February 14th, Hawai'i Day 1

Although I arrived in Honolulu on February 13th, it was already 22:00 when I left the airport (HNL) and I took a taxi straight to my hostel. It was called the Polynesian Beach Club Hostel, located in Waikiki amidst the towering hotels frequented by those more affluent than myself. Actually, it was a very delightful place with great people. In any event, I went to sleep right after arriving and so the 14th, Valentine's Day, was my first real day in Honolulu.

I awoke on the morning of the 14th with the express intention of visiting the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor (note the spelling), perhaps the most popular place in the Honolulu area. I would end up spending most of the day in Pearl City. I arrived at the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial Park around 10:00 and then I would have to wait about 2 hours for my turn to board the ferry to take me to memorial out in the middle of the water. Luckily, it was free.

For those who are not versed in history, or don't watch Ben Affleck movies, Pearl Harbor was the site of a surprise attack by the Imperial Japanese Forces in the early morning hours of Sunday, December 7th, 1941. This event was the catalyst for American entry into World War Two and when addressing Congress seeking permission to go to war, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt referred to December 7th as "... a date which will live in infamy,...". The attack, comprising of carrier-borne aircraft, was headed by Admiral Nagumo, who had managed to sneak his taskforce of 6 carriers and several other warships across 7 000 km of open ocean completely undetected. A contemporary of his, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, although realizing that war with the U.S. was his country's only real option, was reluctant to celebrate the victory, feeling that the Japanese had only succeeded in awaking "a slumbering giant". With the US mobilizing its entire industrial might behind the war effort, the tide of the Pacific War changed within 6 months, when in June of 1942, American forces sank 4 Japanese carriers at the Battle of Midway. By war's end, the Americans had succeeded in sinking 4 of the 6 Japanese carriers which had participated in the assault on Pearl Harbor.

The U.S.S. Arizona was a battleship in the Pacific Fleet and it was, along with other battleships, parked in the harbor the morning of the attack. Of the over 3 000 Americans that died that day, nearly half were killed when U.S.S. Arizona exploded after a bomb hit its magazine (ammunition hold). It is its mass that now is the memorial.

Although the Japanese caused more than considerable damage to the Pacific Fleet and Army Air Corps (predecessor to the Air Force), the US quickly rebounded from the loss. Only 3 of the ships that were sunk that day were not repaired: U.S.S. Utah, U.S.S. Oklahoma and U.S.S. Arizona. After the Second World War, the U.S.S. Arizona, which is a tomb for over 1 000 sailors and marines was made into a memorial for all those who lost their lives in the attack. The U.S.S. Arizona remains where she sank and no remains have ever been brought to the surface.

To get to the memorial, you board a ferry which takes you there. You spend about 18 minutes inside the memorial before you go back. In the photos after this entry, you'll see the inside of the memorial.

After the U.S.S. Arizona, I went to the U.S.S. Bowfin, a decommissioned submarine which serves as a floating museum. It is of the same class of submarine as the U.S.S. Stingray in the movie Down Periscope. In the photos, you'll see how crowded it is inside a submarine.

I then proceeded to the U.S.S. Missouri Museum across the harbour, anchored off Ford Island in the middle of Pearl Harbor. The U.S.S. Missouri was the world's last battleship, decommissioned in 1991 after service in the First Gulf War. In World War Two, the U.S.S. Missouri was the sight of the Japanese surrender which ended the Second World War on September 2, 1945. It is quite fitting that the ship that ended the war be situated next to the skeleton of the ship that started it.

Finally, I spent some time in Downtown Honolulu, and there are some photos of that, but more on that on Day 2.

U.S.S Arizona related photos are available at: http://arizonamemorial.blogspot.com/

U.S.S. Bowfin related photos are available at: http://ussbowfinmuseum.blogspot.com/

U.S.S. Missouri and downtown Honolulu related photos are available at: http://ussmissourimuseum.blogspot.com/