First, the full album for this visit is here -
http://s183.photobucket.com/user/CAPFly ... ust%202015On arriving at the National Museum of the Pacific War, you are greeting with the Fairwater of the
USS Pintado, a US fleet submarine, and the Main Mast of the USS Foote, a US destroyer. Unfortunately, I somehow didn't get a pic of the Fairwater, only the plaque.
Inside, the exhibits are well presented with many artifacts from each battle of the Pacific being presented. First is a pic in the "Road to War" section that covers the 100+ years of conflict between China, Japan, and the West that led up to war.
What follows are some artifacts from the period 1900 to 1930 -
Just before you enter the "War" section of the exhibit, you find the Vice Admiral's Ensign on display from the
IJN Nigato, Yamamoto's original Flagship.
After a 5 minute presentation about the days immediately prior to Pearl Harbor, you enter the area that holds the Midget Sub display. From there, you see a short multimedia presentation about the attack and then move into the main exhibit areas. One of the artifacts they have from Pearl is the oil-stained uniform of a seaman who was at the Sub pens during the attack -
From there, you move to the B-25 display, which didn't come out well, and then to Guadalcanal and the "Cactus Air Force", where the Wildcat is displayed -
Moving on, they have on display an M3 tank that was in Australian Service in the Pacific when it was hit by a Japanese 37mm gun and taken out of action. They also have the gun, but that pic didn't come out either.
One of the more interesting items I saw during the tour was this Bat Bomb (I'm guessing a mockup). The US's attempts at guided muntions aren't well covered by most museums, so seeing a Bat was nice when most likely you'll see a Tarzon or Razon bomb.
The only other full aircraft on display in this part of the exhibit was the
Rex floatplane fighter.
They also had a couple of nice diorama mockups of a Cruiser's Combat Bridge and a carrier's Combat Information Center to show off some of their equipment in the collection. Here is the CIC that came out pretty well -
Finally, before the short "post war" section, you find their replica of Fat Man-
Just before going back to the lobby, they have a very nice display showing all of the Medal of Honor recipients from WWII on the wall, but the glare killed the only picture I got.
Back in the lobby, they have this massive, 3-piece model of the USS Nimitz that was very well detailed and makes you wonder how long it took to build -
Outside, they had several artillery pieces and ships weapons, but the one I wanted to highlight here is one of the Torpedo Launchers from the
USS Foote -
I was running short on my self-imposed timeline, so I wasn't able to really enjoy the Peace Garden, memorial wall, or the Nimitz Hotel museum, but I hope to get back in the future to see those as they looked as well done as the main museum. I hope my pics give a good idea of what to expect and you'll maybe consider adding it to your plans if you happen to be in South Texas.
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the George is especially cool!!! didn't know there was more than 1 example in the states!!
