Military | Page 37 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

September 16, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Battery 405

The windward region of Koʻolaupoko has long been considered the ‘bread basket’ of Oʻahu and highly favored with well-watered agricultural lands and verdant fishing grounds. (Sinoto)

Based on the oral traditions and legendary accounts, the Kaneʻohe Bay region was favored as a rich and productive agricultural, as well as marine resources area during the prehistoric period.

Dry land cultivation of such crops as sweet potato, yams, and breadfruit; wetland cultivation of taro; and aquaculture in the coastal fishponds and in the estuarine areas were practiced along with fishing in the near shore, lagoon and deep ocean zones. (Sinoto)

Mokapu ‘to separate by imposing a taboo’ is derived from the combination of two words, Mo is short for Moku (‘district or island’ and kapu ‘sacred, no trespassing, or keep out.’ If you entered a kapu district, you were killed.

Mokapu was named this because this is where King Kamehameha met with chiefs. The name of the meeting place was named ‘the sacred land of Kamehameha.’ (ksbe)

Mahinui, named for a legendary hero (translates as ‘great champion’ (Pukui) was known as a “regular place of rest for the travelers, called oioina by the ancients”. (Hoku Hawai‘i, 1925; Cultural Surveys)

The US military first established a presence on the Mokapu peninsula in 1918 when President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order establishing Fort Kuwaʻaohe Military Reservation on 322-acres on the northeast side of Mokapu.

The army was responsible for the seacoast defense of Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay, commissioned in 1939 on the Mokapu Peninsula. Permanent seacoast batteries were needed for long-term defense, while temporary defenses were necessary until the permanent defenses could be funded and constructed. (Bennett)

The Army stayed there until August 1940 when the Navy decided to acquire all of Mokapu Peninsula to expand Naval Air Station Kaneʻohe; it included a sea plane base, it began building in September 1939 and commissioned on February 15, 1941.

Between 1939 and 1943, large sections of Kāneʻohe Bay were dredged for the dual purposes of deepening the channel for a sea plane runway and extending the western coastline of the peninsula with 280-acres of coral fill.

On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, two waves of Japanese Imperial Navy aircraft bombed and strafed Kaneʻohe Naval Air Station, several minutes before Pearl Harbor was attacked.

The bulk of the Harbor Defense facilities were equipped and deployed for a naval attack or amphibious landing; their defenses against an air attack failed to keep up with the magnitude of the aerial assault on December 7, 1941. (Williford)

Following the attack, to defend the military facility at Mokapu, a number of gun batteries were built. On June 14, 1942, authorization was given for installation of coast artillery armament for the defense of the Kaneohe Bay Air Station.

The battery site, and most others built on Oʻahu during World War II, was chosen for its field of fire coverage and ease and economy of construction. Preliminary reconnaissance of potential locations was made by the Corps of Engineers Design Division and the Hawaiian Seacoast Artillery Command. (Bennett)

In 1944, with two 8-inch guns, Battery 405 was built on the northeast lower slope of Puʻu Papaʻa, about 145- feet above sea level. The 542-foot peak is at the north terminus of the Oneawa Hills, on the dividing line between Kailua and Kaneʻohe.

Two tunnels were excavated into the hillside; each tunnel measured about 210-feet long by 10-feet wide, with 12-foot crowns, arched ceilings, and slab sidewalls. The walls and floors were concrete. The tunnels converged somewhat as they penetrated the hillside. (Bennett)

The guns were mounted in the open with no protection from bombardment, besides camouflage. The powder magazines, shell rooms, plotting room and support facilities were tunneled into the hillside.

The 8-inch guns did not have armored shields, leaving them and their crews vulnerable to enemy surface attack and even more to air attack. A metal lath structure resembling a farmhouse rooftop affixed to the carriage traversed with the guns, but only provided minimal camouflage. *Bennett)

Command and control functions were centered in the battery commander’s station above the gun emplacements, about the 300-foot elevation of Puʻu Papaʻa.

