USS Bowfin (SS-287) - Pearl Harbor, Oahu, HI
Posted by: 
denben
N 21° 22.124 W 157° 56.331
4Q E 610015 N 2363328
USS Bowfin (SS-287) is a fleet attack submarine that fought in the Pacific during WWII, and was launched on 7 December 1942, exactly one year to the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. She was nicknamed the Pearl Harbor Avenger.
Waymark Code: WMRBAY
Location: Hawaii, United States
Date Posted: 06/03/2016
Views: 11
USS Bowfin (SS-287) is fortunate that she did not end up as scrap metal or as target practice for another military ship. Bowfin is one of only fifteen U.S. WWII submarines that survived this dreaded fate. Today, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, home to the historic USS Bowfin, is a reality because of the hard work and dedication of individuals from both the military and the civilian communities. Her story and the story of the U.S. Submarine Force, past and present, lives on.
In early 1972, World War II submariner and Pearl Harbor survivor ADM Bernard A. "Chick" Clarey (CINCPACFLT) and RADM Paul L. Lacy (COMSUBPAC) approached the Secretary of the Navy about acquiring BOWFIN as a memorial to the U.S. Submarine Force at Pearl Harbor.
In December 1980, Bowfin was moved to her present day location at Pearl Harbor, next to the Arizona Memorial Visitor Center, a fitting location for the submarine that had been launched a year after the attack on Pearl Harbor and nicknamed "The Pearl Harbor Avenger." Bowfin became the centerpiece of the new "Bowfin Park." On 1 April 1981, Bowfin officially began her new career as a "museum ship," and welcomed her first visitors on board. By 1985, over one million visitors had walked on her decks, learning about what life was like for the submariners of WWII. In 1986, Bowfin was named a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Sources: (
visit link) and (
visit link)