April 4, 1884 is a date that probably does not appear in the American history books. Yet, it shaped the path for modern day America and the entire world.
On this day, a boy is born to a 56-year old samurai of the Takano family in Nagakoa, Japan. Later he is adopted into the Yamamoto family and attends the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy. After the Russo-Japanese war, he returns to the Naval Staff Academy and graduates as Lieutenant Commander.
His career brings him to the US as a naval attache. He travels extensively throughout the country, learns to speak fluent English, and studies American customs and business practices. He even attends Harvard University from 1919 to 1921. By 1934, he is promoted to Vice Admiral and eventually moves to the Navy Ministry. Here he makes several enemies among the Japanese army and politics, by opposing the land invasion of China, a war with the US, and Tripartite Pact with Nazi Germany and Italy.
In the face of the death threats he continues to receive as a result of this opposition, the Navy minister assigns him as the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet in 1939, with the hopes that moving him to sea will make it harder for assassins to target him.He counsels Japan against a war with the US, as he is convinced that Japan could not hold up against the US for more than a year.
Eventually, he accepts that a war is inevitable and single-handedly devices a plan that would cripple the US fleet and present an opportunity for a quick victory, to Japan. On December 17, 1941, the mastermind behind the Pearl Harbor attack, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, brings World War II to America’s doorsteps.
A Day at Pearl Harbor
During my 3-week trip to Hawaii, I had so much planned for Kauai, Maui and The Big Island, that I decided to only allocate a day and a half in Oahu. Having made it all the way to Hawaii, it would be a shame to neglect this important piece of history that shaped the dynamics of the modern world. Who knows, I may never go back again and get the opportunity to visit Pearl Harbor.
Entry into the Pearl Harbor is free but getting tickets for the USS Arizona Memorial is the trickiest part. You can try to get free tickets that are given out on a first come, first served basis, but those are all gone by 7 am. My husband and I were there in off-season, but were not willing to take chances, so we bought a package a few days in advance that gave us entry into most of the memorials. Tickets for peak seasons sell out months in advance, according to their official website.
USS Arizona Memorial
On the morning of December 17, 1941, the first wave of Japanese air strikes focused its attack on Battleship Row at Pearl Harbor, where most of the US Pacific Fleet was docked. USS Arizona had all of its 1512 crewman on board. It took a couple of hits from the dropping bombs.
The final blow was delivered by a shell that penetrated the deck near the ammunition magazines. The magazines detonated, causing a devastating explosion, engulfing the ship in flames, and killing 1177 of the men trapped inside.
Our tour started with a 25 minute video about the horrors of the attack, and stories of the USS Arizona survivors and heroes who risked their lives to pull fellow seamen out of the burning giant. Growing up in a different country, I never learned the details of the attack on Pearl Harbor, so a lot of this was new and shocking for me.
The heartbreaking stories from both the US and Japanese side were enough to jerk tears out of my eyes. I could hear many other sniffles in the theatre. Once the video ended, we walked out in solemn silence and stepped onto the ferry that took us to the memorial.
Designed by Alfred Pries and dedicated on Memorial Day in 1962, the Arizona Memorial is a white rectangular bridge-like structure that stands perpendicularly above the sunken hull of the battleship.
The wrecked hull remains the final resting place of over 900 men and serves as a living reef for the local marine life. At the far end of the memorial is a shrine room where a marble wall list the names of all the men who were lost that day. Since the sinking, a little over 2 quarts of oil leaks into the harbor everyday, forming oil bubbles that refract light into rainbow colors on the water surface.
After we paid our respectful tribute to the fallen men, the ferry took us back to the shore. The entire tour, with the movie included, took about 75 minutes.
USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park
USS Bowfin submarine, was nicknamed the Pearl Harbor Avenger because it was commissioned exactly one year after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It single handedly took down 44 enemy ships. It was really small, even for a submarine. Imagining life in the cramped chambers of the ship was hard for me but it really showed the sense of patriotism that sailors back in the day must have carried with them, to serve inside this thing.
Most of the submarine is publicly accessible, and the audio tour makes for a great educational visit for both kids and adults. After a fairly quick pass through the entire submarine, we headed over to the museum and got a lot of historical background on the war, the construction of the submarines, and giant scuba diving suits.
I found the collection of recruiting posters (see collage in the header of this post) to be very interesting. They all attempt to entice potential recruits using either the cool factor or the guilt factor. I wonder how well these approaches would work in today’s world.
USS Missouri: America’s Last Battleship
We hopped on a shuttle to Ford Island near the USS Bowfin Museum and were dropped off right next to the Battleship Missouri Monument. There we picked up headsets for our audio tour and climbed up to the main deck. Mighty Mo is all about impressive numbers and you don’t get a good appreciation of its size until you are standing next to it, or better yet, on it.
