As many of you probably noticed, I wasn't active last week. I took a one week trip to Hawaii and forgot to mention it in the Mod thread (oops). The place was beautiful, and on the last day, I visited Pearl Harbor. I visited the Battleship Missouri, Arizona, and the submarine U.S.S Bowin. Let's start with Missouri.
If my memory serves me, I've never been on a museum ship before, let alone a battleship. I can't describe how excited I was to board the Missouri. My first impression was just how enormous the gun turrets were. Tour guide said that they were 16-inch guns and could be loaded every 30 seconds. Projectiles themselves leave the barrel at Mach 2 speeds. Very impressive piece of engineering, considering that it was WWII tech.
Site where Japan signed the unconditional surrender. WWII ended here!
Model of the ship housed below deck. Wonder if Jeff Head has one:
Missouri was retrofitted with state of the art weapons prior to the Persian Gulf War. It had Tomahawk and Harpoon missile launchers.
Inside of a Vulcan CIWIS.
Next site was the U.S.S. Arizona. It was a very somber visit, considering that over 1000 U.S. seamen lost their lives on the Arizona during the Pearl Harbor attack.
View of the main turret from the Arizona Memorial:
View of the bay from the memorial. Very peaceful and serene. A fitting resting place for the sailors.
Tip of the ship barely visible in the distance:
Next stop, U.S.S. Bowfin. Nicknamed the Pearl Harbor Avenger due to the sheer number of Japanese ships it sank during the war. My main impression was how cramped and claustrophobic the place was. Gotta give it up for the sailors who lived in such quarters for months on end!
Torpedo tubes, Bowfin's main armament. Your ship is pretty much trashed if one of these detonates next to it:
How this babe is steered:
Ironically one of the less cramped places onboard. This ain't no tourist sub, so don't expect any windows next to your dining area.
Naval gun for surface based combat. If you look closely the anti-air gun is mounted in the back.
All in all, the visit was very neat and pleasant (only downside was the sheer number of tourists present). I really wanted to go to the Pacific Aviation Museum, but didn't have time. Guess I'll save it for the next visit.
If my memory serves me, I've never been on a museum ship before, let alone a battleship. I can't describe how excited I was to board the Missouri. My first impression was just how enormous the gun turrets were. Tour guide said that they were 16-inch guns and could be loaded every 30 seconds. Projectiles themselves leave the barrel at Mach 2 speeds. Very impressive piece of engineering, considering that it was WWII tech.
Site where Japan signed the unconditional surrender. WWII ended here!
Model of the ship housed below deck. Wonder if Jeff Head has one:
Missouri was retrofitted with state of the art weapons prior to the Persian Gulf War. It had Tomahawk and Harpoon missile launchers.
Inside of a Vulcan CIWIS.
Next site was the U.S.S. Arizona. It was a very somber visit, considering that over 1000 U.S. seamen lost their lives on the Arizona during the Pearl Harbor attack.
View of the main turret from the Arizona Memorial:
View of the bay from the memorial. Very peaceful and serene. A fitting resting place for the sailors.
Tip of the ship barely visible in the distance:
Next stop, U.S.S. Bowfin. Nicknamed the Pearl Harbor Avenger due to the sheer number of Japanese ships it sank during the war. My main impression was how cramped and claustrophobic the place was. Gotta give it up for the sailors who lived in such quarters for months on end!
Torpedo tubes, Bowfin's main armament. Your ship is pretty much trashed if one of these detonates next to it:
How this babe is steered:
Ironically one of the less cramped places onboard. This ain't no tourist sub, so don't expect any windows next to your dining area.
Naval gun for surface based combat. If you look closely the anti-air gun is mounted in the back.
All in all, the visit was very neat and pleasant (only downside was the sheer number of tourists present). I really wanted to go to the Pacific Aviation Museum, but didn't have time. Guess I'll save it for the next visit.
