Naval Base Hawaii
Naval Base Hawaii was a number of United States Navy bases in the Territory of Hawaii during World War II. At the start of the war, much of the Hawaiian Islands was converted from tourism to a United States Armed Forces base. With the loss of US Naval Base Philippines in Philippines campaign of 1941 and 1942, Hawaii became the US Navy's main base for the early part of the island-hopping Pacific War against Empire of Japan. Naval Station Pearl Harbor was founded in 1899 with the annexation of Hawaii.
History
Pearl Harbor started as a naval facility and coaling station after a December 9, 1887, agreement. King Kalākaua granted the United States exclusive rights to use Pearl Harbor as a port and repair base. The United States - Hawaii relationship started with the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875, a free trade agreement. On May 28, 1903, the first battleship, arrived at the new coal station for coal and water. The Naval Station had existed in Pearl Harbor since 1898, but in 1908 the United States Congress allocated $3 million to build Navy Yard Pearl Harbor. Also in 1908 the Great White Fleet stopped at Pearl Harbor on its journey around the globe.During World War II Naval Base Hawaii was given the codename Copper and Naval Station Pearl Harbor the codename FRAY. The fear of Japan's aggression started at the end of World War I.
After World War I in which Japan fought on the Allied side, Japan took control of German bases in China and the Pacific. In 1919, the League of Nations approved Japan's mandate over the German islands north of the equator. The United States did not want any mandates and was concerned with Japan's aggressiveness. As such Wilson Administration transferred 200 Atlantic warships to the Pacific Fleet in 1919. The Port of San Diego was too shallow to handle the battleships, so San Pedro Submarine Base became a Naval Base on August 9, 1919. San Pedro Submarine Base and Long Beach became fleet anchorage for the 200 ships. In 1940, President Roosevelt had the fleet at San Pedro moved and stationed at Honolulu's Naval Base Pearl Harbor due to Japanese war actions in China. While the United States was committed to Neutrality in the 1930s, Japan's aggression against China had caused concern.
On December 7, 1941, Japan carried out a surprise military strike on the Naval Base in Pearl Harbor. Japan hoped to eliminate US military force in the Pacific as it soon carried out attacks across the South Pacific. The attack led the US to enter World War II. For the US all of the Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers were at sea during the attack and most of the other ships sunk in the attack were repaired and put back in service. During the war, Hawaii became a major staging and training base for the Pacific War. Many wounded troops were sent to Hawaii hospitals. The Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard became a major repair base for the war. Hawaii was a major supply depot and refueling depot for the Pacific War. A vast fleet of United States Merchant Navy ships help keep the base depots supplied. After the attack at Pearl Harbor, General Walter Short put Hawaii on Martial law, putting all of Hawaii under military rule till the end of the war. Japanese-Americans and Japanese immigrants on Hawaii were sent to Internment Camps during the war. Two small internment camps were built in Honolulu Harbor and Honouliuli. At Honouliuli 3,000 Japanese were held and later Italians, Okinawans, German Americans, Taiwanese, and a few Koreans were later held. At the end of the war, many of the troops returned home in Operation Magic Carpet and some of the small bases were closed. In the Korean War some ships in the United States Navy reserve fleets returned to active duty after being overhauled at the shipyard and sea trialed by the base. With the Vietnam War the base was again busy with support efforts. The Cold War and the 600-ship Navy had Naval Base Hawaii active. Hawaii was admitted as a US state on August 21, 1959 by the Hawaii Admission Act.
