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109-807: Naval Station Pearl Harbor is a United States naval base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii . In 2010, as part of the recommendations of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commission, the naval station was consolidated with the United States Air Force 's Hickam Air Force Base to form Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam . Since 1940, Pearl Harbor has been the headquarters of the United States Pacific Fleet . Naval Station Pearl Harbor provides berthing and shore side support to surface ships and submarines, as well as maintenance and training. Pearl Harbor can accommodate

218-420: A few days later. Amaranth delivered materials for construction of the dry dock facility. Work progressed satisfactorily on all projects, except the drydock. After much wrangling with Congress to secure an appropriation of over three million dollars for its construction, the drydock was wrecked by "underground pressure". "On February 17, 1913, the entire drydock structure rumbled, rocked, and caved in." The drydock

327-800: A few weeks and three others within a year, but Oklahoma and Arizona were total losses. The weakened state of the US Pacific Fleet would allow the Japanese Navy to hold the initiative until the Guadalcanal Campaign eight months later. Enterprise launched aircraft to patrol Ford Island and search for Japanese carriers. Five American pilots returning from missions to hunt down the Japanese fleet were mistakenly shot down by Ford Island anti-aircraft gunners while attempting to land. The island's commanding officer said about

436-540: A fire which quickly spread among the ships being prepared for Operation Forager , the invasion of the Japanese-held Mariana Islands . Over the next 24 hours, six LSTs sank, 163 naval personnel died and 396 were injured. A subsequent Naval Board of Inquiry never determined the exact cause of the disaster. But it concluded the initial explosion was caused when a mortar round aboard LST-353 detonated during an unloading operation because it

545-807: A high-explosive payload of 450 pounds (200 kg), of which 12 are thought to have found their targets: two in California , one in Nevada and a possible total of nine in Oklahoma and West Virginia ; the latter two ships sank within minutes of being hit. Horizontal bomber aircraft delivering armor-piercing bombs attacked as the last torpedo planes finished, and other horizontal and dive bombers came in later. The aircraft registered many direct hits and damaging near-misses, including two each on California , Maryland and Tennessee and several more on West Virginia . A bomb meant for California hit Hangar 6 on

654-414: A large steel-and-wood hangar, two concrete hangars for seaplanes and flying boats, a supply warehouse, a machine shop, a photography laboratory and a powerhouse. In 1919, the field was named Luke Field after Frank Luke , a World War I ace and Medal of Honor recipient. The U.S. Army's introduction of aviation to Ford Island triggered expansion throughout Hawaii with the development of civilian airports,

763-606: A laundry and a theater. At the height of World War II, over 40,000 people lived or worked on the island. Beginning in the 1930s, Imperial Japan attempted to expand its territory into China. Opposed to these aggressive actions, the United States, Britain , and the Netherlands froze Japanese assets and imposed economic restrictions which prohibited the exportation of aircraft fuel as well as steel and iron to Japan, affecting 90% of Japan's war production needs. Japan

872-600: A mid-Pacific storm while it was being towed to the scrapyard. Nevada , California , West Virginia and the minelayer USS  Oglala were re-floated and salvaged by the Navy. The entire salvage operation took 20,000 man-hours underwater and 5,000 dives to recover human remains, weapons, ammunition and artifacts of historic or military importance. The US Pacific Fleet established the Fleet Intelligence Center, Pacific (FICPAC) on Ford Island by 1955 as

981-482: A network of aqueducts from freshwater reservoirs, transported to Waipio by barge and then by rail to the mills. In 1902, the nearby estate of Bernice Pauahi Bishop lost a crucial lawsuit brought by the United States to purchase land around Pearl Harbor for below its market value. Although the Bishop estate valued the land at $ 600 per acre, the United States was only willing to pay $ 30 per acre. A jury determined that

1090-430: A new Army airfield, Hickam Army Airfield , named after pioneer U.S. Army Air Corps pilot Lieutenant Colonel Horace Meek Hickam . From 1936 to 1940 Pan American flew its Clipper service into Ford Island, using it as a refueling stop between the United States and Asia . The Navy built a $ 25,000 boathouse, spent $ 579,565 on a new crew barracks and built a firehouse, water-supply and lighting systems. In June 1936

1199-563: A saluting battery and a flag staff on the naval reservation, and an artesian well of its own. All these requests were rejected by the Bureau of Equipment on the theory that, once granted, they "will practically constitute a permanent foothold on the property, and end in dividing it between the two Departments, or in the entire exclusion of the Navy Department on the ground of military expediency as established by frequency of use." However,

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1308-481: A second wave of 170 Japanese aircraft, mostly torpedo bombers, attacked the fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor. The battleship Arizona was hit with an armor-piercing bomb which penetrated the forward ammunition compartment, sinking it within seconds, killing 1,177 crew members. The overall death toll was 2,467 people: 2,403 American citizens—2,335 members of the U.S. military and 68 civilians —and 64 members of

1417-900: A total of 11 battle stars for service in World War II, Korea, and the Persian Gulf, and was finally decommissioned on 31 March 1992, but remained on the Naval Vessel Register until her name was struck in January 1995. In 1998, she was donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association and became a museum ship at Pearl Harbor , Hawaii. Naval base In the United States , the United States Department of

