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  • Day 8

    Pearl Harbour

    December 27, 2013 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Friday was the day we did the tour of Pearl Harbor. This is the number one tourist attraction in Hawaii and there were a lot of people there but it all moved along OK so we got to see everything.

    There are 4 main things to see, the Arizona Memorial, the Missouri, the Pacific Aviation Museum, and the Bowfin submarine and museum. You can roll up and get a shuttle to take you around but that is a slower way to do it and no guarantees you'll get to see everything so we opted to do a proper tour that picks you up and takes you everywhere.

    First up we went to the Arizona Memorial. This started with a movie the explain the political events leading up to the attack, what happened, and a bit about what it means to the Americans now - it was all well done and interesting. Then they load you on a boat and take you across to the memorial itself.

    The ship is still leaking oil and will do so for about the next 20 years. There are about 900 men entombed in the wreck and they allow Arizona survivors to have their ashes placed in the wreck when they die. It was really well done and interesting. Pearl Harbor is still a major naval base and there were heaps of active warships and 3 submarines in port while we were there.

    You are given a specific time frame to be there and you get about 15 mins on the memorial itself which is enough time, like I said there were lots of people and they have to keep it all moving.

    Next it was onto the Missouri. This ship is seriously massive. They keep it alongside Ford Island just along from the Arizona Memorial. It last saw action in the Gulf War, not bad for a ship that was launched in 1942! They have a plaque on the deck marking the spot where Japan signed the surrender document ending WW2. We did a top deck tour and a reasonably quick below decks tour - there is so much room on the ship it was amazing.

    Ford Island is still a navy base mostly used for Intelligence operations and the training of Navy Seals. There was a massive oil rig type thing there with huge radar domes, they obviously park this thing out in the ocean somewhere and bring it into port for refit every now and then. The bus took us out to Ford Island via a causeway with a section that opens wide enough to allow the big aircraft carriers through so they won't get trapped behind the island.

    After the Missouri it was onto the Pacific Aviation Museum. This is spread over 2 hangars the first had a few of the key planes from WW2 - the Japanese Zero, US Wildcat, and a B25 bomber like the ones used in the Doolitte raid. This was really well set out. The other Hangar had lots of other planes and helicopters and was more of a storage/work in progress area. The second hanger had a couple of Migs, a Sabre, Phantom, Dakota, Seahawk, Sea Stallion, Huey, Sea King, and the main attraction ... an Australian F1-11! The F1-11 looked in excellent condition though it didn't have any engines.

    Then it was back across the causeway to the Bowfin and attached submarine museum. It was really interesting walking through the sub, it was a complete contrast to the Missouri being really small and cramped. Everything was well maintained with all the brass and copper fittings being kept very polished.

    The US lost 52 subs in WW2 with many just disappearing while on patrol with all hands - pretty horrible.

    After the Bowfin it was back on the bus and back to the Hotel for dinner.

    I really enjoyed the day, the history was just fantastic and everything was very well set out and run.
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