Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay
Encyclopedia
Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay or MCAS Kaneohe Bay is a United States Marine Corps
airfield located within the Marine Corps Base Hawaii
complex, formerly known as Marine Corps Air Facility (MCAF) Kaneohe Bay or Naval Air Station (NAS) Kaneohe Bay. It is located two miles (3 km
) northeast of the central business district
of Kaneohe, in Honolulu County
, Hawaii
, United States
. The airfield has one runway
(4/22) with a 7,771 x 200 ft (2,369 x 61 m) asphalt
surface.
acquired 322 acres (1.3 km²) of the peninsula when President Woodrow Wilson
signed executive order 2900 establishing the Kuwaaohe Military Reservation. Little is known about the operations of the fort, however, at the end of World War I
, the military property was leased for ranching. In 1939, Kuwaaohe was reactivated, subjected to many name changes to include Camp Ulupa’u, and eventually named Fort Hase.
Prior to and during World War II
, Fort Hase grew from a humble beginning as a defense battalion to a major unit of the Windward Costal Artillery Command. Navy planners began to eye the peninsula
in 1939 as the home of a strategic seaplane
base. They liked the isolated location, the flat plains for an airfield and the probability of flights into prevailing trade winds. In 1939, the Navy
acquired 464 acres (1.9 km²) of the peninsula for use of the PBY Catalina
Patrol seaplanes for long-range reconnaissance flights. One year later, the Navy owned all of the Mokapu Peninsula except for Fort Hase.
On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy
attacked the air station minutes prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor
. Of the 36 Catalinas stationed here, 27 were destroyed and six others were damaged, along with 18 sailors who perished in the attack. The first Japanese aircraft destroyed in action were shot down at Kaneohe, along with Aviation Ordnanceman Chief Petty Officer John William Finn
becoming one of the first Medal of Honor
recipients of World War II
for valor on that day.
During the war, the air station was a major training base in the Pacific Theater
. The Fleet Gunnery School trained thousands of Navy gunners. There was a school for celestial navigation, sonar, aircraft recognition, and turret operations. Flight instructors also trained Navy and Marine Corps aviators
in flight operations prior to being sent to a forward combat area. Following the war, Fort Hase had become a skeleton outpost and the air station consisted of limited air operations, a small security detachment, and a federal communications center.
On May 28, 1987, the National Register of Historic Places
listed "Kaneohe Naval Air Station" as a historic district
and a National Historic Landmark
.
Following the 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Committee’s
decision to close Naval Air Station Barbers Point, the base acquired 4 Navy P-3 Orion
patrol squadrons and one SH-60 Seahawk
Anti-Submarine squadron in 1999. Today there are almost 10,000 active duty Navy and Marine Corps personnel attached to the base.
The installation was re-designated as an Air Station (vice an Air Facility) in May 2009. At the same time, the airfield was named for MajGen
Marion Eugene Carl, and the Corps announced that new squadrons would be stationed there.
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United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
airfield located within the Marine Corps Base Hawaii
Marine Corps Base Hawaii
Marine Corps Base Hawaii , formerly Marine Corps Air Station, Kaneohe Bay and originally Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay, is a U.S. Marine Corps base facility and air station located on the Mokapu Peninsula of windward O'ahu in the City & County of Honolulu. As of the 2000 Census, the base had a...
complex, formerly known as Marine Corps Air Facility (MCAF) Kaneohe Bay or Naval Air Station (NAS) Kaneohe Bay. It is located two miles (3 km
Kilometre
The kilometre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one thousand metres and is therefore exactly equal to the distance travelled by light in free space in of a second...
) northeast of the central business district
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
of Kaneohe, in Honolulu County
Honolulu County, Hawaii
The City and County of Honolulu is a consolidated city–county located in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The municipality and county includes both the urban district of Honolulu and the rest of the island of Oahu, as well as several minor outlying islands, including all of the Northwestern Hawaiian...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The airfield has one runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
(4/22) with a 7,771 x 200 ft (2,369 x 61 m) asphalt
Asphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
surface.
