Fortress Oahu: 1900-1950

My intent is to show why Oahu was sometimes referred to as �the Gibraltar of the Pacific�. I�ve focused on the Harbor Defenses of four areas: Pearl Harbor; Honolulu; Kane�ohe Bay; and the North Shore. The files show all sites, even those with no remaining fortifications. It does not, however, list such obvious sites as Wheeler AAF or Fort Shafter: the focus is on harbor defenses.


This is an updated overlay, as of 18 FEB 2007.


I�ve used several excellent sources to determine information concerning Oahu harbor defenses. Although not all-inclusive, the following were the most helpful:


Websites:
Coast Defense Study Group, Inc. www.cdsg.org
American Forts Network www.geocities.com/naforts

Printed Materials:
Berhow, Mark A., ed., �American Seacoast Defenses: A Reference Guide�, CDSG Press, 2004.
Dorrance, William, �Fort Kamehameha: The Story of the Harbor Defenses of Pearl Harbor�, White Mane
Publishing, Shippensburg, PA, 1993.
Dorrance, William, �Oahu�s Hidden History�, Mutual Publishing, Honolulu, HI, 1998.
G. Williford & T. McGovern, �Defenses of Pearl harbor and Oahu 1907-50�, Osprey Publishing, Osceola,
WI, 2003.
-----, Coast Defense Study Group Journal and Coast Defense Journal, Various Issues, 1989-2006.
And last, but certainly not least:
Me (and my trusty 1995 Toyota Camry).


DISCLAIMER. The listing and identification of these sites is NOT intended as �permission� to violate/invade either private property or military installations for exploration purposes. Although certain sites are accessible to the general public (Battery RANDOLPH at Waikiki and the Fire Control Station at Diamond Head), most are not. Many sites are dangerous due to their age/condition, and should be approached with great caution.

Back in the 80's me and my friends (teenagers back then) broke into this bunker. It runs straight back and then the whole length of the ridge to the right (Behind the homes). There is a road above "Rim Loop" which is not named. It services about five other entrances to the same bunker all connect to the main entrance�Large Tunnel Entrance�.

Comprehensive work, sir. Please accept my congratulations on a project completed well. I have another placemark that may interest you.

This is located just mauka (uphill) of your placemarks for Battery Kirkpatrick.

unclehud
Pearl Harbor submariner from 1978 to 1983.
I did a lot of exploring back then!

The placemark above (mauka) of Battery Kirkpatrick is a communications/tv tower and is not related to any WWII site.

kaneoheboy

Just where is this large bunker complex located? Is it on the Aliamanu Military Reservation?

kaneoheboy

My error, the communications tower is further up the trail. The round object is a water reservoir tank for the city's water supply. There is an old 4x4 trail that leads down rgew ridge to the former Battery Kirkpatrick.

kaneoheboy

Battery Control #8 facing Kaneohe Bay from the ridgetop (and it's location is almost exact, I've been in this bunker) is a place my friends and I used to hike to in the 1970's. Back then it was fairly unused and the metal doors covering the hatch/ladders down into them were left open or at least openable. There are actually two bunkers here in a sort of split-level one obove the other yet joined at the front. The upper unit had a mounting for a large cannon of unknown caliber, I believe the lower one may have stored ammunition or served as the firing aiming officers. There were also some wooden pole towers coming up from the shore to the east, up an abandoned jeep trail to service the gun/crew. The view is fantastic, the accomodations spacious enough for 5 or six and the room rate free! <grin> A perfect retirement home for the budget minded.

Very nice work. I can add to this a wee bit. There is/was a bunker in the Fort Weaver area near the intersection of Iroquois and Cormorant avenues. The rough triangle or heavy foliage near that intersection contained a bunker when I lived in Ewa Beach in the early 60's. There was a playground in the flat green patch at the intersection, and I lived across the street in one of the duplex units. We used to climb the fence surrounding the bunker and attempt entry. The entrance is to the North. There is/was a heavy bar door that was askew, and we used to enter there. We never could pick the lock on the heavy vault-like door. We found old machetes and canteens in the area...not much else. It was a great adventure for me as a nine year old.

Could you identify the exact location of Battery Control #8, that is the name of the ridge or mountaintop?

Fire control or base end stations (also known as position finding stations) were not armed with defensive weapons, they were equipped with high-power telescopic instruments known as depression position finders and azimuth instruments to determine range and azimuth of vessels using triangulation, which was reported to a specific gun battery's plotting room (via field local battery powered telephones), where the data was then given to the battery's gunners to point and train the guns to fire at the target after the plotters determined the target's whereabouts in relation to the battery's guns.

The raised concrete octagonal platforms that you find in these abandoned "bunkers" supported a cast iron pedestal that in turn the optical position finding instrument was attached. The only defensive weapons were the arms were issued to the men assigned to the observation post.

The upper and lower levels both functioned in the position finding role.

Bob,

I also lived in the same aera in the 60s and 70s. In the early 70s, the bunker was being used as to HQ for the local Boy Scout Troop. It was clean, well lit, and in good repair.

My understanding is that the bunker served as the ploting room and possible ammo mag for the 2 16" Rifles that were mounted at Fort Weaver from 1924 to 1948.

It appears the bunker is still there.

http://www.cdsg.org/16inchgun.gif

I find it hard to believe that no trace can be found of the bases for the guns. They would have been masive concrete structures and surely they were simply covered and not removed.

Anyone have any ideas on where to look for some definative diagrams or photos of Fort Weaver while it was operational?