A single-story rectangular reinforced-concrete building dug into the ground was equipped with three narrow horizontal observation slots on the front and both side walls, with dropdown outside-hinged steel shutters. (Bennett)

Following the war (August 27, 1946,) Battery 405 was named Battery DeMerritt, after Robert E DeMerritt, a Colonel with the Coast Artillery Corps during World War II (he died in the “Line of Duty” of a non-battle related incident on July 25, 1942.)

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BCN 405-Metal lath camouflage resembled a rooftop-Bennett

8-inch Mark VI M3A2 Gun and M1 Carriage, USA TM 9-442-1

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8-inch MkVIM3A2 #2 Gun at BCN-405. USAMH

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Fort Hase from the southwest rim of Ulupau Head. Arrow points to BCN 405-Bennett

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September 3, 2016 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Lopaka

In 1790, two Western ships, Simon Metcalf (captaining the Eleanora) and his son Thomas Metcalf (captaining the Fair American) were trading in Hawaiian waters.

The Eleanora arrived in the islands first; after a brief confrontation with local chief Kameʻeiamoku in Kohala, she sailed to the neighboring island of Maui to trade along the coast.

Kame‘eiamoku vowed revenge on whatever ship next came his way. By coincidence, the Fair American was the next ship to visit the territory of chief Kameʻeiamoku, who was eager for revenge. Isaac Davis was a crew member of the Fair American.

On March 16, 1790, the Fair American was attacked by Kameʻeiamoku’s warriors at Puako, near Kawaihae, Hawaii. The schooner was manned by only four sailors, plus its relatively inexperienced captain. It was easily captured by the Hawaiians (Davis was spared.)

Unaware of the events and fate of the Fair American, the Eleanora returned from Maui and arrived at the Big Island; Captain Simon Metcalf sent John Young ashore to see the country.

That evening, as Young attempted to return to his ship, Kamehameha’s forces detained him (Kamehameha had placed a kapu on anyone going on the ship.)

Young was captured and Metcalf, unaware, was puzzled why Young did not return. Metcalf waited two days for Young to return, firing guns in hope that the sound would guide Young back and sending a letter to foreigners ashore.

Finally, sensing danger or becoming frustrated, Metcalf departed and set sail for China (abandoning Young,) not knowing that his son had been killed not far away.

A number of muskets, swords, axes, powder and clothing, as well as a brass cannon, were recovered from the Fair American, which Kamehameha kept as part of his arsenal. Kamehameha made Young and Davis his advisors. (Rechtman)

Kamehameha gave the name ‘Lopaka’ to the powerful pū kuniahi (cannon) that was captured from the British ship Fair American.

Later described as “ka puʻuhonua o ko Kamehameha aoao” (the sanctuary of Kamehameha’s side), Lopaka would gain fame at the decisive battles of Kapaniwai on Maui and Paʻauhau on Oʻahu. (Bishop Museum)

The famous cannon, Lopaka, was dragged and set up at a place called Kawelowelo, and from there it was fired into the ‘Iao Valley, and turned to fire at the cliffs where the Maui people were attempting to flee.

The thundering sound of the Lopaka cannon caused absolute terror amongst the Maui warriors, and some of them met their death by the weapons of the foreigners. They were slaughtered below the pali.

While the Lopaka cannon was being fired by John Young, Maui warriors gathered together some men and sprang to seize the Lopaka cannon.

That cannon fell into the hands of Keoua’s men (for a time,) and John Young ran for his life arriving before Isaac Davis at the place now called Honoka‘a.

At this place a very hot battle was fought between the two sides. If John Young had not run, he would have died at the hands of Ka‘ie‘iea, Keoua’s fearless warrior. (Desha) But the damage had been done.

Had they fought face-to-face and hand-to-hand, as the custom was, they would have been equally matched. But the defensive was drawn up in a narrow pass in ʻIao, and the offensive advanced.