1526-478: A training ship, was also moored on the western side of the island and was sunk by torpedoes. A total of 58 officers and enlisted were killed and 461 survived. Attempts to use the same methods as "Oklahoma" to right the Utah were unsuccessful. There is now a memorial near the remains of the ship. The Japanese disabled all seven battleships on Battleship Row. Maryland , Tennessee and Pennsylvania were repaired in only

1635-402: Is an islet in the center of Pearl Harbor , Oahu , in the U.S. state of Hawaii . It has been known as Rabbit Island , Marín's Island , and Little Goats Island ; its native Hawaiian name is Mokuʻumeʻume . The island had an area of 334 acres (135 ha) when it was surveyed in 1825, which was increased during the 1930s to 441 acres (178 ha) with fill dredged out of Pearl Harbor by

1744-481: Is the older and larger of the two ferries, at 181 feet (55 m), with a capacity of 750 people and 33 vehicles. The other, Moko Holo Hele (meaning ' boat go back and forth ' ) was purchased for $ 1.1 million on May 25, 1970. At 162 feet (49 m), its capacity was 750 people and 42 vehicles. Both ferries were operated by US Navy personnel, and access to the island was restricted to US military personnel, their dependents and invited guests. In addition to

1853-580: Is the world's largest communication station. The headquarters site of this shore command is located in the central section of the island of Oahu, approximately three miles north of Wahiawa. Pearl Harbor is the headquarters for the Hawaii field office of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service . Following the annexation of Hawaii , Pearl Harbor was refitted to allow for more navy ships. In May 1899, Commander John F. Merry

1962-618: The Hawaiian Historical Society believe that the island was given to Francisco de Paula Marín on February 9, 1818, and later named after him for his assistance in providing weapons used by Kamehameha I to conquer the island of Oʻahu . However, Marín wrote in an 1809 journal entry that he was given the island and its adjacent fishing waters as early as 1791. He used the land to raise sheep, hogs, goats and rabbits as provisions for ships, and grew plants and vegetables which he had imported. In 1825, Admiral George Byron,

2071-577: The Imperial Japanese Navy . Five U.S. battleships were sunk and the other remaining three were badly damaged. Overall, nine ships of the U.S. fleet were sunk and 21 ships were severely damaged. Three of the 21 would be irreparable. 188 U.S. aircraft were completely destroyed and 159 others were damaged. Japan lost 29 out of the 353 aircraft they attacked with. The attack on Pearl Harbor was the largest attack committed by foreign nationals on American soil in peacetime and in general prior to

2180-723: The Pacific Theater of World War II she fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and shelled the Japanese home islands, and she fought in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. She was decommissioned in 1955 into the United States Navy reserve fleets (the "Mothball Fleet"), but reactivated and modernized in 1984 as part of the 600-ship Navy plan, and provided fire support during Operation Desert Storm in January/February 1991. Missouri received

2289-669: The Pearl Harbor National Memorial sites at Pearl Harbor and Ford Island. Ancient Hawaiians called the island Mokuʻumeʻume ("isle of attraction" or "island of strife"), after the ceremony ( ʻume ) held during the Makahiki festival for married couples who were having difficulty conceiving children. In the Hawaiian language the word moku means to cut or sever in two, as well as an island or inlet. The word ʻume means to draw, attract or entice and

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2398-532: The Royal Navy and certain other navies which closely follow British naval traditions is the concept of the stone frigate : a naval base on land that is named like a ship. Certain facilities were often initially housed on hulks as a cost-saving measure and were later moved to land but kept their traditional names. This naval article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ford Island Ford Island ( Hawaiian : Poka ʻAilana )

2507-525: The September 11 attacks . The first shots fired were from the destroyer Ward on a midget submarine that surfaced outside of Pearl Harbor; Ward sank the midget sub at approximately 06:55, about an hour before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Just after 3 p.m. on Sunday 21 May 1944 an explosion in a staging area for Landing Ships, Tank (LSTs) and other amphibious assault ships in West Loch leading to

2616-811: The Submarine Escape Immersion Equipment in the 2000s. Bloch Arena located on the base is still in use today and hosted the collegiate Pearl Harbor Basketball Invitational and was home to the Honolulu Chiefs of the American Basketball League . The address is 224 A Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96818. On 4 December 2019, while the nuclear submarine USS Columbia was in dry dock at Pearl Harbor, 22 year-old Machinist Mate Auxiliary Fireman Gabriel Romero shot and killed two naval station civilian employees and injured another before shooting and killing himself. Romero

2725-404: The United States Navy to deepen the harbor. The island was the site of an ancient Hawaiian fertility ritual, which was stopped by Christian missionaries during the 1830s. The island was given by Kamehameha I to Spanish deserter Francisco de Paula Marín , and later returned to the monarchy . After the island was bought at auction by James Isaac Dowsett and sold to Caroline Jackson, it became

2834-574: The Vietnam War escalated and an additional intelligence branch was needed in addition to the one in Guam . With little other use of the island, as naval and air operations were moved to facilities on the side of the Pearl Harbor previously owned by the Bishop estate, the Navy decommissioned Naval Air Station Ford Island in 1966. The island continued to be controlled by the Navy as a sub-component of Naval Station Pearl Harbor. On February 20, 1970,

2943-617: The #2 barracks. The island's gasoline tank was emptied and refilled with water; trenches were dug, and buildings camouflaged. Its runway was cleared of over three tons of scrap metal in two hours. The Marines who had picked up rifles for guard duty were tasked with feeding and clothing the soldiers and sailors. Twenty prisoners from the island's brig were marched to the Marine barracks and put to work without incident; some received commuted sentences for their efforts. That evening, Hawaiians were instructed to observe an indoor blackout , stay off

