By May 1940, when the main part of the United States Fleet was transferred there from the west coast, Pearl Harbor had long been under development as a major naval base. Its Navy Yard had a dry dock capable of holding the largest warships, a marine railway for smaller ones, and an industrial plant for repairing and maintaining these ships. There were abundant mooring and docking locations for ships, including a berthing area along the eastern side of Ford Island that was commonly called "Battleship Row". Ford Island, dominating the center of Pearl Harbor, held a Naval Air Station for combat landplanes and patrol seaplanes. Across Southeast Loch from the Navy Yard was a submarine base and nearby was a large "farm" of fuel oil tanks. The base also included a Naval Hospital and other facilities.
This was still not nearly enough to support the Fleet. Pearl Harbor's area was limited, preventing the dispersal of its warships, and its opening to the sea was but a single narrow channel. Both of these elements were clearly dangerous from a security perspective. The base's supply and industrial capacity was too small to meet the Fleet's needs, and transportation from the west coast was slow and of insufficient carrying capacity. There were not enough tugs and other services to keep the Fleet operational and in good fighting practice. Housing and recreational facilities for the Fleet's thousands of Sailors and Marines were grossly inadequate for men who were to be long separated from their families. Nearby Honolulu was oversaturated with Navy and Army personnel, and its citizens, none-too-happy about the influx, did not welcome the new arrivals. Accordingly, Fleet readiness was handicapped, its security was well below optimum levels, and its morale was impared.
During 1940-41, construction of new facilities was undertaken to address some of these problems. The supply depot, on a peninsula across the channel from "Battleship Row", was greatly expanded, other locations were developed for basing aircraft, new permanent drydocks were begun, a floating drydock was brought over from the mainland, and many other improvements were prepared or started. The Army and Army Air Corps, responsible for the defense of Hawaii and the Pearl Harbor base, also built new facilities and brought in more forces. However, other deficiencies were either inherent to the physical location or simply could not be corrected within the limits of time, competing requirements and available resources. These had to be borne as best they could.
Aerial photographs of Pearl Harbor, taken during 1940-1941, prior to the outbreak of war with Japan.
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Aerial view of the Naval Operating Base, Pearl Harbor, looking southwest on 30 October 1941. Ford Island Naval Air Station is in the center, with the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard just beyond it, across the channel. The airfield in the upper left-center is the Army's Hickam Field. NARA #80-G-182874
Aerial photograph of Ford Island, looking about NNE, taken 10 October 1941. The Naval Air Station occupies most of the island, with the seaplane base on the point at the near right. There are about twenty PBY patrol planes parked there. USS Enterprise (CV-6), USS Curtiss (AV-4) and two
battleships are tied up along Ford Island's southeastern side, to the right. The bright line, just above Ford Island in the center, points to the north. Aiea is on the far shore in the upper right. NARA #80-G-279375
Vertical aerial photograph of Ford Island, taken 10 November 1941, with five battleships tied up along "Battleship Row" at the top of the image. USS Lexington (CV-2), a seaplane tender and a light cruiser are moored on the island's other (northwestern) side. Approximately 21 PBY patrol planes are parked at the Naval Air Station's seaplane base, in the upper right. The bright diagonal line, at the lower left end of Ford Island, points to the north. NARA #80-G-279385
Aerial view of the Submarine Base, with part of the supply depot beyond and the fuel farm at right, looking north on 13 October 1941. Note the fuel tank across the road from the submarine base, painted to resemble a building. The building beside the submarine ascent tower (in left
center, shaped like an upsidedown "U") housed the U.S. Fleet Headquarters at the time of the Japanese attack on 7 December 1941. Office of Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, the Fleet's Commander in Chief, was in the upper left corner of the building's top floor. USS Wharton (AP-7) is in right foreground. Among the submarines at the base are Tuna (SS-203), Gudgeon (SS-211), Argonaut (SS-166), Narwhal (SS-167), Triton (SS-201) and Dolphin (SS-169). USS Holland (AS-3) and USS Niagara (PG-52) are alongside the wharf on the base's north side. In the distance (nearest group in upper left) are the battleship Nevada (BB-36), at far left, USS Castor (AKS-1) and the derelict old minelayer Baltimore. Cruisers in top center are USS Minneapolis (CA-36), closest to camera, and USS Pensacola (CA-24), wearing a Measure 5 painted "bow wave". NARA #80-G-451125
Floating Drydock YFD-2 arrives at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 23 August 1940, after being towed from New Orleans, Louisiana. It is still marked "U.S. Naval Station New Orleans, La".
USS Osceola (YT-129) is in the right foreground, assisting. One of the other tugs is probably USS Sunnadin (AT-28). An unidentified destroyer seaplane tender (AVD) is tied up at the Ford Island fuel dock, in the left center. Visible in the distance, moored on the other side of Ford Island, are (from left to right): USS Yorktown (CV-5), two destroyers, USS Wright (AV-1) and two light cruisers. NARA #80-G-411134
Aerial view of the Submarine Base (right center) with the fuel farm at left, looking south on 13 October 1941. Among the 16 fuel tanks in the lower group and ten tanks in the upper group are two that have been painted to resemble buildings (topmost tank in upper group, and rightmost tank in lower group). Other tanks appear to be painted to look like terrain features. Alongside the wharf in right center are USS Niagara (PG-52) with seven or eight PT boats alongside (nearest to camera), and USS Holland (AS-3) with seven submarines alongside. About six more submarines are at the piers at the head of the Submarine Base peninsula. NARA #80-G-182880
Aerial photograph, looking east, with Hickam Army Air Field in center and Honolulu beyond, 13 October 1941. The Pearl Harbor Navy Yard is in the left-center, and Ford Island is at the far left. NH 89041
Aerial view, looking north, with the Navy Yard in the foreground, 7 January 1941. Ford Island Naval Air Station is in the center-left, and Pearl City is in the extreme upper left. There are about 27 PBY patrol planes at the seaplane base, at the lower left point of Ford Island.
Aircraft carrier moored on the far side of Ford Island is USS Lexington CV-2). Other identifiable ships include USS Wright (AV-1), USS Curtiss (AV-4), USS Oglala (CM-4) and USS Medusa (AR-1). NARA #80-G-451185
Post WW II aerial view, looking north, with Navy Yard in the foreground, before construction of causeway to Ford Island.
Recent aerial photograph, looking south with Chester Nimitz Causeway in foreground. USS Missouri (BB-63), berthed at new pier constructed at Fox 5, is in left portion of photo. USS Arizona Memorial is below USS Missouri at Fox 7. The Naval Air Station has been closed, and most of the other Naval facilities have been removed from Ford Island, and the island is under a redevelopment study.
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Last Updated 13 May 2001
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