Place Names | Page 20 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

July 15, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kealakīpapa

Maunalua, the traditional name for the area now known as Hawai‘i Kai, literally means two mountains in reference to Kuamo‘okāne (Koko Head) and Kohelepelepe (Koko Crater), on the east side of O‘ahu.

Numerous small valleys are contained within, and a Keahupua o Maunalua (Kuapā Fishpond) is also located on the coastline in the western portion of this ahupua‘a. (KSBE)

Before Western contact, there was a close association between the regions of Wawamalu (Sandy Beach) and Waimanalo. (Ka Iwi Master Plan)

The land of Maunalua was formerly an ‘ili (subdivision) of the Waimanalo ahupua‘a and originally belonged to Ko‘olaupoko district. (KSBE) This “would indicate an easy route of communication between the two lands.” (McAllister)

During his visit to Maunalua in 1810, John Papa ‘Īʻī noted the ancient trail system of Oʻahu and its connection to Maunalua. He wrote, “go along Keahia and so on to Maunalua, to the sea of Koko, to Makapuu, and so on”. This mention of the trail indicates that this route extended through Maunalua, continued on to Kealakīpapa Valley, and ended at Waimānalo. (Nohopapa)

“This path may have existed in 1822, when Mathison passed from Waimanalo to Maunalua, but it was not known to him. Mathison was guided by an English sailor who had settled in Waimanalo.” (McAllister)

Before Western contact, there was a close association between the regions of Wawamalu (Sandy Beach) and Waimanalo. (Ka Iwi Master Plan)

“Running from a point slightly mountainwards of the [Makapu‘u] lighthouse road up Kealakipapa Valley, down the Waimanalo gap, and through the village site in Waimanalo, are the remains of an old road.”

“It has not been definitely determined whether it is of old Hawaiian origin or of post-European construction. … The name of the valley, Kealakipapa (paved roadway), indicates that a trail at least has been here for many years.” (McAllister)

In 1851, William Webster, a land agent of the Hawaiian Kingdom, produced the earliest map of Maunalua. The map depicts a road extending from the cliff of Makapu‘u Bay to Kealakīpapa Valley, which might be the ancient trail previously mentioned by ʻĪʻī. (Nohopapa)

The name Ka Iwi is derived from the Ka Iwi Channel, which lies between the islands of Molokai and Oahu. This area of Ka Iwi can be divided into four topographic regions: a coastal zone (referred to as Queen’s Beach); a valley (Kealakīpapa Valley); a rocky headland (Makapu’u Head); and a coastal bench.

Queen’s Beach generally refers to the shoreline area from Kaloko Beach to the rock cliffs of Makapu’u Head. Kealakīpapa Valley comprises the area from Makapu’u Saddle down to Queen’s Beach.

Makapu‘u Head, rising northeast of Kealakīpapa Valley, reaches 647 feet above sea level at its highest point. Kealakīpapa Valley through to Queen’s Beach allows the viewer to see both the windward and leeward shores from this vantage point. (Ka Iwi Master Plan)

Access between the two areas was by way of the road named Kealakīpapa, which is now generally the route of Kalanianaole Highway. “An ali’i who lived at Wawamalu had the road built. He made the people who annoyed him build the road.” (Pukui, Maunalua-net) It has also been referred to as the old “King’s Highway.”

The mouth of Kealakīpapa Valley, at Queen’s Beach, is wide and narrows to its head near the Makapu’u Lookout at 160 feet. (Ka Iwi Master Plan)

“In places the natural outcroppings of rocks have been used as steps, but where stones have been laid and a terraced wall built up to support the paving, this paving has been constructed with large stones laid at an angle sometimes as great as 45 degrees. From the foot of the gap the road ran into the village site on the Waimanalo side.”

“Near the top of the gap, on the Maunalua side, is a small walled enclosure which, according to Stokes, is said to have been made at the time of the rebellion in 1895. From the top of the gap down Kealakipapa Valley for about 600 feet the road is in fairly good condition and can be followed with ease.” (McAllister)

“The central part is paved with flat stones 1 to 2 feet in width, with smaller stones heaped about a foot in height on either side, Along this distance the road averages between 15 and 16 feet in width.”

“Farther into the valley the road runs into a heavy growth of kiawe. Here it is generally without the side rock-walls, about 11 feet wide, and of arched or curved surface.”