3052-492: The $ 50 million 16-acre (6.5 ha) Pacific Aviation Museum . Plans included 500 homes for Navy personnel, a child-development center and a Navy lodge. In planning the island's development, the Navy considered its operational needs and the island's historic value. However, the National Trust for Historic Preservation considered the Navy's communication style more directive rather than collaborative, restricting

3161-433: The 12-month period ending March 4, 1998, the airport had 39,992 aircraft operations, an average of 110 per day: 98 percent general aviation and two percent military . On July 1, 1999, all military and civilian general-aviation activity at NALF Ford Island ended when NAS Barbers Point was closed in a BRAC action and became the present civilian Kalaeloa Airport and Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point . The new airport

3270-603: The 1910s to the 1940s, the island continued to grow as a strategic center of operations for the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Ocean. Ford Island was at the center of the attack on Pearl Harbor and on the U.S. Pacific Fleet by the Imperial Japanese fleet on December 7, 1941. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation listed the island as one of

3379-455: The 1930s, the Navy contracted a $ 1.5 million dredging of Pearl Harbor to allow larger battleships and the fleet's carriers to enter it. Work began in May 1940 resulting in 13,000,000 cubic yards (9,900,000 m ) of material dredged from the opening of Pearl Harbor to build a channel to Ford Island as well as to create a turning channel around the island. Material was also dredged to deepen

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3488-466: The 4,000-foot (1,200 m) runway at NALF Ford Island was opened to civilian flight training operations, primarily local Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps flying clubs. Itinerant military helicopter training activities also continued at NALF Ford Island during this period. Hawaii (which achieved statehood in 1959) contracted with the US Navy to allow touch-and-go landings until 1972, when the airfield

3597-571: The 7th Baron Byron arrived, commanding HMS  Blonde , to return the remains of Kamehameha II and Queen Kamāmalu after their deaths in England of Measles . While on Oahu, he would map the Pearl River (known today as Pearl Harbor ). The ship's naturalist, Andrew Bloxam, spent time on Ford Island hunting rabbits and wild ducks; its surveyor, Lieutenant Charles Robert Malden , called it Rabbits Island . In 1826, Hiram Paulding became

3706-714: The Army Depot Quartermaster at Honolulu contracted for the sinking of an artesian well on the Naval Station with the Commandant's approval, who, in turn, acted on a recommendation of the Bureau of Yards and Docks . The flow of water obtained amounted to over 1.5 million gallons per day, sufficient for all purposes of the Army and Navy. The Bureau of Equipment felt that its word of caution was justified when

3815-550: The Bureau of Yards and Docks to develop a policy on the future of the station. The docks were being used to a greater extent by the Army transports than by Navy ships, and the Army was actually attempting to get possession of Quarantine Wharf (which was built by the Territorial Government on the Naval Reservation, with the understanding that it could be taken over at any time by the Navy Department upon

3924-603: The Depot Quartermaster in 1902 let it be known that any water used by the Navy from the artesian well was "only given by courtesy of the Army". Despite the warnings of the Bureau of Equipment, the War Department , the Department of Labor and Commerce , and the Department of Agriculture had secured permission to settle on the naval reservation. By 1906, the Commandant believed that it was necessary for

4033-820: The John Papa ʻĪʻī estate to build 6-inch (15 cm) gun batteries: Battery Boyd and Battery Henry Adair. In 1917, the John Papa ʻĪʻī estate agreed to sell part of the Island to the United States for construction of an airfield, despite the Oahu Sugar Company complaining in court that the sale would hurt their business. In 1917, the 6th Aero Squadron was created in Honolulu , with Captain John F. Currey as its commander. Although 50 were assigned, only 49 arrived; one deserted en route. Currey chose Ford Island as

4142-459: The Navy 's General Order No. 135 issued in 1911 as a formal guide to naval terminology described a naval station as "any establishment for building, manufacturing, docking, repair, supply, or training under control of the Navy. It may also include several establishments". A naval base, by contrast, was "a point from which naval operations may be conducted". In most countries, naval bases are expressly named and identified as such. One peculiarity of

4251-491: The Navy Department to make efforts in the same direction." In 1908, the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard was established. The period from 1908 to 1919 was one of steady and continuous growth of the Naval Station, Pearl Harbor, with the exception of the discouraging collapse of the drydock in 1913. The Act of 13 May 1908 authorized the enlargement and dredging of the Pearl Harbor channel and lochs "to admit

4360-646: The Navy base itself was recognized as a National Historic Landmark district and with the National Register of Historic Places since 1976. Within its bounds, it contains several other National Historic Landmarks associated with the attack on Pearl Harbor , including the Arizona , Bowfin , and Utah . As an active Navy base, many of the historic buildings that contributed to the NHL designation are under threat of demolition and rebuilding. From 1932 to 1983,

4469-427: The Navy lengthened the island's landing field by 400 feet (120 m), to 3,000 feet (910 m). In March 1937 Amelia Earhart , on her second visit to Luke Field, crashed her Lockheed Electra on takeoff. In 1939, after three years of construction, Hickam Field opened. The Army transferred its operations there, leaving Luke Field under Navy control. The latter was renamed Naval Air Station Ford Island, and became

