Pearl Harbor, west of Honolulu on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, is a U.S. Navy deep-water naval base and headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is also Hawaii’s most popular tourism location. Commercial tour operators offer a variety of Pearl Harbor battle tours around the numerous military memorials and museums commemorating the attack by the Empire of Japan on December 7, 1941, which brought the U.S. into World War II.
Pearl Harbor [was originally|began as] a large, shallow bay teeming with oysters. The original Hawaiians considered it the home of the shark goddess Ka’ahupahau and her brother Kahi’uka, and they named it Wai Momi or Pu’uloa. To allow passage of canoes and larger vessels, the Ewa chief Keaunui widened and deepened the Pearl River estuary. The Americans took possession of Pearl Harbor in 1887, designating it “Naval Station, Hawaii” after the annexation of Hawaii in the 19th century.
The Attack’s Aftermath
The U.S. armada lost 9 warships, and had 21 severely damaged ships. The death toll reached 2,350, including 68 civilians. [In addition, |]1,178 non-casualties were injured. Out of the military personnel lost at Pearl Harbor, 1,177 were crew of the USS Arizona.
The Attack: How it Happened
Aircraft and midget submarines of the Japanese Navy began an attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at 6:05am on December 7, 1941. Six Japanese carriers under the command of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto launched a first volley of 183 airplanes, hitting outlying Hawaii-based ships and military installations at 7:51am, and military airfields of Ford Island.
The battleship Arizona was sunk in a matter of seconds after it was struck by an armor-piercing bomb that detonated the forward ammunition magazine. The U.S. navy anchored in Pearl Harbor was attacked at 8:30am by a second volley of 170 Japanese planes , mostly torpedo bombers.
USS Arizona Battleship MemorialTours
The Arizona Memorial, located just off Ford Island on Pearl Harbor’s “Battleship Row,” invites more than 1.5 million visitors annually. Operated by the National Parks Service, the 184-foot-long white structure was erected to honor the 2,350 people who passed away during the attack, including 1,177 crew still entombed in the battleship.
Completed in 1961, the Memorial was dedicated a year after, and contained three main sections: the entry and assembly room; a central area designed for ceremonies and general observation; and the shrine room containing a marble wall where the names of those killed on the Arizona are engraved. Included in this tour are a brief documentary film about the Pearl Harbor attack and a boat shuttle ride to the Arizona.
The signing officially marking the end of World War II took place aboard the Missouri on September 2, 1945, when the Japanese surrendered. The Battleship was decommissioned for the [final|last] time on March 31, 1992, after serving in both the Korean and Gulf Wars. On Jan 29, 1999, The USS Battleship Missouri Memorial was publicly opened.
USS Bowfin Submarine Museam & Park
The USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park is a tribute to the 52 American submarines and more than 3,500 submariners lost in the second World War. During nine successful war patrols, the Bowfin sank 44 Japanese ships after its launch on December 7, 1942. In 1980, the submarine was brought to Pearl Harbor and docked [next to|by] the USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center. It officially opened to the public as a “museum ship,” on April 1, 1981. In 1986, the Bowfin was designated a National Historic Landmark.
Pacific Aviation Museum
Located within former WWII airplane hangars on Pearl Harbor’s Ford Island, the Pacific Aviation Museum is an immersive aviation museum equipped with interactive simulators and exhibits revealing the stories behind authentic WWII fighter planes and bombers. Similar to the one used in the famous “Doolittle Raid” on Japan in 1942, a B-25B Bomber is displayed alongside authentic an Japenese Zero in Hangar 37, a 42,000 square foot airplane hangar that withstood the Pearl Harbor attack.
USS Oklahoma Memorial
The USS Oklahoma Memorial was dedicated on December 7th, 2007, in honor of 429 crewmen who died in the Pearl Harbor bombing. Approximately [nine|9] torpedoes hit “The Okie,” capsizing this 35,000-ton battleship in only 12 minutes. After the ship capsized, crewmen trapped in compartments below deck tried to signal rescue crews on the surface with hammers and wrenches. 2 days after the attack, 32 men were rescued from its overturned hull.