Pearl Harbor attack
Japan planned and carried out a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Japanese midget submarines type Kō-hyōteki were used during the Pearl Harbor attack. Five midget submarines were launched before the Pearl Harbor attack: 16, 18, 19, 20, and 22. Of the five submarines it is thought that only two made it into the harbor. No. 19 was captured as it grounded on the east side of Oahu. No. 18 sank after a depth charge attack. No. 20 was sunk by Ward. No. 22 made it into Pearl Harbor and fired two torpedoes, both missed their targets before being sunk by the USS Monaghan. No.16 fired two torpedoes, at an unknown target. The midget submarines had been launched by fleet submarines,,,, and from Pearl Harbor.Imperial Japanese aircraft attacked bases in Hawaii, including Pearl Harbor in two waves. The aircraft were launched from six aircraft carriers 430 km north of Hawaii. The main target was Battleship Row at Ford Island and the airfields. Seven battleships were at Ford Island and one was in dry dock No. 1 for repairs, the. All eight battleships were damaged and four were sunk in the shallow waters of Pearl Harbor. The battleship and were not salvaged and remain as war grave memorials. The battleship was salvaged and then scrapped due to her age. The other battleships damaged were repaired and returned to service:, ,,, and Pennsylvania. In the attack three cruisers:, and were damaged and later repaired. Four destroyers:,,, were damaged and later repaired. and one minelayer. More than 180 US aircraft were destroyed. In the attack 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded. The attack destroyed most of the planes at NAS Ford Island, Hickam Field, to the North Wheeler Airfield and NAS Kaneohe Bay. Japan's focus on the battleships, other large ships and airfields in the attack left other parts of the base unharmed: the power station, dry docks, shipyard, depots, fuel tanks, and torpedo depot, ammo, depots, submarine base, intelligence office. Of the Japanese 354 planes 29 aircraft were lost.
At the time of the attack, no US aircraft carriers were at Pearl Harbor. The USS Enterprise was returning to Pearl Harbor and was 215 miles west of Pearl Harbor. USS Lexington was 500 miles southeast of Midway. USS Saratoga was at NAS San Diego preparing to depart to Pearl Harbor. Due to the attack, the USS Yorktown was transferred to the Pacific Fleet on 16 December 1941. New aircraft carriers would join the Pacific War and other transferred. The USS Yorktown was later sunk by Japanese submarine I-168 on 7 June 1942. USS Lexington was badly damaged in the Battle of the Coral on 8 May 1942 and was scuttled.
Current Hawaii Naval Bases
- Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam - Navy Region Hawaii since 25 July 1997
- *Lualualei VLF transmitter
- *Pearl Fleet Navy Exchange Store
- Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard
- Mana Airport, became Pacific Missile Range Facility in 1957, Barking Sands, Kauai FPO# 901
- Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Pacific in Wahiawa, was Naval Radio Station Wahiawa
- Navy Information Operations Command, Hawaii
- The US Navy supports: Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay
Naval Submarine Base Pearl Harbor
By 1925, the sub base had about 25 buildings and some swamp land had been turned in usable land. In 1928, the current U-shaped barracks building was built to house all submarine and submarine base personnel. By 1933, submarine berths 10 to 14 were completed with a 30-ton crane for servicing the subs. In 1933 a submarine rescue and training tank was built. In 1933 a new torpedo shop, pool, theater and repair building were completed and the USS Alton retired. Pearl Harbor Submarine Base was not attacked on 7 December 1941, the base was small compared to Naval Base and battleships. So the submarine fleet was the first to take the war to Japan in the Pacific. The submarine Base started with 359 men on 30 June 1940, then 700 on 15 August 1941, to 1,081 by July 1942, and peaked July 1944 with 6,633 men at the Submarine Base. Over 400 men were stationed on submarines out of the 123.5 acre base. During the war, the base handled 15,644 torpedoes and 5,185 torpedoes fired at enemy vessels. Of these 1,860 torpedoes made successful hits. Submarine Base had is own Base Medical Department, as medical needs on a sub are different than a ship. For Rest and Recuperation, the Submarine Base used the nearby Royal Hawaiian Hotel with 425 rooms, air crew and small craft crew used the hotel also. The base had a baseball team: the Pearl Harbor Submarine Base Dolphins. The bases on Hawaii each had a team that would play in their downtime. Submarine Memorial Chapel it is the oldest chapel at Pearl Harbor, it in now a remembrance of all the submariners who died in World War II. On 7 December 1941, the US Navy had operational: 55 fleet submarine and 18 medium-sized submarines in the Pacific, 38 submarines in other theaters, and 73 submarines under construction. By the end of World War II, the Navy had built 228 submarines. Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, USS Parche Memorial, Submarine Memorial Park, Sharkey Theater, Paquet Hall, NGIS Lockwood Hall Annex, and Navy Gateway Lockwood Hall are on the former Naval Submarine Base Pearl Harbor location on Quarry Loch and Magazine Loch in Southeast Loch.