Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor



Battleship Missouri, one of the last four active battleships in the world that even saw action in the Persian Gulf in the 1990's. The Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed here that effectively ended World War II, although the official treaty was not signed until 1951 in California. Now, the battleship sits open for visitors through a private non-profit organization - only the USS Arizona Memorial is a National Park - and is accessed via Ford Island, still owned by the navy. Unless you know someone in the navy, the Battleship Missouri Memorial group is the only way to get anywhere on the island.


That same non-profit organization also maintains the USS Bowfin submarine, here silhouetted against the Ford Island Bridge to the west and then Pearl City and `Aiea to the north.


The entirety of the Ford Island Bridge laid out against `Aiea.


HMAS Tobruk of the Royal Australian Navy comes into the active naval docks for repairs. .


Details of the docked Tobruk's ship emblem and Australian naval flag.


The motor ferry comes into the memorial to dock. It was designed to straddle the battleship with a silent memorial at the far end and viewing windows in the middle to look upon the ship. Most of the dead when the Arizona was attacked (both by air and sea) remain in the ship, adding to the power of the site and solemnifying the experience for all. There could be no more fitting resting place for the men who gave their lives to the sea.


The broken main turret is just on the north side of the memorial. The fuel has been leaking very slowly since 1941, and if you ask me that's the one part of the ship that really should be changed. Even though it's a small leak, 65 years of oil will do its damage.


More of the north side of the ship is submerged, but more also lies closer to the surface and was more easily seen in the morning light. Battleship Missouri is just behind the last photo.


Back on dry land, the Mark 14 steam-driven torpedo, the mainstay of the U.S. navy during World War II. This is outside the free part of the Battleship Missouri Memorial museum.

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