Pearl Harbour part I

Pearl Harbour is quite the experience, from a personal viewpoint, a must if you are on the islands of Hawaii. It stands as both a historical and educational site of great importance, which cannot be overstated. It houses some of the most important artefacts from WWII, displayed in a manner that is poignant, emotive and respectful to the men and women who fought on both sides of the Pacific conflict.

In order to reach Pearl Harbour directly and independently from Waikiki, take the bus (Either 42 or 20 for $2.50 in exact change only). The journey will take approximately 1hr 10mins picking up and dropping off passengers on route - be prepared for it to be busy as many locals use the bus!!
On arrival at the memorial site you will be required to leave all bags at the baggage store ($3 per bag) before entering via the security gate. Clearly a lot of thought has gone into the construction and development of the site. I was impressed with the peaceful open spaces even with large numbers of visitors, in part down to wide spacious walkways encouraging people to wander off to poignant displays dotted around a green open park visible from a distance (I found myself moving between memorial plaques and displays for some time just to find out more about the ships and people who crewed or serviced them). The ticket office has very knowledgeable staff who will aid you in the selection of the best ticket for you, there are several to choose from covering three main sites including: 1. The Bowfin submarine exhibit 2. The Missouri Iowa Class Battleship exhibit (Mighty Mo) and 3. The Aviation museum… As well as the FREE Arizona memorial site. There is too much to do in just one day so if you plan to complete everything here spend two days to avoid rushing!! I opt for two out of three ($28 combined entry) and the trip to the Arizona memorial.

Bowfin
The submarine ‘Bowfin’ exhibit begins with a walk past several forms of undersea weaponry including gas powered torpedoes up to the iconic (for my generation) black and white ‘Polaris’ nuclear missile. Then through a series of plaques commemorating submarine crews lost on active service in WWII and finally the Bowfin Submarine itself. The boat has the sleek silhouette that invokes memories in me of those old war movies. Your ticket is stamped on entry before you are posed for a picture beside the sub for viewing on exit. Only then do you climb the gangplank (audio guide slung around your neck) onto the grid iron work of the main deck… It is only now that you begin to get a feel for life on a submarine - the main deck is narrow and houses two large calibre guns for and aft as well as the conning tower with its plethora of antenna… Hatches to climb below are indicated for tourists (specially widened to give us easy access) while other hatches are left for us to see the real life crew entry points!! Below decks the audio guide plays patriotic music while a voice over describes in some detail each of the chambers throughout the ship - instantly I feel claustrophobic, the spaces are tiny (even for the officers!!) and the torpedoes are HUGE in the confined space (apparently this tiny vessel could carry 24 of them!!)… Walking back along the vessel I explore rooms filled with valves, knobs and switches including: offices, sleeping quarters, the mess, the operations room, the engine room, the battery room and finally the aft Torpedo room… It is an eye opening visit and one which is brought to life by the audio guide (clearly read by someone who had actually served on the ship). Brilliant. Two of the facts that I remember from the audio guide is that the sub was able to purify sea water to drinking water on board and that there where certain incentives to crewing a sub including the luxury of ice cream!!
Suffice to say it would not have been enough to get me onto one of these vessels 0_0 I can just imagine what it must have been like to be trapped in one of the tiny compartments with the small watertight doors sealed from the other side and no possibility of escape should things go wrong… Enough said - the guys who manned these vessels deserve great respect.