“Throughout the lower part of the valley the road is in a poor state of preservation. On the immediate mountain side of the lighthouse road it cannot be found. Seaward of the lighthouse road it appears again and seems to end some 140 feet from the present road, for on the sea side of this point it cannot be found.” (McAllister)

“The plain below Kamiloiki and Kealakipapa was known as Ke-kula-o-Kamau[u]wai. This was the famous potato-planting place from which came the potatoes traded to ships that anchored off Hahaione in whaling days.” (Handy)

In 1859, Maunalua was included in the Kona district with the Revised Laws of Hawai‘i 1925, setting the district boundaries from Makapu‘u Head to Moanalua inclusive. (KSBE)

July 11, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kohala Shark Hunt

In the old days, folks used to catch and kill sharks. The accepted attitude was, “the only good shark is a dead shark.”

In an attempt to relieve public fears and to reduce the risk of shark attack, the state government of Hawaiʻi spent over $300,000 on shark control programs between 1959 and 1976. Six control programs of various intensity resulted in the killing of 4,668-sharks.

Subsequent evaluation of the 1959-1976 efforts noted, “Shark control programs do not appear to have had measurable effects on the rate of shark attacks in Hawaiian waters. Implementation of large-scale control programs in the future in Hawaiʻi may not be appropriate.” (Wetherbee, 1994)

At the turn of the century, my grandfather and his brothers (Young Brothers) used to have various jobs in Honolulu Harbor; one was taking paying customers out to harpoon sharks off-shore. My great-uncle, William, wrote books about his adventures shark hunting.

I remember Kohala shark “hunts” on the Big Island where a donated steer carcass was tied between points in a cove and “hunters,” on surrounding cliffs using high-powered rifles, shot at sharks feeding off the carcass.

“For both spectator and participant thrills it would be hard to beat a shark hunt, a sports event that originated in Kohala and perhaps is still unique in this community.”

“The shark hunt is the brain child of Pierre Bowman, personnel manager for Kohala Sugar Co, and these day-long events are staged a couple times a year with hundreds of people turning out with family picnics to watch the kill from along the low cliffs two miles west of the Kohala mill.” (HTH, July 2, 1952)

“The shark hunts originated [in about 1950 and appear to have been run into the mid-1970s] … [on each hunt] hunters have bagged as many as a half-dozen sharks, ranging in size to 29 feet, in good years.” (HTH, July 26, 1965) Some years, no sharks showed up.

“The shark hunt conducted annually be the Kohala group has drawn the interest of persons all over the state.” (HTH, July 24, 1965)

“The affair goes like this: Forty eight hours before the shark hunt begins, a mule [steer] or a horse is shot and the carcass is lashed securely to the reef, out of reach of the sharks but so that the water will wash over it.”

“The vicious monsters of the sea eventually scent the bait and begin to collect. Sharks are always ravenous. When the hunt begins the bait is allowed to float out into the sea, and the sharks close in. The bait is hauled slowly shoreward and the hungry sharks fighting for food come right along with it.”

“Three or four men with harpoons strike when a shark comes close enough, and then the real fun begins for the trick is to get 700 to 1,000 pounds of thrashing hell and fury out of the water and onto the reef for the kill.”

“Then the shore battery, which includes almost everything from .22 rifles to Revolutionary muskets, closes in to finish off the monster.” (HTH, July 2, 1952)

Occasionally, “The Kohala High School stage band played swing music from the 1930s – rather incongruous music to watch sharks while the now bloated cow bobbed in the sea.” (Adv, June 25, 1975)

“Over the years, shark hunts have been staged to raise money for all sorts of school projects in North Kohala.” [i.e., Future Framers of America, Kohala high basketball team, Boys Scouts, Kohala squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, …] [HTH, June 19, 1975)

Times have changed.

We have learned that tiger sharks (the ones most implicated in attacks on humans) don’t simply dwell in small coastal territories but are instead extremely wide-ranging.

They are opportunistic predators and typically move on soon after arriving in an area, because the element of surprise is quickly lost, and potential prey become wary and difficult to catch.

We know more now and recognize that sharks are an important part of the marine ecosystem. Sharks are often the “apex” or top of the food chain predators in their ecosystems because they have few natural predators.

As top predators, sharks help to manage healthy ocean ecosystems. Sharks feed on the animals below them in the food chain, helping to regulate and maintain the balance of marine ecosystems; limiting the populations of their prey, in turn affects the prey species of those animals, and so on.

