January 14, 2024 Oahu Hawaii, Day 26

We are enjoying another beautiful Hawaiian day. Temperature around 78 degrees, calm winds, and an almost cloudless  blue sky day. This is how our day started. That is a view of Diamond head as we are arriving.

As we neared our docking space at Pier 2.

The tower, used to be a light house, but now it is a clock tower. 

The island has a population of 1.5 million, and Honolulu has 345 thousand. The population of native Hawaiians is moving away from the islands, and now locating on the main land in Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, and Texas. This is due to cost of living, they no longer can afford to live here.

We signed up for a tour of the Pearl Harbor National Monument. This did not include the Arizona, unless we thought we could get out there and back before our bus departed for the ship. Mike and I have both been to the Arizona Memorial separately in our other lives. 

We headed to The sub, Bowfin is available for tours. Here is the pictures we were able to take outside and inside the sub.

The binoculars were directed at the Arizona Memorial in the distance. It was a great view.
 

Quarters were tight, and if you have seen any movies from WW II, you will see men going up and down stairs and through hatches fast. We did not see how they were able to do this. Quarters are tight, and everything has been done to keep everything compact, and best if you are on the shorter side.

Above you see things they have found from the 1940's while they have been refurbishing the sub.

The picture on the right is the Galley. Can you imagine feeding the 70 sailors and officers from this Kitchen? 

The bunks above were shared. I believe they said the sailors were on duty for 4 hours and off 8 hours. They let us know that only the kitchen staff showered every day, to conserve water. Can you imagine the smell? Ugh

Above is the Captain's quarters. The sink is foldable, against the wall. To the right is the officer's Mess. 

Below is the head, or toilet such as it was.

I was particularly interested in the radio shack, as my Dad was a radioman who was almost assigned to submarine duty. He requested to not be on submarines, and spent the rest of his time in the Navy on Merchant Marine ships. This is the radio shack, what he would have used if on subs.

This is the view from the top of the sub. Below is the USS Missouri, and the Arizona memorial.

This bird was hopping around the grounds. Maybe someone can tell me what bird this is. It has a bright red head.

We took a tour of historic Honolulu. To the left, is the eternal flame. It is a WWII war memorial. Below is the Presidential house.

This is a church built in the 1842. It is unusual                                                   because it is made of coral blocks.

Goodbye Oahu, it has been an enjoyable visit.