Kamehameha’s warriors pursued them and slew the vanquished as they scrambled up the cliffs. The battle was called “Clawed off the cliff” (Kaʻuwaʻupali) and “The damming of the waters.”

During the fight Kalanikupule and other chiefs escaped to Oʻahu; others went over the pass in ʻIao Valley into Olowalu, then they sailed to Molokai. (Kamakau)

Because of their knowledge of European warfare, Young and Davis are said to have trained Kamehameha and his men in the use of muskets and cannons. In addition, both Young and Davis fought alongside Kamehameha in his many battles.

Kamehameha appointed John Young as Governor of Kamehameha’s home island, Hawai‘i Island, and gave him a seat next to himself in the ruling council of chiefs. In 1819, Young was one of the few present at the death of Kamehameha I.

Davis became a respected translator and military advisor for Kamehameha. Davis brought western military knowledge to Hawai‘i and played a big role during Hawaii’s first contacts with the European powers. His skill in gunnery, as well as Lopaka from the Fair American, helped Kamehameha win many battles.

Davis had the King’s “most perfect confidence” and he attended to Kamehameha’s needs on all travels of business or pleasure – and ventured with him during times of war. Davis earned Kamehameha’s “greatest respect and the highest degree of esteem and regard.”

When Captain George Vancouver visited Hawai‘i Island in 1793, he observed that both Young and Davis “are in his (Kamehameha’s) most perfect confidence, attend him in all his excursions of business or pleasure, or expeditions of war or enterprise; and are in the habit of daily experiencing from him the greatest respect, and the highest degree of esteem and regard.”

Reportedly, Lopaka was lashed to a sled and pulled by ropes; in more difficult terrain, it was removed from its carriage and slung from long poles. (The image shows Lopaka, John Young and Isaac Davis at ʻIao, as drawn by Brook Parker.)

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Lopaka-scale_model-Brook_Parker

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August 26, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Confederate Flag

In the 1840s, Captain John Dominis, an Italian-American ship captain and merchant from New York, purchased property on Beretania Street and built a home for his family, Mary Lambert Dominis (his wife) and John Owen Dominis (his son.)

In 1847, on a voyage to the China Sea, Captain Dominis was lost at sea. To make ends meet, Mary Dominis rented out spare bedrooms in the house.

One such was to American Commissioner Anthony Ten Eyck. Ten Eyck said the house reminded him of Mount Vernon, George Washington’s mansion and that it should be named “Washington Place.”

King Kamehameha III, who concurred, Proclaimed as ‘Official Notice,’ “It has pleased His Majesty the King to approve of the name of Washington Place given this day by the Commissioner of the United States, to the House and Premises of Mrs. Dominis and to command that they retain that name in all time coming.” (February 22, 1848)

Twenty-four year-old Curtis Perry Ward (whom some called a ‘lonely Southern bachelor,’ while others say he was an ‘aloof, aristocratic Southerner’) arrived in the islands in 1853 and rented a room at Mary Dominis’ Washington Place.

He later opened a livery stable, started a small feed company and a draying business, all of which made money for Ward. In 1858, Ward rented a residential block now occupied by Davies Pacific Center as a home and location for his livery business. He named the property “Dixie”.

When tensions began to rise between the American North and South, the first shot of the American Civil War was fired at Fort Sumter off the coast of South Carolina on April 12, 1861, nearly six thousand miles away.

On August 26, 1861, five months after the outbreak of hostilities and four months after the news of Civil War arrived in Honolulu, Kamehameha IV issued a Proclamation that, in part, stated …

… “hostilities are now unhappily pending between the Government of the United States, and certain States thereof styling themselves ‘The Confederate States of America.’”

