Two to Travel's Blasts from the Past: A Day in Hawaii: USS Bowfin

10 November 2984

Following our visit to the USS Arizona Memorial (click here to read the post), the shuttle boat returned us to the Visitor Center.

If you squint and look in the distance, you can see the USS Arizona Memorial.

With time on our hands before our sunset cruise, we decided to tour the USS Bowfin, a WWII-era submarine, that was nicknamed the “Pearl Harbor Avenger.” Located next door to the USS Arizona Visitor Center, it was easy walking-distance. While we waited for a group to finish touring the submarine, we played around with the big guns on the museum grounds.

Though an excellent anti-aircraft weapon, the 3"/50 proved to be too light to be effective.

the 40mm Quad Gun was designed primarily for anti-aircraft fire.
Each gun had a firing rate of 120 rounds per minute and fired a 2-lb. projectile.

The USS Bowfin, a Balao-class fleet attack submarine, was launched in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on December 7, 1942. From the time she was commissioned on May 1, 1943 to when the war in the Pacific ended in August 1945, she conducted nine war patrols and sank 44 enemy vessels.

An audio-tour wand makes an excellent guide.

USS Bowfin was decommissioned in July 1946. It remained in the reserve fleet until July 1951 when it was recommissioned for use during the Korean War. She didn’t see any action during that conflict, however.

Welcome Aboard!

From 1960 to 1971, USS Bowfin served as a Reserve Training Submarine in Seattle, Washington. In December 1971, she was stricken from the Navy rolls, an action that means a ship is too old for any useful purpose. She was saved from being sold for scrap when she was ordered to Pearl Harbor for retirement. As the brochure we picked up stated: “Almost immediately, a small group in Hawaii banded together to foster and implement a common idea: a fitting tribute to the men of the Silent Service who played such an important role in the United States’ victory in the Pacific during World War II.”