Fort DeRussy Military Reservation

Battery Randolph

U.S. Army Museum of Hawaiʻi at Fort DeRussy
Location 32 Kalia Rd., Honolulu, Hawaii
Coordinates 21°16′44″N 157°50′1″W / 21.27889°N 157.83361°W / 21.27889; -157.83361Coordinates: 21°16′44″N 157°50′1″W / 21.27889°N 157.83361°W / 21.27889; -157.83361
Built 1911
MPS Artillery District of Honolulu TR
NRHP Reference # 84000971
Added to NRHP June 5, 1984[1]

Fort DeRussy is a United States military reservation in the Waikiki area of Honolulu, Hawaii, under the jurisdiction of the United States Army. Unfenced and largely open to public traffic, the installation consists mainly of landscaped greenspace. The former Battery Randolph now houses the U.S. Army Museum of Hawaiʻi, which is open to the public. The Hale Koa Hotel, an Armed Forces Recreation Center, and the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies are also located on Fort DeRussy.

History

The property was once owned by Chinese millionaire merchant Chun Afong who build a villa on the three acres of landscaped grounds. It was used by Afong to host parties and received royal guests, dignitaries, diplomats, military officers and others. The property was sold in 1904 to the United States Army Corps of Engineers for $28,000 for the constructions of Battery Randolph and Battery Dudley (no longer extant).[2]

Fort DeRussy in Honolulu is one of four Forts DeRussy in the United States. The one in Louisiana, one in Kentucky, and one in Washington, D.C., were all built during the American Civil War. This one was named for General René Edward De Russy (1789–1865). Rene and his brother Lewis were both graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point. Lewis was the oldest West Point graduate to serve in the Confederate Army, while older brother Rene served on the Union side.

Located on Waikiki Beach, very near Oahu's historic hotels the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and the Moana Hotel, the former Shore Battery Randolph was used as site for servicemen on Rest and Recuperation (R&R) during the Vietnam War. Fort DeRussy was one of a number of shore batterys on the island of Oahu designed to provide coastal defense. Most of the guns on these sites were retired during the early 1950s. The Fourteen inch guns of Shore Battery Randolph were fired once in a practice shortly after the Attack on Pearl Harbor, shattering many of the windows in the Royal Hawaiian and Moana, and were not fired again.[3]

Active facilities

Official military functions include the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, the Fort DeRussy Chapel, and the Hale Koa Hotel, a Morale, Welfare and Recreation facility.

U. S. Army Museum of Hawaiʻi

Fort DeRussy Beach, 1959

The U.S. Army Museum of Hawaiʻi is housed inside Battery Randolph, an old coastal artillery battery. Battery Randolph was constructed in 1911 to defend Honolulu Harbor on Oahu from attack, and was equipped with two 7-inch guns on disappearing carriages with a range of about 40,000 yards (37 km).[4] It was named for Maj Benjamin H. Randolph (died 1907).[5]

The museum's collection contains some World War II armor pieces, an AH-1 Cobra helicopter, and small arms indoors, as well as the battery itself. The exhibits cover the history of US Army warfare in the Pacific hemisphere and admission is free.[6] It is located on Kalia Road, coordinates 21°16′44″N 157°50′1″W / 21.27889°N 157.83361°W / 21.27889; -157.83361.

Another installation of two 6-inch guns was called Battery Dudley, named for Gen. Edgar S. Dudley (died 1911).[5] The "Artillery District of Honolulu" (state historic site 80-13-1382)[7] was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Oahu on June 5, 1984.[8]

Army museums

See: National Museum of the United States Army#Other Army museums

See also

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ Prats, J. J.,; Miller, Richard E.; Pfingsten, Bill, eds. (November 16, 2008). "Afong Villa — Waikīkī Historic Trail". The Historical Marker Database. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  3. ↑ Warrant Office R.S. McMurtrie ( interview.)
  4. ↑ Williford, Glen, et al. : "Defenses of Pearl Harbor and Oahu 1907-50", page 60. Osprey Publishing, 2003.
  5. 1 2 William H. Dorrance, (1995). "Land Defenses of O'ahu's Forts, 1908-1920". Hawaiian Journal of History. 29. Hawaiian Historical Society. pp. 147–161. hdl:10524/622.
  6. ↑ "Hawaii Army Museum". Hawaii Army Museum Society. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
  7. ↑ "National and State Register of Historic Places on Oʻahu" (PDF). Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources. June 2009. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
  8. ↑ Alvin L. Char (November 23, 1983). "Artillery District of Honolulu nomination form" (PDF). National Park Service.

Further reading

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