Pearl Harbor Historic Sites PDF Print E-mail

Visiting Pearl Harbor

The Pearl Harbor Historic Sites

USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park is a member of the Pearl Harbor Historic Partners, four seperate organizations that cooperate in telling the story of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the history of the War in the Pacific.

Bowfin Park is a privately operated non-profit institution that relies on admission fees and gift shop sales to maintain the historic World War II submarine USS Bowfin and the adjacent Pacific Submarine Museum.

arizona-memorialThe USS Arizona Memorial, now part of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument (see below), is operated by the National Park Service. Admission is free (tax supported). The new Visitor Center is under construction, and should be completed soon.

The USS Oklahoma Memorial is also part of the World War II Valor in the Pacific Mational Monument, and operated by the National Park Service. It is located on Ford Island, just outside the entrance to the Battleship Missouri Memorial. Admission is free.

missouri-bowBattleship Missouri Memorial - Pier Foxtrot 5, Pearl Harbor - See the Mighty Mo, veteran of three wars and the site of Japan's surrender at the conclusion of the Second World War.  Walk the decks of one of America's most formitable warships, and imagine the power of her nine 16-inch guns.

Pacific Aviation Museum

 

Pacific Aviation Museum - Pearl Harbor, located on Ford Island in the original hangers that survived the attack that brought America into the War in the Pacific.  The museum features a fantastic array of vintage aircraft, many fully restored and others being prepared for future display. Flight Simulators, the Museum Store, and the Laniākea Café help make this a must-see stop on your visit to Pearl Harbor.

 

There is a charge to visit the Battleship Missouri Memorial and the Pacific Aviation Museum, which are operated, as we are, by private, non-profit groups.


World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument

Protected Sites

Attu Battlefield, Attu Island, AK

B-24 Crash Site, Atka Island, AK

Battleship Row Moorings, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, HI

Chief Petty Officer Bungalows, Ford Island, Honolulu, HI

Japanese Occupation Site, Kiska, AK

Tule Lake Japanese Internment Camp, Newell, CA

USS Arizona Memorial and Halawa Landing, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, HI

USS Oklahoma Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, HI

USS Utah Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, HI

Recognized Sites

Battleship USS Missouri, Honolulu, HI
Blunts Point Battery, American Samoa
Ewa Field, Oahu, HI
Guadacanal, Guadacanal
I-401 Japanese submarine, Off Oahu, HI
Iwo Jima, Iwo Jima
Landing Beaches, Aslito-Isley Field & MarpiPoint, CNMI
Midget Submarine, Off Oahu, HI
Midway WWII Facilities, Midway
Pacific Aviation Museum, Honolulu, HI
Punchbowl National Cemetary, Honolulu, HI
Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front NHP, San Francisco, CA
Tinian Landing Beaches, Ushi Point & North Fields, Tinian Island, CNMI
USS Bowfin, Honolulu, HI
USS Yorktown, off Midway
Wake Island, Wake Island
War in the Pacific National Historic Park, Guam
Wendover Airfield, Wendover, UT

 

General Information for Visitors to Hawaii

For more information on visiting the Islands, go to Hawaii's Official Tourism Site. Be sure to click on "Stories of Hawaii" and follow Historian Daniel Martinez in "Pearl Harbor and Beyond" as he takes you to the Pearl Harbor Historic Sites and other Oahu landmarks.

 

 

Secrets of the Sub

Vargas Girls

Vargas  Girls

Vagas Girls Image

  

Artist Alberto Vargas became famous for his WWII watercolors depicting beautiful pin-up girls. "Varga girls" were so popular that many different artists immitated Vargas’ technique and approach to the female figure: an idealized female form eliciting sensuality and seduction.  During the 1940’s his work was a hit amongst enlisted men who drew inspiration from them which inadvertently created high morale. The military was so influenced by this art that they adorned their vessels with it. Many military aircraft had Varga style girls decorating the nose of their planes, Varga girls were even printed on greeting cards and sent to enlisted men by their sweethearts. Inside the engine room aboard USS Bowfin, the crew posted a 1943 Vargas calendar, on which they doodled, wrote notes, and recorded their conquests of the sea.