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4578-599: The Oahu Sugar Cane Plantation) leased about 300 acres (120 ha) from the John Papa ʻĪʻī estate (after their purchase of the island in 1891) to harvest sugar in 1899. The business was successful, and the company sublet land from Benjamin Dillingham on the Waipi'o peninsula (southeast of present Waipio ) to build a 12-roller mill and railroad. Sugarcane was grown and harvested on Ford Island with

4687-608: The Pacific by 2010. USS  Missouri  (BB-63) ("Mighty Mo" or "Big Mo") is a United States Navy Iowa -class battleship , and was the fourth ship of the U.S. Navy to be named in honor of the U.S. state of Missouri . Missouri was the last battleship built by the United States, and was the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which ended World War II . Missouri was ordered in 1940 and commissioned in June 1944. In

4796-667: The U.S. naval base . Through earlier code breaking activity, the Americans had determined that an attack was likely to occur. However, as the Americans failed to discover Japan's target location, it was believed that the Philippines was the most likely target. At 06:05 on 7 December, the six Japanese carriers launched a first wave of 183 aircraft composed mainly of dive bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters. The Japanese struck American ships and military installations at 07:51. The first wave attacked airfields of Ford Island. At 08:30,

4905-428: The U.S. Navy staged a mock attack on the base at Pearl Harbor as part of a preparedness exercise. The attack "succeeded" and the defense was deemed a "failure". The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan on Sunday 7 December 1941 brought the United States into World War II . Aircraft and midget submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy under the command of Admiral Chuichi Nagumo began bombing Honolulu at

5014-732: The U.S. and abroad at the USS Arizona memorial and the USS Missouri museum . Ford Island is inside Pearl Harbor, South Oʻahu of the Hawaiian Islands. Pearl Harbor is divided into three large bodies of water: the West Loch, Middle Loch and East Loch, with Ford Island in the center of the East Loch. It is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long and 0.75 miles (1.21 km) wide, and was enlarged from 334 to 441 acres (135 to 178 ha) between 1930 and 1940 with landfill dredged from

5123-538: The U.S. strategic center in the Pacific consisted of the seven battleships moored along Battleship Row and the six pairs of interrupted quays along the east side of Ford Island. Quay F-2 (the southernmost), which usually berthed an aircraft carrier, was empty. The Pacific Fleet flagship California was moored northeastward, at F-3. Side by side with Maryland was Oklahoma (outboard), followed by Tennessee with West Virginia outboard. Behind Tennessee

5232-513: The U.S., and Kamehameha III sought reciprocity. As early as 1873, a United States military commission recommended attempting to obtain Ford Island in exchange for the tax-free importation of sugar to the U.S. At that time Major General John Schofield , U.S. commander of the military division of the Pacific, and Brevet Brigadier General Burton S. Alexander arrived in Hawaii to ascertain its defensive capabilities. U.S. control of Hawaii

5341-673: The US EPA added the Pearl Harbor Naval Complex to the National Priorities List , a list of sites deemed to require investigation and remediation by the federal level Superfund . It is the only such site in Hawaii. In November 2021, 20,000 gallons of jet fuel spilled from Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility , which had 20 tanks, each holding 12.5 million gallons, buried under volcanic rock to protect them from attacks. 5,000 gallons of fuel spilled into

5450-691: The United States Congress agreed to seven years of reciprocity in exchange for Ford Island. At the end of the seven-year reciprocity agreement, the United States showed little interest in renewal. On January 20, 1887, the United States began leasing Pearl Harbor. Shortly afterwards, a group of mostly non-Hawaiians calling themselves the Hawaiian Patriotic League began the Rebellion of 1887 . They drafted their own constitution on July 6, 1887. The new constitution

5559-517: The United States still seemed uninterested in reciprocity, he threatened to forge more favorable export agreements with Australia or New Zealand. Congress feared that a treaty between Hawaii and Australia or New Zealand would result in annexation by one of those countries instead of the United States. Although Kalākaua was loath to give any foreign country land in Hawaii, he signed the treaty in September 1887. The Oahu Sugar Company (also known as

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5668-708: The United States' most-endangered historic sites. By the late 1990s, hundreds of millions of dollars had been invested in real estate development and infrastructure on and around Ford Island, including a new bridge, the Admiral Clarey Bridge . The island continues to serve an active role in the Pacific, hosting military functions at the Pacific Warfighting Center and civilian functions at NOAA 's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center . The island has been featured in films such as Tora! Tora! Tora! and Pearl Harbor and receives tourists from

5777-448: The West Loch, East Loch, and Middle Loch for the mooring of battleships. With dredged material used as land fill, the island's size was increased from 334 acres (135 ha) to 441 acres (178 ha). The Navy replaced its PK, F5L, and H16 aircraft with newer models (see table below). In 1933 VP-8F arrived on station, and in 1935 the army bombers had become too large to be maintained and stored at Luke Field. Construction began on

5886-411: The attackers. Some of these search planes were again shot down on their return by friendly fire from the Ford Island defense, which was on high alert. In addition to Battleship Row and the island's naval field, the fixed moorings on the western side of Ford Island (capable of securing battleships or aircraft carriers) were high-priority targets. Just west of the island, the seaplane tender Curtiss

