Well, when you get down to it, the name “Pearl” Harbor is pearl for a reason. Abundant with oyster shells, the Hawaiians once called this area on Oahu “Wai Momi”.

That means ‘Pearl Waters’. Which pretty much gives away the secret embedded in the headline, huh?

It was the Japanse bombing of Pearl Harbor that etched the name into American memories. But long before, back in the late 1800s, Hawaii was annexed to the US and the area known as Pearl Harbor became a leading staging area for ships heading to the South Pacific during the Spanish-American war.

Japanese Imperial forces devasted the American fleet on December 7, 1941, and the rest, as they say is history.

Historians pretty much agree that the Japanese expected the US to stay out of the Pacific after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Devastation to the military was substantial, but analysis shows that the Japanese either didn’t do a very good job with their attack or thought that what they did was sufficient to keep the Americans pre-occupied with Europe so the Japanese could own the Pacific.

Regardless, none of the analysis was accurate.

The US military lost over 2,300 people in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Over 1,100 were on the U.S.S. Arizona alone. Years later Honolulu architect Alfred Preis designed the white concrete Arizona Memorial.

Elvis Presley gave a benefit concert there in 1961. Nearly 1.5 million visitors are ferried across the water to the Memorial, which sits directly above the Arizona.

The Pearl Harbor Visitor Center is unique in Hawaii. Not only is there a museum of battle photographs and Navy goodies, there’s also a real live submarine—the U.S.S. Bowfin, and the U.S.S. Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park.

Cool.

A trolley will carry you from the Visitor Center on a bridge across to Ford Island where the U.S.S. Missouri is permanently docked. The decks of the Missouri is where the Japanese formally surrendered in WWII.

Summary: Take a full day. While there are some tour operators who can take you to near the Arizona Memorial, only the US Navy launches will dock at the Memorial. The Missouri is a huge battleship. Ships this size today also fire cruise missiles used in the Gulf War in 1990, and the Iraq War in 2003.

Pros: Emotionally moving, many Japanese tourists visit, inexpensive.

Cons: Bus or rental car to the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center.

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