Vacation Travelogue - Pearl Harbor Pt III

After walking through the USS Bowfin, we boarded the shuttle bus for Ford Island. The first stop there would be to visit the USS Missouri, BB-63 one of the four Iowa Class battleships. It was quite different to go from the submarine up to a battleship. The Missouri has not been restored back to its WWII configuration, it remains as it was when it was retired from service. Another slight disappointment here in that we were not able to see the articles of surrender on the fantail. There was a private event that day and the entire rear of the ship was cordoned off. I guess I will just have to go back.

I don't have nearly has many pictures of the Mighty Mo, it was a little overwhelming.

Looking towards the Bow just after coming off the gangway

And a look back at the two forward turrets

16" shell

A phalanx gun turret

My youngest son at one at what I think is an observation post. The Missouri still has a teak wood deck, easily seen in this shot.

Higher up in the ship, I think we are in a navigation station of some kind. This ships are really outside my knowledge base.

Various radars on the tower

The rear gun turret

A look aft from the gangway.

Vacation Travelogue - Pearl Harbor Pt 1

We were at Pearl Harbor on Tuesday. I took so many pictures that I'll have to break up that day into several posts. that will give me a little time to edit the photos as well. It was quite the experience, very moving to take the boat out to the Arizona memorial. Unfortunately we could not go into the memorial itself, the landing pad had developed a crack in it and was considered to dangerous to allow the boats to dock. While I'm disappointed about not being able to go inside I do appreciate their safety concerns. About 1300 people a day visit the memorial the multitude of people coming and going could make things quite dangerous. Currently the memorial is closed to visitors for an indefinite period of time.

Oh and for those that are curious, we could not see the volcanic plume from the island of Hawai'i. It is about 200 miles between O'ahu and Hawai'i.

We started off with what we thought would be a visit to the memorial, but at least we got to take the boat out and see it up close.

First look at the memorial from shore. I used my big telephoto lens for this one.

A model of the Arizona, BB-39 inside one of the two small museums nearby

A model of a Japanese carrier, I think this one is the Akagi.

A look at where everything is located from Pearl Harbor

A very large model of the Arizona beneath the water.

A Japanese torpedo that was dredged up from the bottom of the harbor. It was intact when it was found. The navy took it to see and blow it up. They then recovered the aft section.

The memorial with the battleship Missouri, BB-63, in the background.

About as close as you can get to the memorial right now

These are markers indicating where it ship was moored.

The infamous landing, that is currently cracked, resulting in the memorial being closed to visitors.

A good look from the starboard side of an Iowa class battleship.