5995-588: The bubonic plague. Approximately 61 deaths were recorded in Honolulu for this period. Work was consequently delayed on nascent Navy projects in Honolulu Harbor. From 1900 to 1908, the Navy devoted its time to improving the facilities of the 85 acres (34 ha) that constituted the naval reservation in Honolulu. Under the Appropriation Act of 3 March 1901, this tract of land was improved with

6104-431: The contaminated soil with topsoil and erosion-resistant vegetation (including Bermuda grass ). The containment system was completed in 1996. The wildlife on Ford Island is likely very similar to that on Naval Station Pearl Harbor . Wildlife is sparse and dominated by invasive species such as the house mouse , mongoose , brown rat , black rat , house sparrow , Java sparrow and common mynah . An endangered owl,

6213-399: The creation of the Hawaii chapter of the National Aeronautic Association , and a national flying code. The Navy decided that a Hawaiian base was a necessity, considering the Army field at Ford Island an ideal candidate. Naval Air Station Pearl Harbor, consisting of nine officers and fifty-five men, was commissioned on December 19, 1919. Although the Navy attempted to displace the Army from

6322-449: The dredging. Its volcanic material is Aeolian ash , weathered tuff and basalt . Ford Island proper is a coral outcrop. There are two smaller islets near the island: Mokunui and Mokuiki. In 1991, the Navy discovered nine metals, two semi-volatile organic compounds and a polychlorinated biphenyl in Ford Island's soil , groundwater and marine sediment . Suspected sources were nine 225,000-U.S.-gallon (850-cubic-meter) fuel tanks on

6431-440: The east-central side of the island (from 1924 to 1954), a 4.4-acre (1.8 ha) landfill on the southwestern shore (from 1930 to 1960) and ordnance bunkers on the northeastern side. An investigation suggested covering the contaminated areas with clean soil. In 1994, the Navy considered removing the contaminated soil and installed six wells to monitor groundwater, but decided to follow the original recommendation in 1995 and capped

6540-449: The endemic pueo (a subspecies of the short-eared owl ), has been seen hunting on the island. Nearly all the plant life on the island is non-native, including edible cacti from California introduced in the late 1700s by Francisco de Paula Marín. The island's harbor was important to ancient Hawaiians for its ample supply of fish, including mullet , milkfish and Hawaiian anchovy . The National Park Service oversees and administers

6649-400: The erection of additional sheds and housing. Improvements included a machine shop, smithery and foundry, Commandant's house and stables, cottage for the watchman, fencing, 10-ton wharf crane, and water-pipe system. Pearl Harbor was dredged and the channel enlarged to accommodate larger ships. On 28 May 1903, the first battleship, Wisconsin , entered the harbor for coal and water. However, when

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6758-405: The first American naval officer to visit the island. Marín's ownership claim to the island was cloudy; Hawaiians generally refused to recognize land ownership by foreigners. Kamehameha II believed that the island had been loaned to Marín and by the 1850s the island was split between Kamehameha IV —who purchased 214 acres (87 ha)—and High Chiefess Kekauōnohi , granddaughter of Kamehameha I, who

6867-407: The friendly-fire losses, "Somebody let fly and I never saw so many bullets in the air in my life and never expect to ... all tracer bullets at night." After the attack, ROTC cadets from the University of Hawaii were assigned to active duty guarding strategic buildings. Because of the island's lack of fresh water and electric power to the dispensary, a temporary hospital had to be set up at

6976-405: The fuel storage farm. 93,000 people could not use the navy's water system, and the military was giving water to those who needed it, while some people had to be moved to hotels for several months. It took three months for the water to be found safe, and in 2022 the Secretary of Defense ordered Red Hill to be closed, and the fuel was removed over a period of six months. Further cleanup of the aquifer

7085-438: The goddess Kaʻahupahau killed a girl on the island; remorseful, she then proclaimed a law forbidding further killing. Kaʻahupa-hau's brother Kahiʻuka (sometimes referred to by historians as her son, Ku-maninini) was said to live in an underwater cavern off Ford Island with Kanekuaʻana , a giant water lizard which supplied food to the people of ʻEwa Beach . Although no historical records provide an exact date, researchers at

7194-469: The gunboat Petrel to proceed to the upper part of Main Loch in January 1905. One of the early concerns of the growing station was that the Army would make claims on its property. Because of their facilities, as wharves, cranes, artesian wells , and coal supplies, many requests were made by the Army for their use. By February 1901, the Army had made application for the privilege of establishing on Navy docks movable cranes for handling coal and other stores,

7303-488: The harbor from the island. After the naval hangars were commissioned on January 17, 1923, by Lieutenant Commander John Rodgers , the detachment moved onto Ford Island and received Naval Aircraft Factory TS , Felixstowe F5L , Curtiss H-16 , Keystone PK-1 and Douglas DT type aircraft. To accommodate ship berthing the Navy built a concrete-and-stone quay around the entire island, and in 1926, they received Vought FU , Vought VE-7 and Vought VE-9 biplanes . During

7412-410: The headquarters of Patrol Wing 2 ; its former namesake was re-honored with a new base, Luke Air Force Base in Arizona . A September 8, 1939, presidential emergency proclamation spurred the rapid construction of new facilities to prepare the island for additional operations. This included additional barracks, a new assembly and repair hangar, an administration building, a dispensary, a control tower,

