Newspapers / Zebulon Record (Zebulon, N.C.) / Dec. 3, 1937, edition 1 / Page 7
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t MKjjgHuflEjiiJf tt jM- vhUV wjr w 'a®*' ffSjjlp ■; '^fb^f‘-' •x* / ?>>>iyHß6c'‘^^B^y^Sttcy^STO?? 3 >k N X . jK'iK33Ss§eQßß&'?*'’*''*••-•’ . , •' ••• '-,_ •^^jiVVwV'6.<Brgß^BsMWK»>«<y3?jgSgjySaH^H?x! i p | yywC' • •■• ■•• v•• ■ ~-~.>l<W!i^.y.y^vv^L-yyj&x^Xj-K^Aglyg/oc"cv<g3ojiC*y- >. *■ ••■>!>* «//*&&&Qj£>;«>.•■•■ wy ; >>yfe-v •: .■-•■^fe-.« f ®J l 's<| ft* ->>-yMtaMiI^gTOiWiPBMHWHMM|I|MiMiBMBHHBMM QXNBXa&ijZ'i *3g?s-i< ..„. .<> I lljjl Ml i | iHW | I *•&#&. >■ ' .. - sßSp**. / ~ : • • AR out in the Pacific Ocean there is a sprawling chain of saltwater lakes in a tropical island A wind ing lagoon leads past a coral reef F to the open sea. Purple mountain ranges form a background, and the whole is as peaceful a bit of South Sea landscape as one would care to see To be more exact—it used to be peaceful. .Go there now and you will see oil tanks, airplane hangars, bar racks, dry docks, warehouses, machine shops and all the other shore-going im plements of a great fleet. You will see great warships at anchor in the harbor You won’t see the gun emplacements around the entrance, but they are there all right. This peaceful bit of inland water goo under the name of Pearl Harbor. Sit uated in the island of Oahu, Hawaii eight or ten miles from Honolulu, it is one of America’s greatest naval bases the center of one of the two or three mightiest military and naval strong holds on earth. You can get an idea of the extrerm importance America’s army and nav\ men attach to this Hawaiian Gibraltai by reflecting that no less than $56,000.- 000 of the taxpayers’ money has been spent on Pearl Harbor, with an added $18,000,000 going into nearby Hickam Field, the army’s airport. In addition Maj. Gen. Hugh A. Drum, commandei of the Hawaiian department of the army, urges a $49,000,000 five-year plan to strengthen the island’s already for midable defenses. How come? Is the rich territory o Hawaii worth that much to Uncle Sam’ Undoubtedly; but the point is that these great sums are not being spent to protect the Hawaiian islands but to pro tect the mainland of the United States For Hawaii is not simply an outpost of the American defense system; it is the key point of the whole Pacific Coast defense. It protects Washington, Ore gon, California and the Panama Canal. Army and navy men say confidently that as long as it is maintained as a great army and navy base, no invad ing foe will ever strike American shores from the Pacific. A glance at the map shows why that is so. America’s line of defense in the Pa cific forms a great triangle At the top there is Alaska, with its chain of islands slanting off to the southwest. At the bottom there is the highly-fortified Pan ama Canal zone. At the center, forming the apex of the triangle, is Hawaii. ANYONE coming to America from **■ Asia or the South Seas has to pass within effective range of the Hawaiian base. Instead of spending untold mil lions to make the harbors on the main land impregnable, it is far simpler and cheaper to make Hawaii itself impreg Part of the American fleet at anchor in Pearl Harbor. Oahu, Hawaii, one of the United States’ greatest naval bases. nable. No hostile fleet would dare steam for the mainland, because in so doing it would have to expose its flank 3 and communications to direct attack. Hawaii would have to be taken care of before anything could be done to the mainland. Now it happens that military men say that the island of Oahu, locale of Pearl Harbor, is capable of defense against a | toLObP - JBHO y 'rppMftktffeflfo sj % - I . ' >. t . . ,£ C onstruction of the huge new hangars at Hickam Field near Honolulu is going ahead steadily, with Capt. H. B. Nurse (above) in charge. larger force than the Allied military and naval expedition that tried to storm Gallipoli during the World War. Two hundred warships, transports and ten ders, it is said, would be required to carry and support a force capable of attacking Oahu at all. Hickam Field, for example, when completed, will be the largest U. S army airport. Each of its 12 big hang ars, 500 by 125 feet, will accommodate an entire squadron of land planes. Two big double hangars will house seaplanes which will alight in the waters by Fort Kamehameha, commanding the en trance to Pearl Harbor. A landing apron, on the side toward the fort, will measure 5400 by 800 feet. And Hickman Field is only one of Hawaii’s defenses. There are five coast defense forts. Inland, there is the mili tary city of Schofield Barracks, where an entire dlvl si o n—20,000 men—is housed. Inland, also, is Wheeler Field, an air corps stronghold. Military reser vations dot the landscape. There are military roads winding up into the mountains. There is an immense muni tions depot at Lualualei, near the west ern shore. The defensive system is constantly widening out. with Oahu as a center The navy has taken over Kure or Ocean Island, beyond the new commercial air station at Midway and more than 1300 miles northwest of Honolulu. It also holds French Frigates Shoal, potential seaplane base, halfway to Kure, and Johnson Island, which is 8000 miles to the southwest. And while the army is co-operating in the development of flying fields on the other islands in the Hawaiian group, the tiny islets near the equator, which Hawaiian schoolboys recently colonized to establish American sovereignty, also fit into the picture. At present, these islands are observation and radio sta tions for a commercial air route; in case of war they would serve admirably as advance military posts for observation work. Os all of this elaborate network of defense, Pearl Harbor is the center It / s * / i f? / r MAmOOAk) / \JR.. ££"** m f/f \. msarATTO^ rs "11 % il f. - 1 . C 1— '■ ■ J **■ 11 This map shows how America’s line «f defense in the Pacific forms a e»-eat triangle. it tne snug and secure anchorage where the whole fighting fleet of the nation can lie at anchor, invisible from the sea. On its shores are a navy yard, a submarine base, a powerful radio sta tion, fuel storage plants, barracks, dry- Hoeks and so on. \ BOUT to be built is an enormous ' $10,000,000 floating drydock which will be moored in Pearl Harbor. This huge contrivance will be 1018 feet in length. 175 feet wide and 70 feet high. It will be able to berth the largest naval craft afloat. When the navy decided to build it. it discovered that the building would probably have to be done on the west coast —for the drydock will be too big to go through the Panama Canal. It is reported that the dock will be self propelling, so that if necessary it could steam out into the open sea and pick up a disabled warship. However, it is believed that when completed it will be towed to Pearl Harbor. It seems almost as if nature had laid out Pearl Harbor with an eye to its naval uses. Its haven is completely hidden from view from the sea. A land ing force coini'W ashore on the opposite side of the island could not get at it because of the towering mountains of the Koolau range. On the western coast of the island the Waianae moun tains form a similar natural barrier Only a short stretch of coast needs to be protected
Zebulon Record (Zebulon, N.C.)
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Dec. 3, 1937, edition 1
7
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