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Ford Island, 7 December 1941
Ford Island lies in the middle of Pearl Harbor. On the morning of 7 December 1941 it was attacked with the rest of the harbour; Hangar 37, a seaplane hangar, survived, and the windows of Hangar 79, built in 1939, still carry bullet holes from Japanese aircraft that day. The island’s control tower was the site of the first radio alert of the attack.


A museum opens
Ground was broken on 21 March 2006, and the museum, then called the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor, opened on 7 December 2006, the 65th anniversary of the attack. It became a Smithsonian affiliate in 2012.
Aircraft of the Pacific war and after
The collection includes a Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero, restored to flying condition in 1985; the B-17E known as the Swamp Ghost, which arrived in 2013; a B-25B Mitchell and a P-40 Kittyhawk; and later aircraft such as a MiG-15 and an F-14D Tomcat. Restoration work is done in the Lt. Ted Shealy Restoration Shop in Hangar 79.


