Oahu - Hawaii with Kids - page 117

USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park Ages 5 and up. The USS
Bowfin is one of only 15 World War II submarines still in existence today. You
can go below deck of this famous submarine—nicknamed the “Pearl Harbor
Avenger” for its successful attacks on the Japanese—and see how the 80-man
crew lived during wartime. The Bowfin Museum has an impressive collection of
submarine-related artifacts. The Waterfront Memorial honors submariners lost
during World War II.
11 Arizona Memorial Dr. (next to the USS ArizonaMemorial Visitor Center). & 808/423-1341. www.bowfin.
org. Admission $8 adults, $6 active-duty military personnel, $3 children 4-12. Daily 8am-5pm. See USS Ari-
zonaMemorial, above for driving, bus, and shuttle directions.
USS MissouriMemorial Ages 5 and up. On the deck of this 58,000-ton
battleship (the last one the navy built), World War II came to an end with the
signing of the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945. The Missouri was part
of the force that carried out bombing raids over Tokyo and provided firepower
in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. In 1955, the navy decommissioned the
ship and placed it in mothballs at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, in Wash-
ington State. But the Missouri was modernized and called back into action in
1986, eventually being deployed in the Persian Gulf War, before retiring once
again in 1992. Here it sat until another battle ensued, this time over who would
get the right to keep this living legend. Hawaii won that battle and brought the
ship to Pearl Harbor in 1998. The next year, the 887-foot ship, like a phoenix,
rose again into the public spotlight; it's now open to visitors as a museum
memorial.
If you have the time, take the tour, which begins at the visitor center. Guests
are shuttled to Ford Island on military-style buses while listening to a 1940s-
style radio program (complete with news clips, wartime commercials, and
music). Once on the ship, guests watch an informational film and are then free
to explore on their own or take a guided tour. Highlights of this massive (more
than 200 ft. tall) battleship include the forecastle (or foc's'le, in navy talk), where
the 30,000-pound anchors are “dropped” on 1,080 feet of anchor chain; the 16-
inch guns (each 65 ft. long and weighing 116 tons), which can accurately fire a
2,700-pound shell some 23 miles in 50 seconds; and the spot where the Instru-
ment of Surrender was signed as Douglas MacArthur, Chester Nimitz, and
“Bull” Halsey looked on.
Battleship Row, Pearl Harbor. & 808/423-2263. www.ussmissouri.com. Admission $16 adults, $8 children
4-12 (hour-long guided tours available 9:30am-4:30pm; $22 adults and $14 children, admission included).
Daily 9am-5pm. Check in at the visitor center of the USS BowfinMemorial, next to the USS ArizonaMemo-
rial. Drive west on H-1 past the airport, take the USS ArizonaMemorial exit, and follow the green-and-white
signs; there's ample free parking. Bus: 20 and 47.
Waikiki Aquarium All ages. Do not miss this! Half of Hawaii is its
underwater world; plan to spend at least 2 hours discovering it. Behold the
chambered nautilus, nature's submarine and inspiration for Jules Verne's 20,000
Leagues Under the Sea. You may see this tropical spiral-shelled cephalopod mol-
lusk—the only living one born in captivity—any day of the week here. Its nat-
ural habitat is the deep waters of Micronesia, but aquarium director Bruce
Carlson not only succeeded in trapping the pearly-shelled creature in 1,500 feet
of water (by dangling chunks of raw tuna), he also managed to breed this ancient
relative of the octopus. There are also plenty of other fish in this small but first-
class aquarium, located on a live coral reef. The Hawaiian reef habitat features
sharks, eels, a touch tank, and habitats for the endangered Hawaiian monk seal