World War II
The air station was repaired
and expanded following the December 7th attack.
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Aerial view of the hanger area, 9 December 1941, two days after the
Japanese air attack destroyed nearly all of the station's patrol
planes. Official U.S. Navy photo. Higher
resolution.
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Aerial view of the hanger area, 12 November 1981, during exercise COPE
ELITE '81. Department of Defense photo by TSGT Bert Mau. Higher resolution
photo.
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One of the 14-inch guns from the USS Arizona was brought to Fort Hase to be mounted atop the edge of Ulupa’u Crater, adjacent to the seven-story deep
"Battery Pennsylvania," as part of the coastal defense of windward Oahu. (The construction of Battery Pennsylvania was completed in August 1945. The huge gun was fired only once, in celebration, a few days before Japan’s surrender on V-J Day, September 2, 1945; the firing shook and, some said,
"cracked" the crater).
In addition to the Battery Pennsylvania gun mount and underground facility, post-attack construction included many splinter-proof and bomb-proof structures, Battery French and additional living quarters. By 1943, when the Seabees arrived to take over the base construction, the air station included 2,266 acres. In 1944, following the bay dredging, a second runway was built, and the coral fill brought the total acreage to 2,951. Most major construction of the base under the direction of the Navy was completed by 1945.
During WWII, Hawaii played a key and strategic role. After the Battle of Midway in June 1942, the forward areas moved west to other Pacific islands, and the role of bases in Hawaii became focused on supply, repair and training. NAS, Kaneohe Bay provided those services for aviation-related units. At this installation, the Fleet Gunnery School --
"the largest gunfire school in the Pacific" -- trained thousands of Navy gunners. The Instrument Flying Center was the main combat training center at NAS, Kaneohe Bay for Navy and Marine Corps aviators.
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A Grumman F4F-4 "Wildcat" Fighter of Fighting Squadron Three being
serviced at Naval Air Station, Kaneohe, on 29 May 1942. U.S.
Navy photo. Higher
resolution photo.
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An F/A-18 "Hornet" Fighter from Strike Fighter Squadron
201 being serviced at MCB Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay in February
2001. USMC photo by PFC Iain A. Schnaible. Higher
resolution.
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The Army’s Camp Ulupau, renamed
"Fort Hase" in 1942, was never as permanent as the Navy’s air station side of the peninsula. Historic photos show tents and wooden structures dominating the landscape, even in August 1945. After the war, Fort Hase was rapidly emptied.
Marines of the 2nd Division came to the Big Island of Hawaii
after the Battle of Tarawa, to regroup and train for further action at Saipan and Tinian. The various elements of the newly-formed 5th Marine Division arrived from
California shortly after the 2nd Marine Division’s departure to train at
"Camp Tarawa" -- which had become the largest World War II Marine Corps training camp in the Pacific -- for the assault on Iwo Jima. Meanwhile, the 4th Marine Division prepared on Maui for the same destination. Some Marine training also took place on Kauai. Iwo Jima survivors would return to Camp Tarawa after that distant island battle, to regroup for the invasion of the Japanese home islands.
A formal instrument of
surrender by Japan to the United States was signed aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945.
Thousands of military members of all services began to pass through Pearl Harbor and other military installations in Hawaii, including NAS, Kaneohe Bay, bound for discharge on the U.S. Mainland and return to civilian life, or peacetime assignment.
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