USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park

USA / Hawaii / Halawa / Arizona Memorial Drive, 11
 museum, submarine museum
11 Arizona Memorial Drive
Honolulu, HI 96818
(808) 423-1341
www.bowfin.org/

Mission Statement: USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park's mission is to restore and preserve the World War II submarine USS Bowfin (SS-287), and submarine-related artifacts on our grounds and in the Museum. Bowfin Park's parent organization, the Pacific Fleet Submarine Memorial Association (PFSMA), is a non-profit group that receives no state or federal funding.

Submarine: Visitors are given a walkman-style cassette player that narrates their tour as they explore this historic WWII submarine to imagine what life on board must have been like for her 80-man crew. USS Bowfin was launched on 7 December 1942 and completed nine successful war patrols. For her wartime service she also earned both the Presidential Unit Citation and the Navy Unit Commendation. USS Bowfin was acquired from the U.S. Navy in 1979 and opened to the public in 1981. In 1986 she was designated a National Historic Landmark by the Department of the Interior. Dive into Bowfin's War Patrols.

Museum: Explore the intriguing world of submarines, both past and present. Our 10,000 square foot Museum exhibits an impressive collection of submarine-related artifacts such as submarine weapon systems, photographs, paintings, battleflags, original recruiting posters, and detailed submarine models, all illustrating the history of the U.S. Submarine Service. Exhibits include a Poseidon C-3 missile that allows visitors to examine its inner workings. It is the only one of its kind to be on public display. Learn more about our Bowfin-related exhibits.

Mini-Theater: Relax and enjoy submarine-related videos in our Mini-theater, which seats approximately 40 visitors.

Waterfront Memorial: Within Bowfin Park stands a public memorial honoring the 52 American submarines and the more than 3,500 submariners lost during WWII.
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Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Bowfin
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   21°22'7"N   157°56'18"W

Comments

  • It wasn't mentioned during the audio tour or in the museum but I later learned that one of the ships sunk by the USS Bowfin, the Tsushima Maru, was evacuating Japanese civilians to Nagasaki from Naha. Nearly 1500 civilians (including 767 children) were killed in the attack. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsushima_Maru Memorial for the children lost on the Tsushima Maru: http://www.tsushimamaru.or.jp/e_index.html
  • War is hell
  • Children were killed? Well F those little MF'ers!
  • Like MHibbs said, War is Hell. Let's not forget about the thousands of Allied POWs and people from the conquered countries that were being used as slave labor that died after their ships were attacked by submarines and aircraft who had no idea what were inside those ships because the Japanese refused to mark them with a red cross. Refusing to do so left them open to these attacks, with submariners and aviators thinking they were attacking just another cargo ship loaded with materiel heading for the Japanese home islands. http://www.west-point.org/family/adbc/hellship.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell_ship
This article was last modified 8 years ago