View Full Version : USS Bowfin
Anyone taken the USS Bowfin tour at Pearl Harbor? I did, years ago. For those unaware, the Bowfin is a preserved US WW2 submarine, permanently docked at Pearl Harbor, not far from the USS Missouri.
Two highlights of the tour:
1) Everything I've read says US "fleet boats" were downright roomy compared to Germany's mainstay, the Type VII, but the Bowfin sure didn't seem "roomy." But perhaps those over 6' tall did not serve in the Silent Service.
2) We didn't get to enter/exit the boat the "real" way. There was a lame stairwell welded in place, so that one entered (if I recall correctly) through the aft torpedo loading hatch and exited through the forward torpedo loading hatch (or maybe it was the other way around, this is 3 years ago). I didn't get to look through the periscopes (probably not maintained due to the expense, Bowfin depends on private donations), or go on the bridge.
Still, it was educational and fun to visit. Well worth whatever they were charging.
The volunteers did a spectacular job not only of keeping it spic-and-span inside and out, but also of making sure none of the visitors broke anything (always a hazard with this sort of "museum" display). I doubt the Bowfin was that clean and shiny at any point during its war career.
Ashore from the dock, there's also a museum & park, featuring several torpedo static displays, and a conning tower you can also go inside.
I've never been in a U.S. boat, but I've seen the U-505. Of course there is the same deal with the entrance; two sections of the hull cut out for the entrance and exit. Worst of all, from my point of view, is, there is no opportunity to see the conning tower.
Based on what I've read, the fleet boats were much more habitable than their German counterparts. I'm not sure if that meant they were more "roomy" per se. I can't remember where I read it but, a British officer, after touring a fleetboat, was very impressed by the accomodations. He didn't think the U.K. subs could hold a candle to them.
Mike Abberton
02-10-11, 08:59 AM
I took the tour about 5 years ago. Very illuminating although I hadn't really started playing sub sims at the time.
And I'd have to agree that I wouldn't call them roomy, but then again when you don't count the topside, some of the WWII destroyers weren't exactly roomy either.
Mike
P.S. Being in New England, I really need to get down to Battleship Cove again someday.
Bilge_Rat
02-10-11, 12:28 PM
yes, visited the USS Bowfin, USS Missouri, USS Arizona and the Museum when I was in hawaii in 99. Spent almost a whole day at Pearl. A vist which I recommend to any WW2 history buff.
The Bowfin turned out to be much smaller than I had imagined. Hard to believe 60 men could live in there for 2-3 months.
On the other hand, the USS Missouri was huge, much bigger than I imagined.
That was great visit, spent a long time at battleship row, visualizing where the attacks came from. It is actually a smaller area than you would imagine and took real skill from the IJN pilots to pull off what they did.
The most poignant moment though was visiting the USS Arizona which lies just beneath the water, with oil still bubbling up from its bunkers. 1,000 men were trapped. It is said work crews could hear men banging on the insides for 2-3 days after the attack. Unfortunately, there was no way to rescue them.
Schwieger
02-10-11, 04:13 PM
The Bowfin turned out to be much smaller than I had imagined. Hard to believe 60 men could live in there for 2-3 months.
And to think VIIC subs were even smaller :D
I visited all three in '01. Good experience it was. Really touches you, you know
I took the tour about 5 years ago. Very illuminating although I hadn't really started playing sub sims at the time.
And I'd have to agree that I wouldn't call them roomy, but then again when you don't count the topside, some of the WWII destroyers weren't exactly roomy either.
It does depend on your perspective.
When I first saw the U-505, I was a grade school kid. Looking at it from the outside it seemed enormous. I had no conception of having to live in it for 50-60 plus days with 50 other men as its pitching and rolling in the Atlantic. Now, of course I see it differently. One of the things that strike me most, is how long their patrols were. It seems to me the German KM expected a lot from their men.
I'd like to visit the Arizona memorial some day, but I don't know that there is any longer such a thing as a "good" time.
A buddy and I had all day to kill before flying back to the States in the evening. We decided we did not want to spend a large chunk of it waiting in the line for the Arizona memorial. The line was already about 1/4 mile long out the door...at 0700. On a random Tuesday in April.
Instead, we did the Missouri and Bowfin tours.
If you do the Missouri, it's well worth the extra $ for one of the tours that goes down in the innards of the ship. Among other things, we saw an engine room, the inside of a main gun turret, and the fire control center deep in the heart of the ship, in addition to what you see on the "normal" tour.
What surprised me a little was that the Missouri apparently kept using the WW2-era analog computers for fire control, even during its final tours in the 1990's.
At least it looked that way. It could just be that it would have been more trouble than it was worth to remove the old analog gear, so the Navy left it there. For all I know,
after the Mo' was reactivated, fire control was done with a new, digital system I didn't see.
If you do the Missouri, it's well worth the extra $ for one of the tours that goes down in the innards of the ship. Among other things, we saw an engine room, the inside of a main gun turret, and the fire control center deep in the heart of the ship, in addition to what you see on the "normal" tour.
What surprised me a little was that the Missouri apparently kept using the WW2-era analog computers for fire control, even during its final tours in the 1990's.
At least it looked that way. It could just be that it would have been more trouble than it was worth to remove the old analog gear, so the Navy left it there. For all I know,
after the Mo' was reactivated, fire control was done with a new, digital system I didn't see.
Perhaps, they analog system was kept as a backup.
Its very interesting to read about the fire control systems of that era; never seen any of them though. I wonder what the Japanese systems were like.
Did the day long tour there this past October. Bowfin was the highlight. very roomy inside compared to the Russian Foxtrot (uboat type 9 copy) that I toured about 15 years ago. The aviation museum on Ford Island was next, the Mo was pretty cool, just wandering around below decks, quite enlightening. I shot about 30 minutes of video in the Bowfin. Going back next February, will definitely spend more time at the sub and aviation museum.
James
WernherVonTrapp
02-11-11, 02:58 PM
If you're interested, Amazon.Com has the History Channel documentary about this boat. I purchased it a couple of years ago. Very interesting story.:up:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CET0P7YQL._SL500_AA240_.jpg
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