Battery Jackson Battery Selfridge Battery Hasbrouck Battery Hawkins Hawkins annex | |
 Battery Hawkins | |
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| Location | Honolulu, Hawaii |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 21°19′24″N157°57′34″W / 21.32333°N 157.95944°W /21.32333; -157.95944 |
| Built | 1913–1915 |
| MPS | Artillery District of Honolulu Thematic Resource |
| NRHP reference No. | 84000954 84000975 84000925 84000928 84000948[1] |
| Added to NRHP | June 5, 1984 |
Fort Kamehameha was aUnited States Army military base that was the site of severalcoastal artillery batteries to defendPearl Harbor starting in 1907 inHonolulu, Hawaii.
The eastern areas of the fort were in the district calledMoanalua. It was royal land won by conquest byKamehameha I in the 1790s and eventually passed toBernice Pauahi Bishop (named "Bishop's Point") and then inherited bySamuel Mills Damon in 1884. The western side known asHalawa, was the former beach-front estate ofQueen Emma of Hawaii. The sandy dunes had been used as a burial site.[2] It was used for theU.S. Army in 1901, and acquired by the U.S. federal government in 1907 by condemnation from Emma's estate. It was sometimes called "Queen Emma Military Reservation" or "Queen Emma Point".
Secretary of WarWilliam Howard Taft under PresidentTheodore Roosevelt headed a group to review coastal defenses, in light of "possessions" such as Hawaii and thePhilippines, based on the findings of theBoard of Fortifications.Originally named Fort Upton for GeneralEmory Upton (1839–1881), on January 28, 1909 after local citizens objected,Archibald Cleghorn suggested the name be changed to honor Kamehameha I, the first king of the unifiedHawaiian Islands.[3]
In addition to armaments, a row of officers' houses would be built in 1916, and a chapel added in 1940.
Batteries were placed behind massive reinforced concrete walls about 20 feet (6.1 m) thick, which were in turn behind 30 feet (9.1 m) of earth. From east to west the sites built in the first phase were:[4]
Battery Selfridge was constructed from November 1907 to 1913 with two12-inch M1895 guns ondisappearing carriages, with a range of about 30,000 yards (27 km).[5] It was fort building 420, NRHP site 84000975, located at21°19′5″N157°57′9″W / 21.31806°N 157.95250°W /21.31806; -157.95250 (Battery Selfridge). It was named for Lt.Thomas Selfridge, the first person to die in an airplane crash.
Battery Jackson was constructed in 1913 was equipped with two6-inch (152 mm) guns on disappearing carriages, with a range of about 15,000 yards (14 km).[5] It was fort building 430, about 1.1 acres (4,500 m2), state site 80-13-1601 and NRHP site 84000954,21°19′6″N157°57′22″W / 21.31833°N 157.95611°W /21.31833; -157.95611 (Battery Jackson). It was named forAmerican Civil War Brigadier GeneralRichard Henry Jackson.[6] A massive concrete air raid shelter was built in 1915.[7]
Battery Hawkins was constructed in 1914 with two3-inch (76 mm) guns with a range of about 6,000 yards (5.5 km).[5] It was fort building 440, NRHP site 84000928 located at21°19′12″N157°57′36″W / 21.32000°N 157.96000°W /21.32000; -157.96000 (Battery Hawkins), 440 Nelson Avenue.Another bunker built here was known as Hawkins annex, fort building 450, NRHP site 84000948, state site 80-13-1603. Although the smallest of the batteries, it is the easiest to access.[8] It was named forGeneral Hamilton Smith Hawkins (1834–1910).[9]
Battery Hasbrouck (sometimes misspelled as "Hasebrock") was constructed from July 1909 to 1914 and was equipped with eight12-inch coast defense mortars, with a range of about 15,000 yards (14 km).[5] It was fort building 460 and NRHP site 84000925. It was directly east of the entrance to Pearl Harbor, designed to protect its mine field, at coordinates21°19′30″N157°57′40″W / 21.32500°N 157.96111°W /21.32500; -157.96111 (Battery Hasebrouck), covering 2.6 acres (11,000 m2). It was named for General Henry Cornelius Hasbrouck (1839–1910) son ofWilliam C. Hasbrouck.[10]
At the west end of Fort Kamehameha, coordinates21°19′53″N157°58′6″W / 21.33139°N 157.96833°W /21.33139; -157.96833 (Battery Chandler) Battery Chandler had two 3-inch (76 mm) guns named for Lt. Rex Chandler who died in an airplane crash in 1913. Battery Barri had two4.7-inch (120 mm) guns, was named for Captain Thomas O. Barri who died in the Civil War in 1863. Construction on these was started in September 1914. Barri was dismantled in 1925 and both no longer exist.[10]
Each of these had two6-inch (152 mm) Armstrong guns incasemates located onFord Island. They were constructed starting in August 1916 and named for Lt Henry R. Adair (died 1916) and Captain Charles T. Boyd (died 1916). A few years later an airfield calledLuke Field was built on Ford Island, and the site is now owned by the Navy.[10]
Within a few years the armaments of the first phase were obsolete. In 1920, two12-inch (305 mm) M1895 guns on a new style M1917barbette carriage that could traverse a full 360 degrees were installed and named after Civil War artillery specialist, GeneralHenry W. Closson.[11] This design had a 975-pound (442 kg) projectile with elevation up to 35 degrees and range of 17 miles (27 km). It was located about21°19′9″N157°56′3″W / 21.31917°N 157.93417°W /21.31917; -157.93417 (Battery Closson).[4] Anti-aircraft guns were also added to protect from attack from above. In 1942, concrete shielding was added above the guns.[10]
DuringWorld War II, some of the anti-aircraft guns were used in theattack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. A JapaneseMitsubishi A6M2 model 21 "Zero" was strafing US military personnel when the pilot failed to pull up in time and bounced off the ground, severely damaging the propeller. The pilot was killed instantly when it crashed near the fort.
At the end of World War II, the coastal batteries had become obsolete, and most of the military installations at the Fort were subsequently demolished.[12]
None of the large caliber guns were ever fired except in practice about once a year. They were salvaged after the war. Some other sites within the fort besides the ones listed above were destroyed.[13]The area around Selfridge and Jackson batteries are now used for theHawaii Air National Guard.The eastern side of the military reservation (where Battery Closson was located) became theMamala Bay Golf Course. The "Artillery District of Honolulu" (state historic site 80-13-1382)[14] was added to theNational Register of Historic Places listings in Oahu on June 5, 1984.[1]
Fort DeRussy Military Reservation Battery Randolf (which now houses a museum) was also included in the preservation effort.[15]
In the 1970s the Fort Kamehameha Wastewater Treatment Plant was built on the western end of the fort. On October 1, 1992 its 506 acres (205 ha) became part ofHickam Air Force Base.[16] The residents were forced out of the homes by the U.S. Air Force and the historic homes were abandoned in 2008 since they were near the runway ofHonolulu International Airport despite belonging on theNational Register of Historic Places.[17]
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