To some, sharks are ʻaumakua (ancestral spirits that take possession of living creatures) that make appearances to express parental concern for the living, bringing warnings of impending danger, comfort in times of stress or sorrow or in other ways being helpful. (Kane)

Sad and Tragic, yes – we continue to have shark attacks. However, many believe it is typically mistaken identity – the sharks mistake surfers and floaters as turtles or seals. (Remember, we are visitors to their realm in the ocean.)

I still vividly recall Halloween morning, 2003, when DLNR’s shark expert came to my office to brief me on the shark attack on Bethany Hamilton on Kauai. It was a somber day at DLNR. Unlike the old days, there was no “hunt” called for. Other incidents and attacks continue to occur.

“The number of shark attacks has nothing to do with how many sharks are in the water and everything to do with how many people are in the water,” said Kim Holland, University of Hawaiʻi shark researcher and Shark Task Force member. (Honolulu Advertiser, following the Hamilton attack)

John Naughton, a National Marine Fisheries Service biologist, said previous efforts to remove large predatory sharks saw the proliferation of smaller ones, which harassed fishermen and their catches.

“It’s an archaic way to manage the resource. It’s like the turn of the century, when they shot wolves. It doesn’t make sense anymore.” (Honolulu Advertiser, November, 2003)

July 1, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Dartmouth

“It is, Sir, as I have said, a small college. And yet there are those who love it!” (Daniel Webster)

The rolling hills and plentiful foliage of New Hampshire are home to over 20 colleges and universities. New Hampshire’s first school, founded seven years before the country, is Dartmouth College, an Ivy League institution along the banks of the Connecticut River in the small town of Hanover. (Messier, SeaCoastOnLine)

Dartmouth’s first classes, consisting of just four students, were held in a single log hut in Hanover in 1770. (LOC) The college was named in honor of William Legge, the British Earl of Dartmouth, a friend of Wentworth’s and an important benefactor.

Dartmouth College has its origins in More’s (later Moor’s) Indian Charity School, an educational enterprise established in the year 1754 at Lebanon, Connecticut, by the Reverend Eleazar Wheelock, a minister of the Congregational faith and a graduate of Yale. (Christopher DeLuca)

“Wheelock … first founded a private ‘Latin’ school, aimed at educating both colonists and natives in the classics, including a young Samson Occom, a Mohegan who became trained as an excellent minister.”

“In time, Wheelock realized his passion, founding Moor’s Charity School in Lebanon, Connecticut. The sole purpose of this small school was to prepare students to become Protestant missionaries, including Natives among their own tribes and colonists where Native numbers were lacking.”

“This school was open to male and female students of many ages and was free to attend, operating upon donations (both monetary and farm product-based). Despite English being the only language necessary to preach, Wheelock insisted upon teaching his pupils Latin, Greek, and Hebrew as well. “

“The Reverend also taught his charges farming and agricultural skills, despite complaints from some students’ parents, who were themselves farmers. Underlying the obvious paternal motivations behind these curricular choices, we can see the nucleus of what would become a liberal arts curriculum.” (Dartmouth Review)

“[T]he Reverend Eleazar Wheelock, of Lebanon, in the colony of Connecticut, in New England, aforesaid, now doctor in divinity, did, on or about the year of our Lord 1754, at his own expense, on his own estate and plantation, set on foot an Indian charity school …”

“… and for several years, through the assistance of well-disposed persons in America, clothed, maintained and educated a number of the children of the Indian natives, with a view to their carrying the Gospel, in their own language, and spreading the knowledge of the great Redeemer, among their savage tribes …”

“[T]he said Eleazar Wheelock thought it expedient, that endeavors should be used to raise contributions from well disposed persons in England for the carrying on and extending said undertaking …”

“… and for that purpose the said Eleazar Wheelock requested the Rev. Nathaniel Whitaker, now doctor in divinity, to go over to England for that purpose, and sent over with him the Rev. Samson Occom, an Indian minister, who had been educated by the said Wheelock.”

