2002-04-28

Bowfin, Missouri and Waikiki

The U.S.S. Bowfin served during World War II and Korea and later as a training submarine. It has been preserved as a floating museum.

Visit their web site for more information about the Bowfin.

You might also want to visit the web site for the U.S.S. Pampanito, a sister ship to the Bowfin, which is located in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf.

The forward torpedo tubes. The torpedo loading tube has been refitted to become the visitor's entrance. The first thing you notice when you descend into the submarine is the strong odor of diesel fuel.

It's Deb!

The view towards the foot of the captain's bunk. The first thing he would see on awakening would be the compass and the depth guage.

Two of the enormous diesel engines. The submarine ran on diesel most of the time and used its batteries only for short periods to attack or flee the enemy. The engines must have made a hell of a racket.

We next visited the U.S.S. Missouri.

The Missouri's massive guns can fire a 16-inch armor piercing shell that weighs 2,700 pounds a distance of 23 miles! A single shell weighs 500 pounds more than my Mazda Miata. Each turret weighs over 1,700 tons (that's more than the space shuttle!)

Her hull still bears the scars of an April 11, 1945 Kamikaze attack. The aircraft slammed into the hull and disintegrated; spreading debris over the deck. No American sailor was killed in the attack yet a body was found on the ship's deck. It was the Japanese pilot who was thrown from his plane by the impact. The Missouri's captain gave him a military burial the next day.

I teased Deb about this picture. The halo around her head proves she is an angel. Don't you think so?

Back to Waikiki for dinner and one last walk along the beach.

Duke Kahanamoku (1890-1968) was an Olympic champion surfer and did much to spread the popularity of the sport. Visitors frequently place leis on his statue's outstretched hands.

It's almost time to go back home.

Hula dancing on the beach.

The sun has set on our last day in Hawaii.

But there is one more surprise waiting for us. A chance turn down a street to avoid traffic and we hear... The Beatles? No, it's Rubber Soul! How wonderful to see them again!