USS Bowfin

The USS Bowfin. Nicknamed The Pearl Harbor Avenger, was commissioned on 7 December 1942, exactly one year after the attack on Pearl Harbor. This is the third ship you can visit as part of the Valor in the Pacific National Park. Its located in the same area as the USS Arizona memorial museum. The whole tour takes about an hour, mostly due to the size of the submarine. As you board the submarine, you will make your way down the first hatch, where you come across the forward torpedo tubes...though I highly doubt they were this shiny back in the day.

After the forward torpedo room, you will then make your way through the unbelievably small corridors and into the operations room, where you will find the periscope, navigation area, and quartermasters stations. You can't actually go into the top area of the operations but they do have a cutaway version back on land. From here, make your way into the crew quarters where you will find the radio room, sleeping quarters, and mess hall. If you aren't already amazed at how cramped it is inside, imagine 80 people cramped inside. Add that to the fact of being underwater for a considerable amount of time.

The next area is the engine room, which is conveniently located next to the crew quarters, where you will see the four massive diesel engines used to power the ship. The last part before you finally come up gasping for air is the rear torpedo room. Yes they did have rear torpedoes. How else could they sink a tailgating enemy destroyer? Now that your finally back in the open world, feel free to take a photo of yourself on the rear deck gun.

   The whole tour, audio device and everything will take about an hour, if that. After going through the ship you might have a better appreciation of submariners. Especially after knowing that in todays world, the average submarine can stay underwater almost indefinitely. Add the new technology like SONAR, where the slightest sound can give away your position, and things can get pretty stressful down there. Before you leave the park, there is a little cafe that serves hotdogs and hamburgers for a pretty decent price. Then of course there is the gift shop. Much like the USS Missouri, it offers the usual stuff. They do have some books and films however, so if you want some reading material for the 8 hour flight back home, be sure to grab a book or two. Apart from the USS Bowfin, is a submarine museum and a display of various missiles and torpedoes which will be covered in a later post.

Entertainment: 3
Educational: 4
Price: 4
Cafe: 2
Gift shop: 3
Overall: 3

Additional Information

Address
11 Arizona Memorial drive, Honolulu HI

Hours of Operation
Sun - Sat 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m
Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day

Prices
Adult $10
Child (4-12) $4
Children under 4 are not allowed on submarine for safety reasons

For more information, visit: www.bowfin.org