HAWAII AWAKE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 222, 18 September 1940, Page 6

HAWAII AWAKE.

WAR READINESS. WHAT FUTURE HOLDS. AIR, SEA AND LAND FORCES. (By JAMES BASSETT.) HONOLULU, August 27. You could travel to the ends of the earth in this troubled year 1940 and never escape the talk of war and preparations for war. Even beautiful Hawaii, whose 6435 square miles of sugar plantations, pineapple groves and volcanic beds seem as far from battles as man can get, talks of military readiness. It has to. For the territory lies between the United States and whatever danger might threaten the mainland from the Far East. It also lends a haven to the fleet today—behind the snuggest harbour this reporter has ever seen. You get your best notion of what the mighty American Navy means from a reply made by an Australian newspaperman to our observation that "those battleships give a fellow a. feeling of security!" •» "Give you a feeling of security?" the down-under journalist laughed grimly. >"Sir, they give Australians much more of a feeling of safety." Considering that the Commonwealth Navy numbers only a few cruisers, gunboats, but not a dreadnought in the lot, -such a sentiment isn't unusual. For Pearl Harbour is the sea—and air— crossroads of the Pacific

Weekly Jaunts to Hew Zealand. We all know about the navy. But the part commercial aviation may play in Pacific defences isn't as familiar. Daily passenger service between the mainland and Honolulu is planned within 18 months (probably in 50paseenger land 'planes flying 300 m.p.h. over a 10-hour schedule.) There will be a twice-weekly transoceanic service and weekly jaunts to New Zealand. All these 'planes can be used as troop and supply transports if need arises. Stanley Kennedy, president of the Inter-island Steam Navigation Company, says a 0,800,000 dollar Federal project contemplated now will permit deepdredging of the Keehi lagoon (between Pearl Harbour and Honolulu) as a commercial seaplane base. The lagoon mud thus scooped up will be heaped on the sh>re, flattened, and fashioned into an Al land base, where now stands the too-small John Rodgers airport. Kennedy expects to see "150,000pound transports—or larger"—thundering over the 2500-mile airway "in the not distant future." ivemieay's concern has been operating since 1883 as a steamer line, and for 11 years through the skies. It has its own repair bases, radio facilities, airports (such as they are) on Oahu. Hawaii, Maui, Malokai, Lanai and Kauai It uses naval weather. forecasts—and sometimes swaps the use of fields for this service. As a native West Coaster, we surveyed three Hawaiian Island places to-day which made our heart glad. They were Hkkam Field, the 18th Wing headquarters, Fort Kamehameha, artillery centre, and Pearl Harbour, the United State's Fleet's insular hide-away.

Chief Defence Point. Few persons are privileged to view these strongholds. First we visited the army's air arm; >then its deep-barking gunnery arm. Both have a single stern task. That is to defend Pearl Harbour's matchless naval repair base against any possible attack. Oahu Island is the crux of the set-up. On it lies Pearl Harbour: A watery skeleton-hand, whose bony fingers form inlets wherein rest submarines, cruisers, destroyers and capital vessels. A few scant miles back from the coastline rear the hogback, razorsharp "Polis"—3soo- - mountains. Men can't cross these. So Ohau's south-west is the chief defence point.

On Ohau are 20,000 soldiers and! officers. Two National Guard Regiments ( well-trained," we were solemnly informed) supplement the regulars. A few thousand of the latter comprise the 18th Wing Air Force. This is about the size of Southern California's own March Field's personnel. Some 100 bombers, pursuit and observation 'planes, plus a repair base capable of "building a ship from the ground up," and a mechanics' 12-week training school. They've forgotten nothing. Pearl Harbour's Weak Spot. Every day Hickam Fielders, and a few pursuit airmen from nearby Wheeler, wing around the eight islands. Their courses are painstakingly plotted. None has been lost yet, even on extensive overwater missions. They scout the Hawaiis. They watch—-always—for that enemy that may some day attempt to storm a base stronger (a "brigadiergeneral informed us) than Singapore. The 18th Wing remains on the "alert" status. This means just short of a wartime basis. A major told us why. He said the Orientals—by which he meant Japanese—number 100,000 persons. One hundred thousand have been naturalised. But the army is dubious. Pearl Harbour is accessible through a three-quarter-mile bottleneck north of Diamond Head. Somebody very clever diabolically so—might block this entrance. Were the fleet inside, it might ;»!? 2S y * to free »*• Th *t »s why the 18th Wing watches. For the artillery, we trekked to Fort Kamaehameha— Fort "Kam." In addition to the 18th*s fourteen fields on six of the eight islands (the other two are smaller and Quaker-owned), big guns play a stellar role in insular protection. We realised this as the youthful-appearing colonel stood before a huge map ringed with overlapping and concentric circles in various colours. These were the "fire-power" charts for the system of forts whose crux is "Kam." Oahu's Gun Power. The most lethal circles represented the 16m guns that reach deadly fingers more than 49,000 yards seaward. Or in any direction of the 360-degree compass. And the 30,000-yard 12-inchers (designed in 1899, but still effective, we were told) came next. Eight-inch guns and three-inch rifles on railcars can whip most of the way around the tight little island that's Oahu on* a single, narrow-gauge track.