7521-527: The island and designate it solely for naval use, U.S. Secretary of War Newton D. Baker divided the island equally between the military branches. The Army received the west side of the island, and the Navy the southeastern side. Lieutenant Commander Robert D. Kirk-Patrick was sent to establish a naval station on the island with four airplanes and fifty-five men. Kirk-Patrick's men had two Curtiss HS2L flying boats and two N-9 planes salvaged from World War I, which they stored in two large canvas hangars across

7630-459: The island at 07:57 local time, prompting the historic dispatch: "Air Raid, Pearl Harbor—this is no drill." The battleships ringing Ford Island were the Japanese attackers' primary targets. Twenty-four of the forty Japanese torpedo planes were assigned to attack Battleship Row, and five more came over to that side of Ford Island after failing to find battleships in other parts of the harbor. The planes carried 29 Type 91 aerial torpedoes , each with

7739-480: The island, Enterprise , and the planes. However, he reported that although he attempted to communicate with Enterprise by radio from Ford Island, the communications systems there were inadequate, and he attributed the friendly fire to ineffective radio communications. After attempting to notify as many ships and anti-aircraft batteries as possible, several planes from Enterprise and others from Ford Island's complement were again airborne within hours to search for

7848-416: The island, igniting it. Additional bombs hit Hangar 38 (a dud), the dispensary courtyard (leaving a large crater) and the road outside the repair-and-assembly hangar. Only one man, Theodore Wheeler Croft, was killed on the island while standing guard duty. The bombers' most notable success was Arizona . A bomb exploded near the forward magazines, triggering a catastrophic explosion which immediately sank

7957-404: The land would be sold to the United States at $ 75 per acre. Facing a similar lawsuit and interest in its land on Ford Island, the John Papa ʻĪʻī estate settled with the United States to deed twenty-five acres at no cost. In exchange, the U.S. dropped its suit for the entire island. The military leased sections of the north and south sides of the island—25.83 acres (10.45 ha) for $ 3,000—from

8066-606: The largest ships in the fleet, to include dry dock services, and is now home to over 160 commands. Housing, personnel, and family support are also provided and are an integral part of the shore side activities, which encompasses both permanent and transient personnel. Because Pearl Harbor is the only intermediate maintenance facility for submarines in the Middle Pacific, it serves as host to a large number of visiting submariners. The Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station, Pacific (NCTAMS PAC) , Wahiawa, Hawaii

8175-475: The largest ships," the building of shops and supply houses for the Navy Yard, and the construction of a drydock. Work on the dock started on 21 September 1909. In April 1910, the barquentine Amaranth became the fourth deep-sea, cargo-carrying vessel to venture into the newly dredged harbor, having been preceded by the three-masted schooner W.H. Marston on 8 March, and the schooner Ariel and bark Marston

8284-506: The location for the new squadron and bought it from the John Papa ʻĪʻī land trust for $ 236,000, citing its access to water and winds as assets. When Currey was transferred to Washington , command of the squadron was given to Captain John B. Brooks and then Major Hugh J. Knerr , who built hangars and a runway. Early soldiers had to level the island, removing hills and boulders. All housing and major hangars were completed in 1918, including

8393-607: The lochs, although his wife, Bernice Pauahi Bishop , privately disapproved of selling Hawaiian lands. As monarch, William Charles Lunalilo , was content to let Bishop run almost all business affairs but the ceding of lands would become unpopular with the native Hawaiians. Many islanders thought that all the islands, rather than just Pearl Harbor, might be lost and opposed any cession of land. By November 1873, Lunalilo canceled negotiations and returned to drinking, against his doctor's advice; his health declined swiftly, and he died on February 3, 1874. Lunalilo left no heirs. The legislature

8502-459: The most recognizable structure on the submarine base was the 100-foot-tall Escape Training Tank . A similar tower on Ford Island was converted to an airport control tower during World War II and still stands. Generations of submariners learned to escape in up to 80 feet of water using buoyant ascent and were trained in the use of the Momsen lung or Steinke hood . The Steinke hood was replaced by

8611-444: The mouth of Pearl Harbor(blocking the entire harbor), the decision was made to run Nevada aground at "Hospital Point". Several planes from the aircraft carrier Enterprise , near Hawaii after a mission to Wake Island , arrived in the midst of the attack; four were shot down by American air-defense friendly fire. H. L. Young, commander of Enterprise air group, attempted to man the control tower to provide communications between

8720-476: The navy's water system. People using the water system were assured the water was safe to drink, until they started noticing it tasted strange. On December 10, Hawaii health officials reported "high levels" of petroleum and gasoline in a sample of water from the Red Hill well fed by an aquifer under a , which had a problem with leaks. Shortly after a November 2021 report of a leak, the US Navy stopped using

8829-445: The need for better control of the US Pacific Fleet, its headquarters moved to Ford Island. During the next few weeks, the Navy set up twenty-one large winches on the island to turn Oklahoma upright so it could be re-floated and patched before being scrapped. Coral was piled between the ship and the island so the ship would roll upright, instead of sliding toward the shore. Despite recovery efforts and patching, Oklahoma sank during

8938-608: The only two incidents that hindered the Commandant from fulfilling his duties. Because of the severe coal shortage in September 1899, the Commandant sold coal to the Oahu Railway and Land Company and the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company , Ltd. Although this indicated the affinity of economic ties with the Navy, it was to a certain extent counteracted by the quarantine of the naval establishment from December 1899 to February 1900, because of