“… considering the premises and being willing to encourage the laudable and charitable design of spreading Christian knowledge among the savages of our American wilderness, and also that the best means of education be established in our province of New Hampshire, for the benefit of said province …”

“… do, of our special grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, by and with the advice of our counsel for said province, by these presents, will, ordain, grant and constitute that there be a college erected in our said province of New Hampshire by the name of Dartmouth College …”

“… for the education and instruction of youth of the Indian tribes in this land in reading, writing, and all parts of learning which shall appear necessary and expedient for civilizing and christianizing children of pagans, as well as in all liberal arts and sciences, and also of English youth and any others.” (Dartmouth Charter)

Fast forward … “Since 2012, the Native and Indigenous Pre-Orientation program has served incoming Indigenous students in their transition to Dartmouth.”

“As our community continues to grow, and increasingly represents more and more Indigenous communities, we are dedicated to building a Native and Indigenous Pre-Orientation program that meets the changing needs of Indigenous students.”

“The purpose of the Native and Indigenous Pre-Orientation is to connect incoming Native American, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian, and Indigenous first year students with the key offices and resources that will guide and support them throughout college.”

“The Native American Program in collaboration with the Admissions Office, works with various campus partners to provide community-based resource structures and programs that holistically support our students, in their total academic, social, and emotional wellbeing.” (Dartmouth)

“Hōkūpa‘a is a student-led organization at Dartmouth greatly supported by the Native American Program (NAP). It was created by and for students who are from or are connected to the Pacific Islands.”

“‘Hōkūpa‘a,’ meaning ‘steadfast star,’ is the name of the North Star, Polaris, in the Hawaiian language. This particular star has great importance to traditional seafaring and navigation — Indigenous Islanders throughout the Pacific relied on this star to find their way about the ocean.”

“We bring light to the story behind the name Hōkūpa`a to reiterate our commitment to our pan-Pasifika family and our time-honored interconnectivity. Navigation, the ocean, and the stars are some of the main connecting forces of the Pacific Islands and its peoples. As an organization, Hōkūpaʻa aims to create a similar space for Pacific Islander students on Dartmouth’s campus.”

“The Dartmouth Lūʻau is an annual event that celebrates the existence and representation of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander identity on the Dartmouth campus. Since its initiation, the Dartmouth Lūʻau has brought together communities from across campus, as well as regionally, to celebrate, honor, educate, and share their Native heritage.” (Dartmouth)

The college as it stands today almost ceased to exist in the 1800s, when the state of New Hampshire attempted to change Dartmouth’s original charter to make it a state university.

The case of Dartmouth College vs. Woodward eventually worked its way up to the US Supreme Court, where Dartmouth College prevailed under the leadership of alumnus and lawyer Daniel Webster, who re-founded the college in 1819. (Messier, SeaCoastOnLne)

As of 2023 there were approximately 4,500 undergraduates and 2,200 graduate students enrolled in the four-year, private, liberal arts college.

The school has more than 40 undergraduate academic departments and programs in the arts and sciences. Dartmouth College is the home of one the nation’s oldest professional schools of engineering, the first graduate school of management, and one of the nation’s top medical schools. (LOC)

June 24, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kauai’s South Shore

“The history of Koloa is in many ways Hawai‘i’s history in microcosm.” (Wilcox) The focus of interest is the region‘s history and the role this area played in helping to shape Hawaiʻi‘s socio-economic past, present and future.

The South Shore of the island of Kauai has many scenic, natural and recreational qualities that travelers may experience and enjoy. Along the coastal area of Poʻipu there are popular beaches for swimming, surfing, snorkeling, scuba or sunset watching.

You enter the historic Old Koloa Town and Poʻipu Beach, Kauai’s premier resort destination, through a tree-formed tunnel. The native Hawaiian history, archaeology and culture can be seen throughout the area and are the foundation of the historic events that followed.

Scattered throughout the area are remnants of pre-contact ancient Hawaiʻi life in the forms of heiau (Hawaiian temples) the Koloa Field System (agricultural) and culturally-significant natural geologic features in the forms of peaks, hills, streams, caves, bays and coastal features.

The native Hawaiians along the Koloa shore were the first to see the white man in Hawaiʻi. It was in 1778, along Kauai’s South Shore, that Captain James Cook first traveled, landed and made “contact”, introducing Hawaiʻi to the rest of the world. His arrival was the beginning of multiple changes in Hawai‘i’s socio-economic framework.

Koloa Landing at Hanakaʻape Bay (the Kingdom’s first Royal Port of Entry) became the favored and major port of call on the island – because of the ability to maneuver in and out of the anchorage – whatever the wind direction, and the region had ample water and food crops to provision the ships. This led to a series of economic activities that shaped the history of the islands.