Most of the main deck is open to the public. It houses the main battery turrets as well as the captain’s cabin. It also provides access to 5 smaller levels where you can check out the Tomahawk. About half of the second deck is also publicly accessible. It houses the crew’s mess, offices, kitchen, bakery and other facilities. Here we learned about the daily lives of the crew on board.
The Immortal Life of Mighty Mo
After its construction completed in early 1944, the battleship was launched as USS Missouri on June 11, 1944 under the command of Captain William M. Callaghan. It served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Gulf War. Perhaps the most significant aspect of this battleship is that WWII officially ended on its deck.
On August 29, 1945, USS Missouri entered Tokyo Bay to prepare for the signing of the official instrument of surrender. High-ranking officials from all of the Allied powers we received on board on September 2. Japanese delegation headed by foreign minister Mamoru Shigemitsu came next. It is here that General MacArthur then conducted the surrender ceremony. The surrender deck is also accessible from the main deck.
Kamikaze Attack Exhibit
Kamikaze were suicide attacks conducted by Japanese pilots during WWII. In an attempt to cause maximum damage, a pilot would crash a plane full of explosives, bombs or torpedoes, and a full fuel tank, into an enemy ship. During WWII, Japan sacrificed over 3000 of its soldiers in such attacks.
On April 11, 1945 a Japanese Zeke pilot named Setsuo Ishino launched one such attack on USS Missouri. He crashed his plane into the battleship just below the deck level. One of the plane’s wings flew off into a turret and started a fire, but the 500-pound bomb in the plane did not detonate. The fire was put out easily, causing only some superficial damage to the battleship.
After discovering the remains of the pilot scattered on the main deck, captain Callaghan decided that the young pilot had kept his honor by doing his job and sacrificed himself for his country. Therefore, he was given a military funeral with honors, wrapped in a makeshift Japanese flag, and buried at sea on April 12.
This was my favorite exhibit on the ship because it highlighted the humanity of warriors on both sides. It displayed letters that the 19-year old Ishino had written to his parents, saying his goodbyes and embracing his fate for the honor of his country and emperor. On the other hand, despite the controversy that it created among his crewman, Callaghan saw his opponent as an honorable warrior who had died serving his country in a time of war. These acts are important in the time of war, because they differentiate us from blood thirsty barbarians.
Pacific Aviation Museum
With only enough time to visit one more site, we decided to hop on a shuttle to the Pacific Aviation Museum. We started at Hangar 37 (~42,000 sq ft), which used to be a seaplane hangar and survived the Pearl Harbor attack. Have I ever told you how happy planes make me? I spent more time here than any normal person would. I think I read every storyboard in front of every display in this museum. I mean, look at this beautiful B-25B Mitchell.
This is similar to the B-25 bombers used in the recklessly courageous Doolitle Raid. In order to boost morale, right after the Pearl Harbor attack, President Roosevelt ordered an air raid over Tokyo. Colonel Doolittle selected the B-25 for delivering 400-500 pound bombs over such a great distance. They had to strip out most of the interior, including guns, to reduce the overall payload to 2000 pounds.
The rear guns were replaced with broomsticks and painted black to give the illusion of guns. 16 planes, carrying 80 people in total, flew to Tokyo and delivered bombs, with a plan to land in China. The bomb delivery was successful, but the return to China was not. All things considered, 69 men evaded capture and death. There were some casualties, and a few men landed over hostile territories and were captured. But Doolitle had done what he set out to accomplish.
The display pictured above shows an authentic F4F Wildcat, used by the Cactus Air Force (the combined air power of the Allied Forces) that played a huge role in the air combat support during the Battle of Guadalcanal. In June 1942, the Japanese troops started building an air base as this would allow them to control the sea lanes between the US and Australia. Two months later, the Marines launched a surprise attack to capture the airfield that was eventually named Henderson Airfield. A long battle followed, but America was eventually victorious.
The Guadalcanal Marines deserve special mention, in my opinion. If you haven’t watched the HBO miniseries, The Pacific, I would highly recommend it. It does a really good job at capturing the war in its entirety, but the Guadalcanal story has stuck with me. Although the US casualties were less than 2,000 compared to the whopping 20,000 Japanese deaths during this battle, these men had to put up with some terrible conditions. Majority of the US deaths were a result of malaria and malnutrition. Due to heavy fleet damage incurred by the US navy, it was hard to get supplies to the stationed men.
Over in Hangar 79 (~80,000 sq ft), there is a big collection of modern and historic planes and helicopters. Damaged seaplanes were repaired in this hangar, back in the day. Bullet holes made by Japanese airplanes during the Pearl Harbor attack are still visible in the windows of the hangar.
They also have a copy of the original (and depressing) order for the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Right behind it, I noticed an old relic that was under the process of restoration, at the time. This is the Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress. Dubbed the Swamp Ghost, this particular aircraft has a very interesting story that you can read here.
Satisfied and somewhat exhausted after our full day at the harbor, we took a bus down to Honolulu for dinner. Did you know that Honolulu is home to America’s only Royal Castle?
