Ghost of Pearl Harbor
Housed in a most unusual museum in one of East Tennessee's historic mountain towns is a significant record and collection of memorabilia from the USS Tennessee (BB-43), one of the unsung battleship heroes of World War II. The USS Tennessee Battleship Remembrance Museum, about an hour's drive northwest of Knoxville in Scott County, is berthed in a two-story log structure built by Scott High School students who also operate it during the school year.
The story of the battleship museum is one of a son honoring an old Sailor. Paul Dawson and his wife, Karen, began gathering memorabilia from Paul's father, Lee, a Navy photographer on board the Tennessee during the war. As a tribute to his father's service and the many photographs he snapped, Dawson began the museum in April 2004 with the help of student builders from the school's trades and industrial class and members of the high school drama class, who assist with tours. The museum opened on the school's campus in May 2005.
Dawson said he chose the location because of a few of the Tennessee's plank owners. "About 75 percent of her first crew were from Tennessee, and some of those from Scott County," said Dawson. "The museum needed to be in Tennessee."
A visit begins outside at the museum entrance where the first exhibit is the Tennessee's original bell. Acquired by then?U.S. Senator Howard Baker, who lives in nearby Huntsville, it was rung on the battleship during her commissioning in 1920.
The museum bristles with artifacts from the battleship and not a few mementos of her baptism of fire at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. One of the most recent exhibits is a five-foot model on loan from the U.S. Navy that was used in the 1943 rebuilding of the ship after she was heavily damaged in the attack. Also from the attack are metal fragments from the USS Arizona (BB-39) and a piece of cloth with a singed white star on a blue background found on the Arizona's deck.
After her repairs were completed in May 1943, the Tennessee emerged from the shipyard with her appearance completely changed. She almost immediately went into combat and bombarded Kiska when the island was invaded in August. From that November into October 1944, she participated in ten bombardments including Tarawa, Saipan (where she was damaged by Japanese counter-fire), Guam, and Peleliu. Off Leyte on the night of 24-25 October 1944, she helped sink the Japanese battleship Yamashiro in the Battle of Surigao Strait.
The battlewagon next helped with the capture of Iwo Jima in February and March 1945, and later off Okinawa, she was hit by a kamikaze Val dive bomber on 12 April. The Tennessee nevertheless remained in action until 1 May.
The small, two-story, five-room museum is stuffed with photos from Lee Dawson, who was a combat photographer during, among others, the landings on Saipan, Guam, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa and the battles of Leyte Gulf and Surigao Strait.
The museum entrance is dominated by a wall-sized painting by Knoxville artist Alex Dumas that depicts the scene at Pearl Harbor with fire all around the battleship. Displays to either side tell the ship's history from her commissioning. To the left of the painting is another significant artifact, a beautiful brass engine cover from 1920 with the ship's name in large engraved letters.
Amid a display of additional paintings by Dumas and more artifacts is a sleeping cot from the ship and the heart of the museum?files containing the bulk of the Lee Dawson's collection of more than 600 photographs. Other displays focus on the year-by-year buildup to Pearl Harbor and the ship's war years. One features some of the ship's tools of operation?a binnacle, an auxiliary steering wheel that was used below deck, a Polaris compass, and bridge speed control device. Among other items is the complete uniform of Chief Yeoman Cecil Hastey, the captain's clerk from 1940 to '45, and the ship's last national ensign, which she flew during her decommissioning in 1947. A short film shown on the second floor features interviews with several of the ship's crew.
According to Dawson, the Tennessee "fired more salvos in the Pacific than any other ship. She received the Navy Unit Commendation with ten Battle Stars. And very few know that she carried [all the] money in her safe for the Occupation of Japan. I think she has been robbed of her glory, this ghost of Pearl Harbor."
To reach the museum from Knoxville follow I-75 North to Exit 141, where you take TN-63 West. Three miles past Huntsville, turn left onto Scott High Drive. The USS Tennessee Battleship Remembrance Museum is at 400 Scott High Drive. It is free to the public and open 1200 to 1700, Thursday through Saturday. Tours, however, are by appointment; to make one, call (423) 566-4610.