Fort Hase and NAS Kaneohe Bay
The United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
acquired 322 acres (1.3 km²) of the peninsula when President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
signed executive order 2900 establishing the Kuwaaohe Military Reservation. Little is known about the operations of the fort, however, at the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the military property was leased for ranching. In 1939, Kuwaaohe was reactivated, subjected to many name changes to include Camp Ulupa’u, and eventually named Fort Hase.
Prior to and during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Fort Hase grew from a humble beginning as a defense battalion to a major unit of the Windward Costal Artillery Command. Navy planners began to eye the peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
in 1939 as the home of a strategic seaplane
Seaplane
A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
base. They liked the isolated location, the flat plains for an airfield and the probability of flights into prevailing trade winds. In 1939, the Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
acquired 464 acres (1.9 km²) of the peninsula for use of the PBY Catalina
PBY Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
Patrol seaplanes for long-range reconnaissance flights. One year later, the Navy owned all of the Mokapu Peninsula except for Fort Hase.
On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
attacked the air station minutes prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
. Of the 36 Catalinas stationed here, 27 were destroyed and six others were damaged, along with 18 sailors who perished in the attack. The first Japanese aircraft destroyed in action were shot down at Kaneohe, along with Aviation Ordnanceman Chief Petty Officer John William Finn
John William Finn
John William Finn was a sailor in the United States Navy who, as a chief petty officer, received the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II...
becoming one of the first Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
recipients of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
for valor on that day.
During the war, the air station was a major training base in the Pacific Theater
Pacific Ocean theater of World War II
The Pacific Ocean theatre was one of four major naval theatres of war of World War II, which pitted the forces of Japan against those of the United States, the British Commonwealth, the Netherlands and France....
. The Fleet Gunnery School trained thousands of Navy gunners. There was a school for celestial navigation, sonar, aircraft recognition, and turret operations. Flight instructors also trained Navy and Marine Corps aviators
Naval Aviator
A United States Naval Aviator is a qualified pilot in the United States Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard.-Naming Conventions:Most Naval Aviators are Unrestricted Line Officers; however, a small number of Limited Duty Officers and Chief Warrant Officers are also trained as Naval Aviators.Until 1981...
in flight operations prior to being sent to a forward combat area. Following the war, Fort Hase had become a skeleton outpost and the air station consisted of limited air operations, a small security detachment, and a federal communications center.
Marine Operations
In 1949, the Navy decommissioned the air station. On January 15, 1952 the Marine Corps re-commissioned the idle airfield Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, making it an ideal training site for a combined air/ground team. Station Operations and Headquarters Squadron supported flight operations until June 30, 1972, when Station Operations and Maintenance Squadron was commissioned in its place. SOMS served until it was disbanded on July 30, 1994. Marine Corps Air Facility Kaneohe Bay was formed on that date and continues today to serve the operational needs of the aviation community.On May 28, 1987, the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
listed "Kaneohe Naval Air Station" as a historic district
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
and a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
.
Following the 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Committee’s
Base Realignment and Closure
Base Realignment and Closure is a process of the United States federal government directed at the administration and operation of the Armed Forces, used by the United States Department of Defense and Congress to close excess military installations and realign the total asset inventory to reduce...
decision to close Naval Air Station Barbers Point, the base acquired 4 Navy P-3 Orion
P-3 Orion
The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner. The aircraft is easily recognizable by its distinctive tail stinger or...
patrol squadrons and one SH-60 Seahawk
SH-60 Seahawk
The Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk is a twin turboshaft engine, multi-mission United States Navy helicopter based on the United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk and a member of the Sikorsky S-70 family. The most significant airframe modification is a hinged tail to reduce its footprint aboard ships.The...
Anti-Submarine squadron in 1999. Today there are almost 10,000 active duty Navy and Marine Corps personnel attached to the base.
The installation was re-designated as an Air Station (vice an Air Facility) in May 2009. At the same time, the airfield was named for MajGen
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
Marion Eugene Carl, and the Corps announced that new squadrons would be stationed there.
See also
External links
- Official website
- USMC Air Station Kaneohe Bay Overview & PCS Information (MarineCorpsUSA.org)
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- Kaneohe Bay on GlobalSecurity.orgGlobalSecurity.orgGlobalSecurity.org, launched in 2000, is a public policy organization focusing on the fields of defense, space exploration, intelligence, weapons of mass destruction and homeland security...