9047-473: The part of other departments should be stopped, particularly when they were enjoying the benefits of naval appropriations. "On the other hand," he wrote, "if it is the intention to improve Pearl Harbor and eventually abandon this station every effort should be made to begin work there as soon as possible... I am informed that important commercial interests will make a strong effort next year to have Pearl Harbor improved, and I think that will be an opportune time for

9156-462: The payment of its appraised value). In 1903, the Department of Labor and Commerce received about 7 acres (2.8 ha) for an Immigration Station. The Department of Agriculture had, in the meanwhile, secured part of the site intended for a hospital as an experimental station. The Commandant felt that, if the station was going to develop beyond a mere coaling depot, these territorial encroachments on

9265-483: The property of Dr. Seth Porter Ford by marriage and was renamed Ford Island. After Ford's death, his son sold the island to the John Papa ʻĪʻī estate and it was converted into a sugarcane plantation . In 1916, part of Ford Island was sold to the U.S. Army for use by an aviation division in Hawaii, and by 1939 the island was taken over by the U.S. Navy as a station for battleship and submarine maintenance. From

9374-409: The ship. The island's freshwater supply was cut off when Arizona severed the main water line and the auxiliary line was destroyed at the Pearl Harbor end. USS Nevada , which was the battleship division's duty ship that morning, eventually got underway during the attack. She was hit repeatedly by dive bombers who spotted a ship escaping from Ford Island. In order to not chance blocking the channel to

9483-463: The surrounding harbor. The land is a relatively flat plain rising from 5 to 15 feet (1.5 to 4.6 m) above mean water level, and slopes toward Pearl Harbor. It connects to the larger island of Oʻahu, surrounding Pearl Harbor, via a 4,672 ft (1,424 m) bridge at its northern tip that crosses east to Halawa Landing. The island's soil is composed primarily of volcanic material, lagoonal deposits and coralline debris, with silty sand from

9592-442: The telephone, keep extra buckets of water available for fighting fires and keep cars off the streets (parking them on lawns, if necessary). Sixty concrete revetments were constructed to protect aircraft from another attack, and the Navy laid down a 16-inch (410 mm) water main from across the harbor. A new control tower was commissioned on May 1, 1942, and the Navy built bomb shelters and gas-decontamination chambers. Due to

9701-661: The two car ferries, there were several smaller "foot ferries" allowing pedestrians to travel between Ford Island and alternate landings around Pearl Harbor. Initially called "the bridge to nowhere", the Admiral Clarey Bridge was instrumental in Senator Daniel Inouye 's "rebirth" of Ford Island and enabled over $ 500 million in development with special legislation (2814 US Code). It connected 45 families and 3,000 civilian workers to Kamehameha Highway , and visitor access enabled construction of

9810-643: The vessels of the Asiatic station visited Honolulu in January 1904, Rear Admiral Silas Terry complained that they were inadequately accommodated with dockage and water. Under the above Appropriation Act, Congress approved the acquisition of lands for the development of a naval station at Pearl Harbor and the improvement of the channel to the Lochs. The Commandant, under the direction of the Bureau of Equipment , attempted to obtain options on lands surrounding Pearl Harbor that were recommended for naval use. This endeavor

9919-908: Was Arizona alongside the repair ship Vestal . Closing the row was Nevada , alone at F-8. These battleships, from eighteen to twenty-five years old, represented all but two of those available to the Pacific Fleet. Pennsylvania was also in Pearl Harbor, being dry-docked at the Navy Yard. The ninth battleship of the fleet, Colorado , was being overhauled on the West Coast . These nine battleships taken together were one short of equaling Japan's active battle fleet. 1: California 2: Maryland 3: Oklahoma 4: Tennessee 5: West Virginia 6: Arizona 7: Nevada 8: Pennsylvania 9: Ford Island NAS 10: Hickam Field A: Oil storage tanks B: CINCPAC C: Submarine base D: Naval yard The initial bombs struck

10028-526: Was awarded 147 acres (59 ha) in the Great Māhele . On August 28, 1865, the island was bought at public auction for $ 1,040 by James I. Dowsett, who sold it to Caroline Jackson for $ 1 on December 28. Dr. Seth Porter Ford arrived in 1851 from Boston, and practiced medicine at the U.S. Seamen's Hospital. Ford married Caroline Jackson in June 1866, taking control of the island and changing its name from Marín Island to Ford Island. When Ford died in 1866, it

10137-612: Was ceremonially opened to flooding on 21 August 1919, by Mrs. Josephus Daniels , wife of the Secretary of the Navy. In 1917, Ford Island in the middle of Pearl Harbor was purchased for joint Army and Navy use in the development of military aviation in the Pacific. As the Imperial Japanese military pressed its war in China, concern over Japan's intentions caused the U.S. to begin taking defensive measures. On 1 February 1933,

10246-404: Was changed to "Naval Station, Hawaii". The creation of the Naval Station allowed the Navy Department to explore territorial outposts. In October 1899, Nero and Iroquois made extensive surveys and sounding of the waterways to Midway and Guam . One of the reasons for these explorations was to select a possible cable route to Luzon . A coal famine and an outbreak of the bubonic plague were

10355-531: Was considered vital for the defense of the west coast of the United States, and they were especially interested in Pu'uloa , Pearl Harbor. The sale of one of Hawaii's harbors was proposed by Charles Reed Bishop , a foreigner who had married into the Kamehameha family , had risen in the government to be Hawaiian Minister of Foreign Affairs , and owned a country home near Pu'uloa. He showed the two U.S. officers around