With the Proclamation, the King also stated “Our neutrality between said contending parties.” The discussion of neutrality versus partisanship had to include the reality that the Hawaiian kingdom had no standing army …

… and most importantly, no navy to protect its harbors if supporting either the Union or Confederacy brought the other side’s vessels to threaten the principal cities of Honolulu or Lāhainā. (Illinois-edu)

Likewise, while the majority of foreigners in Hawaiʻi were Americans from New England who supported the Union cause with great fervor, leadership and advisors to the King included European ties who believed that the Confederacy would succeed in securing its independence.

In 1862, John Owen Dominis married Lydia Kamakaʻeha (also known as Lydia Kamakaʻeha Pākī – later, Queen Lili‘uokalani.) Lydia Dominis described Washington Place “as comfortable in its appointments as it is inviting in its aspect.”

“Lili‘uokalani liked young Ward and felt sympathy for him as a passionate upholder of Confederate rights.” (Taylor) “(A)ccording to a family story, some members of the court privately expressed sympathy for Ward’s Southern allegiance during the War Between the States.”

“Lydia Lili‘u Pākī is said to have worked quietly at night, in the privacy of her chambers, sewing a Confederate flag for Ward.”

“He accepted her gift with pleasure and promptly attached it to the canopy of his four-poster bed, declaring it was his wish to die under the flag.” (Hustace)

In 1865, Ward married Victoria Robinson, Hawai‘i-born daughter of English shipbuilder James Robinson and his wife Rebecca, a woman of Hawaiian ancestry whose chiefly lineage had roots in Kaʻū, Hilo and Honokōwai, Maui.

For many years they made their home at ‘Dixie;’ later Ward Homes were ‘Sunny South’ and ‘Old Plantation. The Wards had seven daughters.

It was said that all of them were born in the bed under the Confederate flag. The flag is a “treasured relic of the Ward family to this very day.” (Taylor) In 1882, Curtis Ward died at age 53.

Victoria rallied against the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893; and, reportedly, after promulgation of the law forbidding the public display of the Hawaiian flag, Victoria Ward replaced the Confederate flag with a Hawaiian flag bed-quilt with the words Ku‘u Hae Aloha (My Beloved Flag.)

It is said Victoria made the remark, “I was born under the Hawaiian flag and I shall die under it.” (Allen; Karpiel) (The image shows the Confederate ‘Stars and Bars’ flag, captured by soldiers of the Union Army at Columbia, South Carolina – the flag later had 13-stars.)

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August 25, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Pali Training Camp

The undulating plains at the foot of Nuʻuanu Pali are known as Kekele (damp;) it was a place that was fragrant with hala (pandanus) blossoms and bountiful in hala fruit for lei-making.

It was referred to in songs and traditions as “the sweet land of fragrance and perfume” because the fragrance from the blossoms of these trees scented the whole region. (Cypher; Cultural Surveys)

English Captain George Vancouver introduced cattle and sheep to O‘ahu in 1793, and by the 1840s cattle had multiplied into a large herd.

A description from the Pali looking toward Kaneohe in 1854 revealed that there were “hundreds of cattle … feeding on the rich pasture with which these plains were covered.”

By the mid-1860s, livestock was altering the landscape. The undulating plains of the Kekele lands were described as “a rich land a while ago but now there are not many plants because animal are permitted there.” (Cultural Surveys)

In the 1860s, commercial sugar cane cultivation began in Kāne‘ohe. One of the earliest sugar plantations on O‘ahu was owned by Charles Coffin Harris, who came to Hawai‘i in 1850 with a plan to practice law. He established the Kaneohe Sugar Plantation Company (ca. 1865.)

In 1871, Harris bought Queen Kalama’s Ko‘olaupoko properties from her heir, Charles Kanaina, as well as some land in Honolulu for $22,448. The sale included “livestock, tool, fishponds, and fishing rights.”

Harris’s plantation shut down in 1891 because the sugar yield was not enough to support the operation. Harris’s daughter and heir, Mrs. David Rice, incorporated the lands as Kaneohe Ranch and converted them to ranching.

