The Big Guns of Waikiki (1913-1950)

 The modern day resort of Waikiki, a few miles east of downtown Honolulu is a tourist paradise. A strip of modern stylish hotels nestles between a spectacular palm tree fringed white sand beach and the Ala Wai Canal which was built in the 1920s to drain the wetlands on which the resort is built. It might come as a surprise to find that a short walk from the main strip will reveal a fascinating piece of layered military history - now incorporating the U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii. During the Second World War and up until the end of the Vietnam War Fort DeRussy was designated as a recreational area and covered a much larger acreage than the corner of parkland which remains.

The U.S. Army Museum, Fort DeRussy

Danuta's painting of the Museum

Following the annexation of Hawaii in the late 19th Century, various coastal defences were planned in order to protect naval installations and vessels at Pearl Harbor - known as a 'ring of steel' encircling the island of Oahu. the precursor to Fort DeRussy, Battery Randolph, was built in 1911 though it was not rendered operational until 1913. 

Being familiar with the Moncrieff 'disappearing guns' on the island of Flat Holm in the Severn estuary I was fascinated to discover that the two M1904 14 inch guns mounted on Fort Randolph in 1913 were of the same type. Cranked up into a firing position, when fired they would 'disappear' into a purpose built cistern before being reloaded and fired again. In the U.S. Army Museum (opened in 1976) which now occupies parts of the old Battery, there is superb model of a similiar disappearing gun which was installed at Battery Selfridge - near Pearl Harbor. The model which is 1:10 scale is a 12-inch M1895 on an M1901 disappearing carriage was made for the U.S. Patent Office.

7-inch naval gun at Fort DeRussy

14-inch 'disappearing' gun

The original guns were scrapped after World War 2, but one of the two 7-inch naval guns which replaced them is still in situ albeit 'blinded' by museum buildings built on the top level of the old battery. The replacement guns were repurposed from the battleship USS New Hampshire though they were never fired in anger once mounted on shore. Alongside the 7-inch gun is a Vietnam War era Bell AH-1 Cobra helicopter (often called a HueyCobra or Snake). Unfortunately it is not possible to look seaward from the top of the museum building because of modifications to the original structure. However, in the rooms below there is a really interesting chronological display covering the history of the U.S. Army involvement on Hawaii from the days of annexation through to the present time.

Tail fin of the HueyCobra chopper at DeRussy Park

Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go Tank

Obviously the Second World War features heavily, and to reinforce the point there are a couple of second World War era tanks parked in front of the museum - a US M24 Chafee and a Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go light tank. The latter, which was operated by a crew of three and was equipped with a 37mm main gun and two  machine guns, was captured on Makin Atoll by the 27th Infantry Division in November 1943. 

So there you are, facinating military history can be found in the most unexpected places. Waikiki isn't all about surfing and attending the odd luau!

For my blog post on Pearl Harbor - click here.

To learn more about military heritage hiking trails on Oahu - click here. 

For my Oahu, Hawaii photo album - click here.