A date which will live in infamy - Honolulu, HI
Honolulu, HI
On December 7 1941, the Japanese air force launched a surprise attack on the Pacific fleet of the United States. The attack on Pearl Harbour was planned by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, then commanding Japan's Combined Fleet, with high ranking naval officials continuing the planning as time went on. The primary aim of the attack was to keep the US Pacific Fleet from interfering with Japan's planned military actions across South East Asia in the overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States.
The attacked commenced at 7:48am Hawaiian Time, when 353 Imperial Japanese fighter planes, bombers and torpedo planes across two waves attacked the Pacific Fleet. All eight Navy battleships were damaged with four sunk - all but the USS Arizona were later raised and six were eventually returned to service. All the ships were moored together in an area known as Battleship Row. During the attack three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft ship and a mine laying ship were also sank or damaged. The decision had been taken to keep the majority of the fleet close together in Pearl Harbour as they were considered to be easily defended. A decision was also taken park aircraft at the nearby airfield wing tip to wing tip to avoid potential sabotage. This resulted in 188 aircraft being destroyed. 2403 people were killed and another 1178 were wounded - as there was no war at the time, those killed during the attack are considered 'non combatants’. On the Japanese side 29 aircraft and five midget subs were lost and 64 service men lost. Because the attack happened without a declaration of war and without explicit warning, the attack on Pearl Harbor was judged by the Tokyo Trials to be a war crime - that said there was an existing tension between the two countries and that tension had been slowing increasing.
It should be noted that Admiral Yamamoto had stipulated that the attack should not commence until thirty minutes after Japan had informed the United States that peace negotiations were at an end, however due to delays in the message being delivered, the attack began before the notice could be formally delivered - code breakers had deciphered some of the message but one part can be considered a ‘declaration of war’.
Since the attack there has been much discussion as how something of the scale could have happened - theories include Pearl Harbour itself being vulnerable to attack, the risk of there being only one entry/exit which could be easily blocked, reports of a Japanese midget sub being sunk being disregarded and radar signals indicating a large number of planes flying towards Hawaii being disregarded.
Of the battleships sunk during the attack, the USS Arizona was never raised and is a memorial to both the attack itself and the men who died aboard it.
Before we had left home, we had booked our tickets to visit the USS Arizona. Due to the popularity of the memorial, there are two options for getting tickets - pre book and pay $2.50 fee to get an entry time or try your luck with the tickets they make available on the day. We’d also decided to buy a ‘Passport to Pearl Harbour’ which got us entry into four museums. We weren’t due to go to the Arizona until after lunch, so we spent the morning visiting two museums physically located on Ford Island before catching the free shuttle back to the visitor’s centre to join our tour and to see one last museum.
The Pearl Harbour Memorial area (including Ford Island) have a strict ‘no bag’ rule. Anything larger than a camera case must be stored - annoying the shorts I chosen to wear did not easily accommodate my wallet and phone so I spent the day walking around with bulging pockets and it wasn’t really a good look.
First stop was the Battleship Missouri Memorial. The Mighty Mo (as she is known) is an Iowa class battle ship and is 270.4m long and 63.9m high - her number was BB-63 and she was the last US battleship to be completed as the focus then shifted to aircraft carriers. In her heyday she had a maximum speed of more than 32 knots (our cruise ship averages 18 knots, so she was quick). Her keel was laid in 1941 and was commissioned in 1944 before being decommissioned in 1955. She was recommissioned in 1986 before being decommissioned for the last time in 1992. Her main guns include nine 16.5 inch calibre battery guns - these guns had a range of 23 miles and were the largest installed on a US war ship. She also has a second battery of 5.38 inch calibre gun.
Beyond her fire power, the Mighty Mo participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima and Battle of Okinawa and went on to participate in the Korean War. When she was recommissioned, she went on to participate in Operation Desert Storm.
In April 1945, a low flying kamikaze Zero, while being fired upon, crashed into the ships starboard side, just below her main deck level. The starboard wing of the plane was thrown far forward, starting a gasoline fire near one of the gun mounts. The battleship suffered only superficial damage, and the fire was brought quickly under control - you can see the damage still today. The remains of the Zero’s pilot were recovered on board the ship and although crewmen did not agree, Captain Callaghan decided that the young Japanese pilot had done his job to the best of his ability, and with honour, so he should be given a military funeral. The following day he was buried at sea with military honours. As the years went by, the mystery around how this pilot was grew and after some research, his identity was discovered and family contacted. I think his daughter came to visit and lay a wreath at one point and was thankful that her father was treated with respect. It’s nice to know than even during war there can still be some humanity between enemies.
Probably her biggest claim to fame (other than the large guns) was that she was the location of the signing of the Japanese surrender documents which signalled the end of the Second World War. The location of the signing ceremony is signified by a plaque and a copy of the surrender documents themselves. Overlooking the area is a photo of MacArthur signing while the Japanese representatives and the representatives from the other participating nations watched on - interesting Australia signed about midway through the process.
After wandering around the ship for awhile and exploring decks below, we decided that it would be too cramped to live here and that we would be forever banging our knees and heads. That said, the sailors had a pretty good set up. The ship is quite active and hosts military ceremonies on a regular basis. While we where there, a group of Naval officers were moving into temporary quarters within the ship.
By now we were getting peckish, so we had lunch at a nearby food van - it was yummy, before we got the shuttle to the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbour.
The focus of the museum is on the aviation side of World War 2 and the Pearl Harbour attack. It opened in 2007 on the 65th anniversary of the attacks and located in Hangars 37, 54, 79 which are next to the airfield which was attacked. One of the hangars has visible bullet scars from the Pearl Harbour attack. The hangars are also located near the red and white flight tower which was made famous in the movie ‘Tora Tora Tora’.