Harold KL Castle, the only child of James B. Castle, owned most of the ahupua‘a of Kāne‘ohe in the early 1900s, and in 1917 he purchased 9,500 acres of land from Harris’s daughter. (At its peak, Kaneohe Ranch extended from the ocean in Kailua to the Pali and included 12,000-acres and 2,000-head of cattle.)

By 1911, Libby, McNeill & Libby gained control of land in Kāneʻohe and built the first large-scale cannery with an annual capacity of 250,000 cans at Kahaluʻu, Koʻolaupoko on the Windward side of O‘ahu; growing and canning pineapples became a major industry in the area for a period of 15 years (to 1925.)

This sizable cannery, together with the surrounding old style plantation-type housing units, became known as “Libbyville” (St John’s by the Sea now occupies the site.)

During most of the period when this cannery was in operation, the canned pineapple was transported to Honolulu by sampan from a pier just off the end of the peninsula at Wailau.

At its peak, 2,500 acres were under pineapple cultivation on Windward O‘ahu, and of this a large percentage was in the Kāne‘ohe Bay region (below the Pali.)

“At last we reached the foot of the Pali … Joe and I looked over the surrounding hills, but looked in vain for the great areas of guava through which but a few months ago we had fought and cut our way. As far as the eye could reach pineapple plantations had taken the place of the forest of wild guava.” (Cultural Surveys)

Then, in 1943, the Army established a regimental combat team training center at the foot of the Pali, emphasizing the use of and familiarity with modern arms and field weapons. In addition, the camp provided rugged terrain for jungle and Ranger training.

The training area comprised of four non-contiguous parcels: Maunawili Valley Impact Area, covering approximately 3,450-acres; the Maunawili site (near St Stephens Seminary,) 400-acres; a 46-acre site on the northern ridge of Mount Olomana; and the 500-acre site called Ulumawao.

The Pali Training Camp was situated in what is now the municipal Pali Golf Course, privately owned Ko’olau Golf Course and Hawaii Pacific University.

Troops were housed in a sprawling tent city at the base of Nuʻuanu Pali capable of supporting 3,000 to 5,000-individuals. In addition to barracks, the encampments also contained latrines, showers, mess halls, administration buildings, and motor pools.

Additional barracks, an ice plant, a bakery, and gun pits were situated at Maunawili. A field hospital was erected at what is now Maunawili Park.

Camp training facilities consisted of 200 and 300-yard rifle ranges, a 1,000-inch range, four obstacle courses, an infiltration course, a combat in cities course, a close combat course, and a 400-yard long jungle firing course.

On October 8, 1945, Army Headquarters ordered the release of the Pali Training Camp and the encampment was abandoned by the end of 1945. By the end of 1946, military-erected structures were subsequently sold as surplus by bid sale.

The land reverted to its previous use of cattle ranching in 1946. Since being sold to the City and County of Honolulu in the early 1950s, much the property has been graded and developed into the Pali Golf Course.

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Pali Training Camp

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Pali-PP-60-2-005-00001-overlooking area of Pali Training Camp

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Pali-PP-60-1-019-00001-overlooking area of Pali Training Camp

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August 24, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Memorial Park

Memorials are an important way of remembering. They are not just part of the past; they help shape attitudes in the present and thus act as a guide for the future. (Ireland)

According to statistician Robert Schmitt, of the 9,800 Hawai‘i residents who served in World War I: 102 died – 14 overseas during the war, 61 in Hawai‘i or North America or after the armistice, and 27 in unknown circumstances.

Twenty-two of the 102 recorded deaths occurred among Island residents serving with the British. Actual battle deaths of persons in the US armed forces whose preservice residence was Hawai’i numbered six: seven others were wounded.
(Ireland)

As early as March, 1918, the Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors proposed the erection of a shaft of Hawaiian lava with polished sides, on which would be carved the names of all the island boys who gave up their lives in their country’s cause during the Great War.

