During the 35th round of the VITP ladder, I sent out the following thoughts on my visit to Pearl Harbor. Several players responded with their own memories and comments. I've included all of them here.
John R. Pack: Last week was Pearl Harbor Day. It’s not a day many remember during a busy holiday season. I hope, as VITP players, that we remember Pearl Harbor more especially, the sacrifice and bravery of those who fought, and the freedoms that were won. I have some VITP news to share, but I’d like to share a few thoughts first.
The past summer my wife, children, and I traveled to Hawaii. For me the two days we spent at Pearl Harbor Naval Station were the most memorable and emotional. While I enjoyed the Pacific Air Museum, and the USS Bowfin and her museum, the contrast between the USS Arizona and the nearby USS Missouri – side-by-side symbols of crushing defeat and ultimate victory – was the memory that sticks most in my heart and mind.
The shattered USS Arizona, built for war when airplanes were novelties not threats, lies beneath just a few feet of water – her rusting features clearly visible and of intense interest to a student of the war. More than 1,000 sailors remain entombed there – a number that seems beyond belief in our day of automation when super-tankers sail the oceans with only a few dozen sailors. Many survivors of the USS Arizona have chosen to be entombed with their comrades – returning to those for whom the dice were not so fortunate. Looking out the port side of the memorial, I watched oil bubbles trickle to the surface just as they have done since December 7th, 1941. In a way, the ship whose mainmast still flies the colors each day seems to be whispering, “we gave our lives for you.”
Nearby, moored where the USS Tennessee was on Pearl Harbor Day, is one of the mightiest ships ever built, the USS Missouri. Battleships were designed with a completely different philosophy than governs modern warships, which are relatively lightly-armored and whose defenses are based on not getting hit. The belt armor on the Missouri is designed to withstand a 2.5 ton armor-piercing shell traveling at supersonic speeds. The upper decks (2” of steel followed by 6” of steel) are designed to set off and then withstand respectively a 500 lb bomb dropped with pinpoint accuracy by an enemy dive-bomber. Our tour guide claimed the 6” deck could withstand a direct hit from the Yamato (and I didn’t want to shatter his illusions – stopping Yamato is what that triple barrier side armor was for). The caretaker of the USS Wisconsin (which I toured in 2008) told us that one reason the Marine Corp keeps two Iowa-class battleships in mothballs is that our steel industry is no longer capable of building such a ship (and that they want the ground support provided by those 16” guns).
The Missouri is designed to put nine 16” shells on its selected target every thirty seconds. In fact, she was continuously firing for so long during the Korean War that she ran out of ammunition! The Chinese were able to advance only when she was forced to leave and re-supply. I think we’ve all seen what those five bonus shots can do. All I can say is that I wouldn’t want to be on any ship the Mighty Mo was shooting at!
When the USS Missouri was moved to Pearl Harbor, they towed her rather than running her engines because it takes a fire hose of fuel to get her up to 32 knots. On the other hand, the Wisconsin was used as an armored tanker during Desert Storm – since she could get the fuel where it needed to go even under enemy fire.
I know wargamers love to debate which battleship was the best ad nauseum, but I’ll go with the Mighty Mo, the last battleship commissioned by the United States – and the one which took advantage of the lessons learned by all the others. There were changes incorporated even after the launch of the Wisconsin (the only BB with a higher hull number). The bomb that took out the Arizona would have had very little impact on the Missouri. Even more, the approaching plane would have to get through a hail of fire from hundreds of AA installations on virtually every exposed surface of the ship. In fact, providing AA coverage as well as shore bombardment was one of Might Mo’s biggest assignments.
We took the best tour available on the USS Missouri (since I don’t know when I’ll make it to Hawaii again). It was a wonderful tour. We got to go into turret #2 and the ramming/elevator area for the left gun. We also saw the analog aiming and tracking equipment (which was returned when it turned out the computers weren’t as accurate), engine room, damage control (where I thought to myself that “this is were we won the war”), machine shops, and the more common galleys, quarters, cafeteria, navigation deck, infirmary, and officer’s areas. Finally, we visited the deck where the final surrender was signed and the war officially came to an end (on about Turn 10 in game terms). It was humbling to stand where General McArthur and Admirals Halsey and Nimitz had once stood and where the Empire of Japan had come to an end.
Having lived and been educated in Utah, I would have liked to see the USS Utah, but, alas, that part of the base is closed to the public. The long-since obsolete Utah had been stripped of armaments and used as a target ship even before the war. Her flat decks made her look like an aircraft carrier to the attacking pilots. I expect that the torpedoes she took on Pearl Harbor Day saved other ships and sailors.
I hope you’ve enjoyed these thoughts. I’ll bring some of the mementos of my visit to Pearl Harbor to the Midwest Open.
Tom Henige: When I visited Pearl Harbor many years ago I visited the USS Arizona memorial, the USS Bowfin, and the "Punchbowl" military cemetary, among other places. However, the USS Missouri was not anchored in Pearl at that time. It sounds like the ship is well-maintained and has a well-run tour, which is good to hear. I hope to get back to Hawaii one day, and will be sure to take the full tour of the Missouri when I do.
Charles Ward: I was very interested in your detailed report on the Iowa class BBs. As an NROTC midshipman I sailed on a 3-week training cruise on the USS Wisconsin in the summer of 1957. We sailed from Norfolk, passed through the Panama Canal, reached our ultimate destination of Valparaiso, Chile, then returned by the same route. I well remember our watches and training sessions below the 16" gun turrets where the 5-foot high shells were eased into the ammunition lifts by virture of sliding them on oily deck surfaces. We also viewed a firing session from the fantail of the ship, where 16" shells were fired 25 miles onto the target island of Culebra. Surprisingly, it was possible to get a very brief glimpse of the shells during the ascent of their flight to the target. Another vivid memory was climbing 16 (as I recall) levels to the top fire-control station, from where one could see other ships in our flotilla which looked relatively nearby despite being partially over the horizon when viewed from the main deck level.
Thanks for stimulating the memories!!
Mike Bennett: No, I cannot reminisce as was not born till 1951. Neither was my father nor uncle on a ship.
I did visit the navy yard museum at Charleston. It is amazing what a decade can do. My first memory was that the American CV Yorktown was quite flimsy with sort of like cardboard decks (thin plywood) with numerous gaping holes to walk around. It is now a sound ship with numerous air planes on deck . Alas, I doubt the planes are those from the war. It was much gratifying to see the ship so much improved on my last visit circa 2006. I suspect my feeling was similar to your sensation of being at Hawaii with the BBs. The museum at Norfolk may have a BB.... I remember it being a fair size ship. [John: The USS Wisconsin is currently in Norfolk.]