The USS Missouri was still under construction when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The Mighty Mo entered service in 1944, participated in the Battle of Okinawa, and anchored in Tokyo Bay after the US dropped the atomic bomb.
The USS Missouri was selected to host the Japanese surrender on board in September 2, 1945. The Mighty Mo also fought in the Korean Conflict and Gulf War. Today, she is a floating museum, standing guard over the USS Arizona Memorial. The two ships represent the start and end of US participation in WWII.
My son's scout troop participated in the Mighty Mo's overnight encampment. I previously posted pictures form their first visit at this link. I joined them for their second visit.
The Mighty Mo is longer than the Titanic. It was a floating city with almost every function, including a barbershop!
From the deck, we spotted the Sea Based X Band Radar (SBX) aka the giant golf ball. The radar sits atop a self propelled oil platform. It can track a baseball (or Korean missile) flying across the Pacific.
The sun begins to set over the Wai'anae Mountains ....
... I widen the photo to capture the Sea Whiz air defense. It looks like R2D2!
The Big Guns at sunset ....
After dinner, we toured the command center on the upper deck.
This area was featured in BATTLESHIP.
A sailor would stand behind the status board and write backwards so the commander would see it forward.
Actors from the movie used this chair (and the telephone above) to call for the last available bomb to fire on the aliens.
We slept in the original bunks. Not comfortable. But the experience was worth the sunrise over Pearl Harbor.
Today's comments are open forum.
Mahalo,
Kim in Hawaii
 |
| A new arrival to Pearl Harbor - the USS Michael Murphy. She is named for the Navy SEAL who gave his life to save his team in Afghanistan. |
The overnight encampment must have been fun.
ReplyDeleteWow, it's nice to see those huge guns not just in movies.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Kim, I love your blog.
ReplyDeleteWow... great photos....
ReplyDeleteThose pics are the next best thing to being there - thanks!
ReplyDeleteLove the Scouts. They really do a lot of educational and interesting and fun activities. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Kim!
ReplyDeleteBoth of my sons were in the Scouts and what I loved is it really taught them teamwork. It came in handy when my older son served in the Navy and when my younger son went and graduated from The Citadel!
My favorite picture was the one of your sons in the brig! You might want to hold onto it and get it blown up for when they are in High School! You can post it on the fridge as a warning when they go into what I used to call the twilight zone!
I would love to spend the night on a ship with my scouts.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures and what a wonderful experience! Thanks for sharing it with us.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like fun.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your pictures! Looks like a fun experience.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had a great time! Thanks for the pictures!
ReplyDelete