Within the museum there are many different types of helicopters and planes, including an F111 which was donated by the Australian Government upon its retirement. They also have the civilian plane which encountered the Japanese squadrons on their way to Pearl Harbour. The information board next to it said that the pilot was in blue skies one second and then the next surrounded by fighter planes.
A highlight of the visit was meeting a Pearl Harbour survivor - Mr Dick Girocco. Mr Girocco was flight engineer on a PBY Catalina in Hangar 54 when the attack happened. He was part of the beaching crew. He was lovely and explained his job, which in a nutshell was putting the wheels on and off the Catalina when it needed to be transported on land - the PBY Catalina landed and took off in water, so it had detachable wheels. He volunteers his time at the museum to answer questions from visitors.
We got back on the shuttle and left Ford Island. When we were back at the visitors centre, we got our headsets and made our way through the museum area which leads to the Arizona waiting area. The focus of these museums is to tell the story of Pearl Harbour and then the story of the Arizona.
The USS Arizona was a Pennsylvania-class battleship built in the mid 1910’s. She did not see action in World War 1 but escorted President Woodrow Wilson to the Paris Peace Conference.
During the Pearl Harbour attack, several bombs hit the ship. While the first few caused some damage, it was the final bomb which likely hit near the ship’s second turret which caused extensive damage. About seven seconds after the final bomb hit, the ammunition magazines located in the forward section of the ship detonated in a cataclysmic explosion, mostly venting through the sides of the ship and destroying much of the interior structure of the forward part of the ship. This caused the forward turrets and conning tower to collapse downward some 25–30 feet and the foremast and funnel to collapse forward. The explosion killed 1,177 of the 1,512 crewmen on board at the time. The fires caused by the explosion burned for two days; debris fell on Ford Island and the blast also put out fires on the repair ship Vestal, which had been moored along side. What caused the magazines to detonate is unlikely to be known as not much of the ship remains and the area of original explosion was totally destroyed. Several members of the ships company won Medals of Honor for their conduct under fire - two of which were given posthumously.
The damage to the Arizona was so bad that she was declared unfit for service in she was salvaged. In 1942, the surviving super structure was scrapped and her main gun turrets were relocated to Battery Arizona at Kahe Point and Battery Pennsylvania on the Mokapu Peninsula. The second gun turetts were reinstalled on the USS Nevada and were later fired at Okinawa and Iwo Jima.
The wreck of Arizona remains at Pearl Harbor to commemorate the men of her crew lost that December morning in 1941. In March 1950, Admiral Arthur W. Radford, commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet at that time, instituted the raising of colours over her remains and in the wreak was designated a national shrine in 1962. A memorial was built across the ship's sunken remains, including a shrine room listing the names of the lost crew members on a marble wall. In 1989, the wreck was designated a National Historic Landmark.
The Arizona, although under the control of the National Park Service, retains the right, in perpetuity, to fly the United States flag as if she was an active, commissioned navel vessel - it is misconception that she is considered to be ‘in service’. To allow the men who served to be reunited with those who perished during the attack, upon their death, survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack may have their ashes placed within the ship, among their fallen comrades. Veterans who served aboard the ship at other times may have their ashes scattered in the water above the ship.
Visiting the memorial was sombre. After watching a video which shows the destruction of the attack and the Arizona exploding, you catch a small ferry out to the white memorial which straddles the wreck. If the light is right you can see the ship sitting below you - she is only a couple of meters below and you can see her rust coloured sides. Only the barbette of one of the turrets remains visible above the water and since her sinking, a small amount (about 2L a day) of oil leaks from the hull into the surrounding harbour. Noting that the ship is a war grave and disturbing it would not be good, some work is happening to explore non-intrusive ways to stop the leak. It is said that the oil leaking from the ship signify tears. At one of the memorial, there are the names of those who died and the survivors who have now joined their crewmates.
After catching the ferry back - you only have about 15 minutes at the memorial and then it is time for the next group to come across. Due to the number of people, it’s a well timed operation - we walked across to the USS Bowfin.
The Bowfin is a Balao class submarine named after the Bowfin fish. She was commissioned in 1943 and one her way to the Pacific War visited a couple of cities in Australia. She is 95m long and eight meters wide. Her top speed was 20 knots on the surface and 8 knots submerged. After several kills in the Pacific, she was decommissioned in 1947, only to be recommission 1951 where she participated in the Korean War. In 1953, she was decommissioned again and became a training sub in 1960. In 1971 she was taken back to Pearl Harbour and became a National Historic Landmark in 1986. While she is generally open to the public, there are some areas where access is denied.
I certainly do not want to live on a submarine. To say that is was squishy would be an understatement. Due to space constraints, some of the crew had to sleep with the missiles, which would mean moving your bed if they needed to be fired. Then there were the toilets which we randomly spotted along the main corridor, there was no privacy. The showers were tiny and again left nothing to the imagination. We thought the doorways on the Mo were bad, but they seemed huge compared to the knee knockers and head bumpers on the Bowfish.
We got a couple of last photos, bought a fridge magnet and then headed back to the bag drop to retrieve our things - on our way we saw a fellow frantically running back from his bus to the bag drop. We think he had forgotten to get it before leaving.
Day at Pearl Harbour complete, we hopped on the bus back to Waikiki and after a quick freshen up, met with some other people from the ship who were doing a side trip like us.
As we had all had big days, it wasn’t a big night, however we did find ourselves looking the Department store called Ross at 11pm for some cheap clothes. I swear the shops never seem to close!
Fun fact: One ship damaged in the attack was able to make a break for clear water outside the harbour. The USS Nevada was making good progress but ultimately the commanding officer made the decision, when it became apparent that the ship would sink and it was being targeted by bombers, to run her aground so that she would not block the harbour exit.