Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-02-03
PENINSULA To ~
BE MADE INFO.
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only De gwen out from washington
Regarding the sea-coast defenses,
will say, however. that the original
plan was evolved before the appear
ance of the present-day dreadnought
and that notifications have been nee
essaTy."
With the Peninsular converted into
a moated fort. a weakness of the for
mer Red Hill-Salt Lake line, with its
left resting on point south OF Maka'
paia crater, is overcome.
Speaking of the project of the Ma
comb board before the house commit
| tee, General Wood said:
| This board, after going into the
question with great thoroughness, sub
| mitted a report, which embodies the
following decision, that probably we
should be unable to hold the whole of
| the island of Oahu in case of an at
tack coming in considerable force, an
attack of a character which would re-
suit from loss of sea control in the
Pacific for a time, and they decided
that a land defense line should be es-
tablished, beginning at Diamond Head
crater and running up to the crest OF
the main mountain ridge to. the east,
following it to the pass over which
the road goes, and then following
down on the ridge range to the old
Salt Lake crater, and then utilizing
islands in Pearl Harbor, and a portion
of the peninsula to the west. l refer
to the peninsula which projects into
Pearl Harbor, which is to be con-
verified into an artificial island by a
canal $50 yards wide, 1000 yards long,
and approximately 6 feet deep, this
artificial island being the extreme
west of our line .......
Major Blakely, one of the members
of the Macomb board, we'll Versed IN
the local situation, was present at the
hearing before the committee. Fol-
lowing is a brief of the proceedings
relative to the new mortars inside
Diamond Head:
Mr.. Sherley. Does your program
touching the Hawaiian islands contem-
Mate, aside from any question OF land
defense, modification of your sea-
coast defense; and if so, to what ex'
tent?
General Wood. A modification of
the plans as at present?
Mr.. Sherley. We have actually pro-
vided the money to put all of your sea-
coast defenses there and your work is
complete, and I want to know If that
is to be In any sense enlarged or
modified? i
General Wood. Yes; there is one
possible modification Of our defense
which should be mentioned, and that
involves the employment OF four II
inch mortars in the Diamond Head
crater. This change involves really
both the land and sea defense, as this
group Of mortars would be available
for both purposes Our present NOR
tars are so situated that in case we
should have the misfortune to lose
some of the commanding positions on
the mountain ridges to the east and
north of our main eastern line OF de-
lenses the present motars would come
under the FIRE Of the enemy's field
artillery, and We might not be able
to hold them,
We have been considering recently
the adVisability, as a means OF last
defense, of taking from some of the
seacoast defenses of this country four
mortars and establishing them in this
Diamond Head crater.
Diamond Head crater is, roughly
speaking, thousand yards from rim
to rim, it is half a mile wide on the
bottom, and it's average height runs,
l think, from about 400 to $50 feet
a little higher in places. That would ]
give a complete protection to these
mortars, and would enable holding of +
this crater until the last extremity, |
even after we had lost this ridge and .
the present mortar batteries perhaps
had been sileneed. and would give us
a range of fire which would cover the
front of the city of Honolulu and that '
to keep shipping. out of
that port. The cost Of that field work
by the engineers would be $4,000 |
for the platforms for the mortars
and $4,000 additional for the !
sufficiently protected. A
good deal of the work of emplacement I
could be done in time of peace by the
ertillery troops now out there, so that
the expense should be a great deal r
less than if done by contract. With
this exception We are proposing no
of the seacoast defenses
which Looks To an increase This mod