Bowfin museum receives $100,000 contribution
The USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park, the most visited submarine museum in the world, received a $100,000 contribution from Hawaiian Electric Industries Charitable Foundation today that will support a $20 million revitalization of its campus and education program.
“This donation represents a significant commitment to our vision of honoring the proud past and inspiring the bright future of our nation’s submarine force,” said Chuck Merkel, executive director of the Pacific Fleet Submarine Memorial Association, the Bowfin’s parent group.
Highlights of the project include an expansion of the existing museum and dozens of new exhibits. The updated museum will include three exhibit galleries that span the history and future of submarine warfare with World War II, Cold War and modern submarining galleries.
The museum makeover is expected to be completed in April 2020. Portions of the campus will be closed to the public during construction, but the World War II fleet submarine USS Bowfin, nicknamed the “Pearl Harbor Avenger,” will remain open to the public throughout the project timeline.
The Bowfin was launched one year to the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. The museum receives an average of 400,000 visitors per year.