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History suggests that the otherwise brilliantly executed attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy on Pearl Harbor was seriously flawed by leaving the superb shipyard and fueling facilities untouched. While the U. S. Navy sustained heavy casualties among ships and men those four decades ago, its ability to perform ship repair and provisioning remained virtually intact. Many of the docks and shop facilities in existence on 7 December 1941—now improved and updated—are still sustaining the Pacific Fleet.
Many of the principal shore commands of 1941 were contained within the confines of what was then “the navy yard,” or across the main channel at Ford Island. The shipyard, submarine base, Fourteenth Naval District headquarters, and Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet were all on or very close to Southeast Loch. Ford Island provided berthing on both its east and west sides, accommodating the Navy’s largest ships at interrupted quays just offshore. The Naval Air Station Pearl Harbor, commissioned at Ford Island in January 1923, provided a haven for carrier aircraft, utility squadrons, and the seaplanes of Patrol Wing 2.
The headquarters of Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet, located on the submarine base in 1941, now occupies a complex of buildings along Makalapa Crater overlooking the harbor. Its staff consists of some 150 officers and 250 enlisted personnel. The Pacific Fleet is among the world’s largest naval commands, having direct control over approximately 240 ships, 1,800 aircraft, and a quarter-million naval personnel. The Pacific Fleet’s area of responsibility extends over nearly half the earth’s surface.
The U. S. Third Fleet was originally established in 1943 and went out of existence in 1947. It was reestablished in 1973, and its commander now flies his flag on Ford Island. Third Fleet’s area of operations is the eastern and middle Pacific.
The old Fourteenth Naval District no longer exists as an administrative entity. Both its offices and many of its responsibilities have devolved onto its replacement, Commander Naval Base, Pearl Harbor. Naval Station Pearl Harbor was established in 1955. It took on many of the responsibilities once discharged by the old receiving station, which dated back in various forms to 1912. The naval station covers 830 acres. It provides administrative and logistical support to commands in the area.
Commander, Naval Logistics Command, U. S. Pacific Fleet, based at Pearl Harbor, is a major fleet command with overall responsibility for providing an enormous array of services and supplies. These range from operating naval stations with requisite port services, ship repair facilities in other parts of the Pacific, providing ordnance and ammunition, as well as fuel and postal services—to mention but a few. At Pearl Harbor many of these services are provided locally by the Naval Supply Center. Located on what was once Kuahua Island (an area now filled and joined to the rest of Oahu), the supply center covers 703 acres and stocks some 79,000 different items. At nearby Red Hill it operates what may be the largest underground fuel storage area in the Western world, comprised of 20 tanks with a capacity of 6 million barrels.
The Pearl Harbor Submarine Base, located deep in Southeast Loch, has been in commission since 1920. Its first commanding officer was Commander Chester W. Nimitz, who commanded the Pacific Fleet from headquarters at Pearl Harbor as an admiral during World War II. Commander Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet is headquartered at the submarine base and is the operational commander far “boats” out of Pearl Harbor, and from San Diego. Guam, and Japan.
An addition to Pearl Harbor since World War H is the Naval Submarine Training Center Pacific. Its most visible asset, familiar to World War II submariners, is the 136-foot-high escape training tank at the submarine base. U. S. submarines have grown incredibly complex. As a result, the curriculum of the training center includes some 300 courses. About 35,000 students were under instruction at various times during 1980 in tactics, engi' neering, escape techniques, and other subjects.
Perhaps the most visible changes at Pearl Harbor—not in terms of what has been added, but what has been taken away—have occurred on Ford Is' land. Compared with the peak of activity there during World War II, Ford Island is now a ghost towm Other sites on Oahu offered better operational conditions and the land on which to expand according to requirements. Ford Island’s air station was de' commissioned many years ago, and the runway lS now used only for practice approaches by civil aircraft. Today, in addition to facilities of Commander Third Fleet and the Submarine Training Center. Ford Island has considerable housing for both sing*e and married personnel.
Just offshore, on opposite sides of the island, the hulks of the USS Arizona (BB-39) and USS Uta'1 (AG-16) remain unsalvaged on the harbor bottofli' The memorial spanning the Arizona receives a in1*' lion or more visitors a year via a boat service op' erated free of charge by the Navy. Because of >*s location, the Utah receives infrequent visitors' though there is a handsome memorial built onshofa adjacent to the hulk. While the massive mooring quays on “Battleship Row” are still in place, the) are seldom, if ever, used. Active ship berths are ttj place on the west side. Many of the small craft use within the harbor are tied up and maintained on the southeast side. There are a few other activities rep'
resented, but the aircraft hangars are for the most Part used for storage or closed up.
Across the main channel, about one-half mile from Ford Island, lies the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. While the Navy has performed some maintenance on its ships in Pearl Harbor since at least the turn of the century, it was not until 1919 that ^rydock Number 1—in which the battleship Pennsylvania (BB-38) and destroyers Cassin (DD-372) and Downes (DD-375) were damaged in 1941—was completed. The navy yard grew gradually through the 1920s and 1930s, but with the prospect of war against Japan, its facilities and personnel were dramatically increased. Almost 25,000 workmen were employed during the Pacific War. Today, the naval shipyard can accomplish virtually any repair or modification a Navy ship may need. The yard has the facilities and skilled personnel to work on hulls, Weapons, electronics, or engineering plants—either conventional or nuclear-powered.
In addition to about 70 ships which call Pearl harbor home port, there are 9 fleet commands, 47 °ther Navy commands, 6 Marine Corps commands, Plus naval personnel assigned to the staff of Commander in Chief Pacific. All are located on Oahu—most at or close to Pearl Harbor.
Before World War II, many personnel did not consider Hawaii a desirable place in which to be Rationed. Its remoteness, the cost of travel to the mainland, low salaries in relation to the cost of liv- mg, and the possibility of war detracted from its ^tractive setting. With increased capabilities to support the Pacific Fleet has come a gradual increase m the quality and amount of government housing *° accommodate Navy dependent families. Some 7’000 housing units have been constructed, along 'v>th Navy exchange retail outlets, schools, and recreational facilities. Though an increasingly expense place to live—especially for scarce housing ashore—duty on Oahu is a far more attractive prop-
At left, the hulk of the Utah (AG-16) lies on the bottom at berth Fox 11 on the northwest side of Ford Island. The memorial pier was dedicated on Memorial Day, 1972. At right, visitors view a model of the Arizona (BB-39) as she looked before the attack.
osition in many ways now than in 1941. There are 138,000 military personnel and their dependents on the island.
Naval forces at Pearl Harbor are 2,000 miles closer to any military conflict or political upheaval west of longitude 158° West than units based in California. Major repair and logistic support at Pearl also reduces the need for ships to return to the continental United States. When one counts the high price of fuel oil, this is not an inconsiderable factor when determining the cost and time necessary for a large naval vessel to reach an operating area in the Western Pacific.
In a world of unstable political conditions, in which the rapid deployment of naval forces can make the difference between peace and something less attractive, the Pearl Harbor naval complex continues to be an extremely valuable asset for the U. S. Navy.
tMr. Powers is a professional photojournalist based in San Diego. He retired from naval service in 1974 as a senior chief petty officer. This is his 16th major illustrated article in the Proceedings. He holds a B.A. in journalism from San Diego State University where he is also doing graduate work in mass communications. His other publication credits include most newspapers subscribing to the major wire services, Newsweek, Parade, and many specialized publications.
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b'Oceedings / December 1981
At right, the World War II submarine Bowfin (SS-287) is between the new Arizona memorial building and the Navy marina at Pearl Harbor. The boat is operated as a memorial by a private organization and is open to the public. Bearing little resemblance is the current USS Tunny (SSN-682) moored at the submarine base in Pearl Harbor. Below right is the submarine base, featuring the tall escape tank used for training. The low building at center, beyond the submarine, served as Admiral Kimmel’s Pacific Fleet headquarters in December 1941. At bottom, STS2 James Roadarmel surveys the submarine base enlisted barracks.
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At top, two submarines lie at their berths at the submarine base. In the background, other vessels are moored along East Quay in Southeast Loch. Above is the memorial to submarines and their crews lost in the Pacific in World War II. The building flying the three-star flag is the headquarters, located on Ford Island, of Commander Third Fleet. At left, the well-maintained barge of ComThirdFlt makes its way smartly from Ford Island to the flag landing near Halawa gate.
Most naval installations are undistinguished in their architecture, and Pearl Harbor is no exception. Industrial buildings, most built after the 1941 attack, adjoin the ship repair basins in Southeast Loch. The view at top looks northeast from the naval shipyard toward the submarine base. Center, the salvage ship Reclaimer (ARS-42) tows a floating dry dock toward a berth on the west side of Ford Island. At right, women sailors walk from the small boat landing at Merry Point on the naval base. A small boat division operates to shuttle vehicles and personnel between the base and Ford Island. In the background are the frigate Davidson (FF- 1045), cruiser Truxtun (CGN-35), and oiler Ashtabula (AO-51).
Scaffolding indicates repair work in progress at the shipyard on the frigates Whipple (FF-1062) and Rathburne (FF-1057). Below left is a closeup of the activity surrounding the Rathburne’x repair work. Below, women crew members operate a 50-foot utility boat—a job performed in the Navy until fairly recently only by men. Bottom, more ships undergo maintenance in their berths at the shipyard. In the center of the picture is the venerable signal tower from which visual signals were sent to ships in the harbor on 7 December 1941.
At right, tourists to Hawaii get an added attraction in the form of the carrier Constellation (CV-64) moored at the “hotel” pier at the Pearl Harbor naval supply center. Below, graceful palms guard the naval station’s senior officer housing which dates from the early part of the century. Houses such as the one shown here were built for less than $15,000 in the 1920s. Bottom, the headquarters of the now-defunct 14th Naval District are now used by Commander Naval Base Pearl Harbor.
Top left, Puller Hall (although not known by that name) was in use during the 1941 attack and continues to serve as administrative headquarters for the Marine Barracks Hawaii. Top right is the control tower at the former naval air station Ford Island. Weeds and empty hangars line the runways of the now- unused air station which was one of the targets of the Japanese air raid on the “date which will live in infamy.”