One of the first exports from Hawaiʻi was sandalwood trees that grew throughout the islands; exported primarily to China. Sandalwood was a desirable cash crop in Hawaiʻi because it could be harvested year round and did not have to be irrigated or cultivated.

Starting in 1790, trade in Hawaiian sandalwood became an important export item. As trade and shipping brought Hawaiʻi into contact with a wider world, it also enabled the acquisition of Western goods, including arms and ammunition, by the Hawaiian leaders.

However, by 1830, the trade in sandalwood had completely collapsed for two reasons: Hawaiian forests were exhausted and sandalwood from other areas drove down the price in China which made the Hawaiian trade unprofitable.

On October 23, 1819, the first group of missionaries from the northeastern United States set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.) There were seven couples sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity.

With them were four Hawaiian youths who had been students at the Foreign Mission School, including Prince Humehume (son of Kauai’s King Kaumuali‘i.) In modern times, three churches on Poʻipu Road all trace their roots to the same Christian denomination – Congregational.

Hawai‘i’s whaling era began in 1819 and replaced the sandalwood trade. At that time, whale oil was used for heating, lamps and in industrial machinery; whale bone was used in corsets, skirt hoops, umbrellas and buggy whips.

Whalers, seeking water and food supplies, called at Koloa Landing, the Island’s foremost port. Koloa was a center for agriculture and, as such, became the center of activity for Kauai. The whaling industry was the mainstay of the islands’ economy for about 40 years.

Sugar gradually replaced sandalwood and whaling in the mid-19th century and became the principal industry in the islands. The early Polynesian settlers to Hawaiʻi brought sugar cane with them and demonstrated that it could be grown successfully.

In 1835, the first commercially-viable sugar plantation was started in Hawaiʻi at Koloa. Other plantations soon followed. Sugar was the dominant economic force in Hawaiʻi for over a century. Several sites found in this area highlight the historic past of the sugar economy.

Koloa Plantation was the birthplace of the Hawaiian sugar industry. By 1883, more than 50 plantations were producing sugar on five islands.

However, during this growth, a shortage of laborers to work in the growing sugar plantations became a challenge; the only answer was imported labor. It is not likely anyone then foresaw the impact this would have on the cultural and social structure of the islands.

Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

There were three big waves of workforce immigration: Chinese (1850,) Japanese (1885) and Filipinos (1905.) Several smaller, but substantial, migrations also occurred: Portuguese (1877,) Norwegians (1880,) Germans (1881,) Puerto Ricans (1900,) Koreans (1902) and Spanish (1907.)

Sugar changed the social fabric of Hawai‘i. Of the nearly 385,000 workers that came, many thousands stayed to become a part of Hawai‘i’s unique ethnic mix. Hawai‘i continues to be one of the most culturally-diverse and racially-integrated places on the planet.

Old Koloa Town grew up around the Plantation industry. Plantation workers not only labored, lived and shopped on the plantation, they also received medical care. Koloa’s buildings housed plantation stores, services and churches for these people, including Kauai’s first hotel.

When Hawaiʻi became a US territory, at the turn of the century, it drew adventuresome cruise ship travelers in a tourism boom. Hotels blossomed.

1959 brought two significant actions that shaped the present day economic make-up of Hawai‘i, Statehood and jet-liner service between the mainland United States and Honolulu. These two events helped guide and expand the fledgling visitor industry.

Tourism is the activity most responsible for Hawaiʻi’s recent economic status and standard of living. Koloa-Poʻipu hosts an organized, supportive Poʻipu Beach Resort Association that organizes and promotes destination marketing and promotion of visitor accommodations/activities on behalf of its membership.

Poʻipu Beach coastal roads have visitor accommodations including hotels, condominium and vacation rental homes. The Visitor Industry remains the primary economic influence in the islands.

We prepared a corridor management plan for the Holo Holo Koloa Scenic Byway. We were honored and proud when the Plan received the Community-Based Planning Award from the American Planning Association‐Hawaiʻi Chapter and a Historic Preservation Commendation from Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation.

