Established
in 1909, Fort Kamehameha played an important role
within a system of coastal defenses of the Army Coast Artillery Corps that served as a key component of the national defense of
the United States in the early 20th century.
In a public address on June 11, 1911, Brig. Gen. M. M. Macomb
(Commander, District of Hawai‘i) stated that Oʻahu would be encircled with a
ring of steel, with mortar batteries at Diamond Head, big guns at Waikīkī and
Pearl Harbor, and a series of emplacements from Koko Head around the island to
Waianae.
Between 1911 and 1914 the Army Corps of Engineers built four
batteries at Fort Kamehameha (Selfridge, Hasbrouck, Hawkins, and Jackson),
adding a fifth one (Battery Closson) in 1920.
These batteries were key sections of Oahu's "ring of
steel," which included Forts Armstrong, DeRussy and Ruger, along with Ford
Island Military Reservation.
The Army fortified O‘ahu's harbors with a system of gun
emplacements employing mortars and long-range rifled guns. Although its guns are gone, the old batteries are still there.
Battery Selfridge
was 500' x 90', the largest of the batteries. With an earth berm concealing the
makai side, the massive two-story concrete structure was built to support eight
12-inch mortars (four to a pit). The 12-inch guns
could send a 1,046-lb. projectile approximately 17,000 yards.
Battery
Hasbrouck was a one-story concrete structure with a total area of 470' x
100'. Battery Hasbrouck supported eight
12-inch mortars placed in quads of four per pit; each could send a projectile
approximately 15,200 yards.
Battery
Hawkins was located along the water at the south-eastern edge of the Fort
Kamehameha. It supported two 3-inch
rapid-fire rifled cannon-mounted pedestals. Each gun had a range of 11,100 yards when
firing a 15-pound projectile. These guns were meant to cover the entrance to
Pearl Harbor, where submarine mines would be activated in time of war.
Battery
Jackson is the smallest of these coastal batteries. This single-story concrete
structure includes three magazine sections, with a total area of 73' x
86'. It supported two 6-inch rifles
mounted on disappearing carriages. These breech-loaded cannon could send a
106-lb. projectile a maximum of 14,600 yards.
Battery
Closson supported two 12-inch rifles mounted on barbette carriages with a
360-degree field of fire. These guns could cover all but the northern-most Oahu
beaches. These guns could be fired at elevation angles up to 35 degrees, and
the range of the 12-inch guns was increased to 30,100 yards (17.1 miles) firing
a 975-lb. projectile.
OK,
that’s the armament part of the story, but there’s more to this than
early-1900s military defenses.
The
land, once the site of Queen Emma's home, contained three shallow fishponds,
groves of trees and a marsh when the Army purchased it in 1907 and built the
first gun battery.
Today, the
area has been recognized as an historic area.
In addition to the armaments, Fort Kamehameha
historic area encompasses a flagpole, chapel and 33 homes built in 1916.
The
bungalow style homes are in two styles, four in a large H-shaped plan and 29 in
a smaller U-shaped footprint.
Whenever
you land at Honolulu International Airport, you fly over Fort Kamehameha and
these homes. They are an intact
residential complex with a neighborhood feel of mature trees, large expanses of
grass and open space, access to the waterfront, and a children’s playground.
A burial
vault houses iwi of kūpuna who were disinterred during the construction of the
nearby Pearl Harbor wastewater treatment plant.
The vault is maintained and visited by Native Hawaiian organizations
with cultural and lineal ties to the area.
The Air
Force has issued a notice that it intends to dispose of the Fort Kamehameha
Historic District through adaptive use, relocation and demolition.
The
proposal to dispose of Fort Kamehameha is the result of an Air Force regulation
that limits the uses that can occur along the flight path of runways at nearby
Honolulu International Airport, which shares the runways with the Air Force and
Hawai‘i Air National Guard.
While at
DLNR, I had the opportunity to visit Fort Kamehameha, both the military
armament sections, as well as the residential area. (At the time, I was serving as the State
Historic Preservation Officer.)
I
believed then, as I believe now, that this assemblage of homes needs to be
preserved – they tell an important story about Hawai‘i. I think relocation and assemblage in a
different area is probably the most practical.
(Destruction is not.)
In 2008,
Historic Hawai‘i Foundation put Fort Kamehameha on its Most Endangered Historic
Sites in Hawai‘i list. I concur with
their assessment.
We need
to remember, the homes were built in 1916; Luke Field on Ford Island started in
1919; Honolulu International Airport (HNL) opened in March 1927 as John Rodgers
Airport and Hickam Field started in 1934.
The
homes were there first, before any airfield in the area.
The
image shows the layout of Fort Kamehameha.
I think the layout will remind you of the quaint neighborhood of homes
that you fly over coming into HNL. In
addition, I have included some images (military and residential) of the uses at
Fort Kamehameha in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook
page.
Very informative. Check this out...you may find it useful:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/groups/1436465813309546/