In November, just after the signing of the armistice, a similar suggestion was made by Colonel Howard Hathaway, his idea being that a monument should be raised by public subscription and be made a feature of the civic center in Honolulu.

The suggestion was taken up by the Honolulu Ad Club, which on November 20, 1918, appointed a committee consisting of Colonel Hathaway, Ned Loomis, and WD Westervelt to make an investigation and confer with other organizations in the city on the subject. (Kuykendall, 1928)

A bill passed with practical unanimity by the legislature for the acquisition, for park and other public purposes, of the William G Irwin Waikiki beach property using Territorial bonds. It received the approval of the governor on April 29, 1919. The act provided that the name of any park created out of the property should be ‘Memorial Park.’

Governor McCarthy, at the suggestion of the American Legion, appointed A. Lester Marks, John R. Gait, and A. L. C. Atkinson as members of the Territorial War Memorial Commission (when Atkinson left the Islands 2-3 years later, JK Butler was named to the Commission.)

“This Commission shall serve without pay and shall make arrangements for and conduct an architectural competition for the design of the memorial provided for in this Act, and shall decide upon and designate the scheme of memorial to be adopted.”

“These plans shall include a swimming course at least 100 meters in length, and such other features as the Commission may designate.” (Senate Committee Report, March 3, 1921)

The competition was held under the general rules of the American Institute of Architects. Three architects, Bernard Maybeck of San Francisco, Ellis F Lawrence of Portland and WRB Willcox of Seattle, were selected to judge the competition.

“In the competitive designs for Hawai‘i’s War Memorial to be erected at Kapiʻolani Park, of the seven submitted by local and mainland architects, the award of first choice and prize went to Mr Louis P Hobart, of San Francisco.” (Thrum, 1922)

“The design was approved and highly commended by architects of national and international standing. They considered it to be most appropriate, and especially in keeping with the tropical and architectural atmosphere of Hawaii.”

“We should not at this time hesitate to establish in enduring form our tribute to the self-sacrifice, courage and patriotism of those who answered the call to service in the day of national emergency.”

“It has been a source of regret that interest in this enterprise has seemingly lagged. I trust that the construction of the first unit will be a signal for renewed enthusiasm to guarantee the completing of the whole project.” (Governor Farrington, 1927)

The construction contract was awarded to JL Cliff; an incentive to speedy completion of the project for the Hawaiian Association of the Amateur Athletic Union featuring the National Senior Men’s Outdoor Championships for 1927 and at which thirteen mainland and nine Hawaiian clubs, as well as a team from Japan, competed.

While the entire contract was not completed by the day set for the opening of the meet (August 24, 1927) it was far enough along so that the swimming pool could be used. In the evening of that day, the natatorium, constituting the first unit of Hawaii’s war memorial, was formally dedicated with a program arranged by the American Legion.

Duke Kahanamoku, Hawai‘i’s greatest swimming champion, gave a 100-meter freestyle exhibition swim (it was Duke’s 37th birthday.) The national swimming championships then started and during this and the three following evenings the best swimmers of the United States and Japan tested the quality of the swimming pool. (Kuykendall, 1928)

Tickets for the swim meet were expensive ($1.10 for reserved seating and 25-50¢ for general admission), but 6,000 spectators created a massive traffic jam in Waikiki the first night of competition.

The big draw was a race pitting the world sprint champion Johnny Weissmuller, who beat Duke Kahanamoku in the 1924 Paris Olympics, against Japan’s Katsuo “Flying Fish” Takaishi (Weissmuller won with a new world record of 58 seconds.)

The star of the evening, however, turned out to be Hawai‘i’s Clarence ‘Buster’ Crabbe who won the one-mile swim in 21 minutes 52.25 seconds. (HawaiiHistory)

Due to lack of maintenance and care, the Natatorium is effectively off limits and is in unsafe condition. A final Environmental Assessment and EIS Preparation Notice were published on July 23, 2014. The status quo will result in demolition by neglect.

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