Click to access Kauai-South_Shore_Background_Summary.pdf

South_Shore-Aerial Image – Ed Gross

Aerial view of Lawai Beach, Kauai-(HSA)-PPWD-10-6-007-1929

South_Shore_Kauai,_William_Ellis,_ca__1778

Hanakaape_Bay-Koloa_Landing-Ships-1898

Lawai_Beach-1935

Spouting_Horn-Puhi

Mahaulepu

KoloaLanding

Kaneiolouma-aerial

Wakauwahi_Cave

Maka’uwahi_Cave-(Sacred_Caves)

Old Koloa Town

NTBG

Koloa-Sugar-Monument

Koloa_Mill-DMY-1880-1890

Koloa_Plantation_Camp-StateArchives

June 20, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Concrete No. 5

“Ship traps” describes a phenomenon where northern and southern swells, strong channel currents, strong consistent trade winds and fringing reefs force unsuspecting vessels into areas of harm – resulting in concentrated shipwrecks.

The north shore of the Island of Lānaʻi, locally referred to as “Shipwreck Beach,” is the best example of this phenomenon. Here, the channel acts as a funnel, depositing material directly onto Shipwreck Beach.

Any vessel that broke its moorings at Lāhainā would end up there; sometimes ship owners intentionally abandoned worn-out vessels there by simply casting them adrift upwind from the treacherous shore. (Naval Historical Center)

The first reported wreck occurred in 1824 when a British vessel named the Alderman Wood ran into the reef there. Two years later, an American ship, the London, sunk there with its cargo of gold and silver bullion. No one knows how much – if any – of the gold and silver was recovered. (Brost)

Known wrecks include: British ship Alderman Wood (lost 1824); American ship London (lost 1826;) Hawaiian schooner Onward (lost 1875;) Hawaiian schooner Mary Alice (lost 1884;) Hawaiian schooner Malolo (lost 1887;) Hawaiian schooner Golden Gate (lost 1901;) Hawaiian steamship Hornet (disposed 1927.)

In addition, other victims include, Hawaiian schooner Helene (disposed 1929;) Hawaiian vessel Manukiiwai (abandoned 1929;) private yawl Charlotte C (lost 1931;) private auxiliary Tradewind (lost 1934;) three US Navy steel LCM landing craft (lost 1940s;) Hawaiian barge Oregon Reefer (disposed 1954; US Navy oiler YO-21 (disposed 1957?) and US Navy barge YOGN-42 (disposed 1950s?.) (NOAA)

A constant reminder of Shipwreck Beach is the last one – from the US Navy, YOGN-42 – a number, not otherwise named. It is 375-feet long, with a beam of 56-feet and draft of 26-and-a-half feet.

Contrary to some of the reports on this vessel, it is neither a WWII Liberty ship nor was it even a motorized vessel. The ship sitting on the reef at Shipwreck Beach is actually a non-self-propelled Navy gasoline barge.

On September 28, 1942, Commander Service Force, Pacific Fleet requested that fuel carrying barges be acquired without delay to meet the serious fuel storage problem of the naval forces in the South Pacific.

The construction of these barges was such that they could be towed to the required locations and used for fuel storage, thus providing the needed fuel storage and expediting the turnaround of tankers serving those areas. (Roberts)

On October 24, 1942, the Auxiliary Vessels Board estimated that a minimum of six barges were needed and recommended that the Navy acquire the first six to be completed.

“Concrete No. 5” was put into service in June 1943 as “YOGN-42.”

On November 11, 1942 they asked for six more of these barges to meet the expanding fuel storage requirements in the South Pacific.

Most the vessels built by the Concrete Ship Constructors at National City, California eventually ended up as floating oil barges; two were sunk as blockships during the Allied invasion of Normandy (scuttled to create sheltered water at the landing beaches.) (Naval Historical Center)

Some saw life following the war; one became a restaurant and later a fishing pier. One became a ten-room hotel. Nine were sunk as breakwaters for a ferry landing at Kiptopeke, Virginia. Two more are made into wharves in Yaquina Bay, Newport Oregon. Seven are part of a giant floating breakwater on the Powell River, Canada.

During the war, YOGN-42 was sent to Espiritu Santo, as part of a forward staging area for US forces in Vanuatu in Oceania. While there, its tug, Tug USS Navajo (AT-64,) was sunk by Japanese submarine I-39, 150-miles east of Espiritu Santo.

YOGN-42 survived the war, but was stricken from the active register in 1949 and abandoned on Shipwreck Beach sometime after that. (Maly)