10464-407: Was discouraged. Children born of these unions were considered children of the husband, not the biological father. By 1830, this activity was forbidden by Christian missionaries. The native Hawaiian people of the area were called Ke Awalau o Puʻuloa . They used the island to cultivate watermelon and to harvest pili grass for the construction of thatched roofs . According to Hawaiian legend,

10573-719: Was either dropped or went off when gasoline vapours ignited. The incident – together with the Port Chicago disaster two months later – led to major changes in weapon handling practices within the United States Navy. Over the years, Pearl Harbor remained a main base for the US Pacific Fleet after World War II along with Naval Base San Diego . In 2010, the Navy and the Air Force merged their two nearby bases; Pearl Harbor joined with Hickam Air Force Base to create Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam . On 29 January 1964,

10682-500: Was empowered by the constitution to elect the monarch in these instances and chose David Kalākaua as the next monarch. The new ruler was pressured by the U.S. government to surrender Pearl Harbor to the Navy. Kalākaua was concerned that this would lead to annexation by the U.S. and to the contravening of the traditions of the Hawaiian people, who believed that the land ('Āina) was fertile, sacred, and not for sale to anyone. In 1875,

10791-489: Was forced to either give up its expansion plans or find alternative raw materials to continue producing equipment for the war. Japan chose to continue with its plans, but decided it needed to neutralize any threat from the United States first. Ford Island was the headquarters of Patrol Wing Two, an important target for the first-wave airborne raiders in the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . Before dawn,

10900-459: Was hit by a crashing dive bomber, a bomb and fragments of another bomb. She was then unsuccessfully attacked by a Japanese midget submarine , which fired a torpedo before being sunk by the destroyer Monaghan . Hangar 6 and several patrol seaplanes and other aircraft on Ford Island (33 out of 70 of the island's planes) were destroyed. The USS Utah (BB-31) , a Florida class battleship- an older ship launched December 1909 and by 1941 in service as

11009-478: Was made naval representative with authority to transact business for the Navy Department and its Bureaus . He immediately assumed control of the Coal Depot and its equipment. To supplement his facilities, he was assigned the Navy tug Iroquois and two coal barges. Inquiries that commenced in June culminated in the establishment of the "Naval Station, Honolulu" on 17 November 1899. On 2 February 1900, this title

11118-456: Was one of Columbia' s crew and been assigned to the armed Topside Roving Patrol aboard the vessel; both weapons involved in the shooting were issued from the Columbia . Later investigation by the Navy determined that Romero was "likely unfit" for service on a submarine and that officers aboard the Columbia had failed to recognize signs of Romero's degrading mental state. On October 14, 1992,

11227-423: Was open to general aviation and rendered NALF Ford Island redundant. Before the completion of the Admiral Clarey Bridge , access to Ford Island was by ferry . Two diesel-powered ferries, Waa Hele Honoa (YFB-83) and Moko Holo Hele (YFB-87), served the island. The Waa Hele Honoa (meaning ' canoe go to land ' ) was purchased in 1959 for $ 274,000, and pressed into service by the Navy on March 3, 1961. It

11336-470: Was opened to students making their first solo flights. The island's use as a training center helped relieve congestion at nearby Honolulu International Airport . After its active-duty commission on February 1, 1973, the Third Fleet moved its headquarters to Ford Island, where it remained until its 1991 move to San Diego. The island remained home to Navy officers and several naval headquarters. For

11445-467: Was taking place, and while the navy said the water was safe, some people had their doubts. In 2024, 2000 families sued the navy. As of November 2023 Ticonderoga -class cruisers (2) Arleigh Burke -class destroyers (9) As of November 2023 Los Angeles -class submarines (11) Virginia -class submarines (6) As part of the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review , the Navy announced in early 2006 that it would shift 60% of its attack submarines to

11554-499: Was transferred to his son, Seth Porter Ford, Jr. The island was managed by Sanford B. Dole on behalf of Ford's minor children until Ford, Jr. came of age and sold the island in 1891 to the John Papa ʻĪʻī land trust. Sugar had been a major export from Hawaii since Captain James Cook's arrival in 1778. During the 1850s, the U.S. import tariff on sugar from Hawaii was much higher than the import tariffs Hawaiians were charging

11663-427: Was unsuccessful when the owners of the property refused to accept what was deemed to be a fair price. Condemnation proceedings, under the Hawaiian law of eminent domain, were begun on 6 July 1901. The land acquired by this suit included the present Navy Yard, Kauhua Island , and a strip on the southeast coast of Ford Island . The work of dredging the coral reef that blocked Pearl Harbor progressed rapidly enough to allow

11772-447: Was used to name the ceremony for the common people. Hawaii historian Herb Kawainui Kāne considered ʻume to be a courtship game. Those selected for ʻume (never virgins or the unmarried) would sing around a large bonfire while a tribal leader with a maile (wand) chanted, touching individual men and women. Those who were touched would find a secluded part of the island to have sex. Husbands and wives were not paired, and jealousy

11881-639: Was written by Lorrin Thurston , the Hawaiian Minister of the Interior who used the Hawaiian militia as threat against Kalākaua. Kalākaua was forced to dismiss his cabinet ministers and sign a new constitution which greatly lessened his power. It would become known as the " Bayonet Constitution " due to the force used. With support from California (because the state had profited from the import of sugar), Kalākaua again approached Congress. When

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