ending of the United States' involvement in World War II. Also in this photo you can see the Arizona memorial.

There is a ticket booth near the sub where you can buy tickets to tour the submarine, the battleship Missouri and the Pacific Aviation Museum, or any combination of these. This photo shows the forward torpedo room, with a torpedo tube, a torpedo ready to be loaded, and some of the bunks for the sailors who worked here.

This photo shows a part of the kitchen on the sub:

As it got close to 12:15, I went back to the building where I got the ticket for the Arizona memorial. In the building they had a small museum with information about the attack on Pearl Harbor and the sinking of the U.S.S. Arizona. After going through this, I got in line. At 12:15, they let us into an auditorium where they showed a short, first-rate film about the attack. Then we were loaded onto a small boat for the ride across the lagoon to the memorial.

This photo shows the inside of the memorial:

At one end of the memorial is a room with the names of the people who died on the Arizona listed on the wall. Over 1100 men lost their lives on the Arizona and over 900 of them are still entombed within it.

I did not know until I got here, but the water here is shallow, and the Arizona, though sitting on the bottom, is just below the surface of the water, with parts of it above the surface. This next photo shows the base of gun turret number 3.

Oil from the fuel tanks still seeps up from the ship, a drop at a time. Here is a photo that shows the slick from this oil on the water:

Here is a photo that shows a portion of the ship below the water:

And here is a photo of the Missouri taken from the memorial: