Monday, March 23, 2009
Pearl Harbor - USS Bowfin & USS Missouri
While we were at Pearl Harbor we also visited the Submarine USS Bowfin and the Battleship USS Missouri. I can't believe the size of these vessels. The USS Bowfin was commissioned on December 7, 1942, exactly 1 year after Pearl Harbor was attacked. The submarine was dubbed the "Pearl Harbor Avenger." It went on 9 missions and had 41 kills. It never suffered any serious damage, no one ever died, and they only ever had 1 injury (someones leg.) I thought it's "stats" were pretty cool.
Next we toured the USS Missouri, the battleship where Japan surrendered, ending WWII in the Pacific. We walked 1 1/2 miles touring the ship. It is HUGE! I can't believe the size of the cannons.
This is one of the beds where the enlisted personnel sleep. There are 3 bunks, I am in the middle one. There's not too much room to turn over. I wonder how they decide who gets the top bunk. I also wonder which bunk is the best...
It makes it easier to understand why the Arizona sunk so fast when you learn how much ammunition it takes to fire these cannons. When the Arizona was bombed, all of the ammunition in the forward magazine exploded. It tore the ship apart and killed everyone. The USS Missouri is moored in a way so that it watches over it's sister ship, the USS Arizona in her final resting place.
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