Development of 1925 Ewa Mooring Mast for the Navy
“Lighter Than Air” program
In its day the “Lighter Than Air” Navy airship program was a really big deal. The US and in fact much of the developed world was enthralled and awestruck with airship concepts. It drove all kinds of real estate projects and city skyscraper construction, which is why so many early skyscrapers had airship mooring masts as part of their design. Many believed that people would commute everywhere by airships, from one building to another or to homes with a local mooring mast. Ewa could have been an airship center.
The 1920’s and 1930’s was a major aviation era in Hawaii with trans-Pacific air races, trans-Pacific Pan Am clipper seaplanes and inter-island seaplane services. Local air balloon flights were very popular.
The Navy and Army saw huge military potential for airships as they had been used for bombing missions in WW-I. For the Navy they saw airships as the high altitude lead reconnaissance for fleet battleships, finding enemy ships 20-30 miles ahead. Navy Airships were really huge and could deploy and recover smaller scout aircraft like high altitude aircraft carriers. It was a great concept but there were aerodynamic design flaws and air turbulence caused major airship crashes.
USS Shenandoah (ZR-1) was heading to Ewa Mooring Mast when it crashed
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Shenandoah_(ZR-1)
Based on Zeppelin bomber L-49 (LZ-96), built in 1917 by Germany, the Shenandoah airship was 680 feet (207.26 m) long and weighed 36 tons (32,658 kg). It had a range of 5,000 miles (4,300 nmi; 8,000 km), and could reach speeds of 70 mph (61 kn; 110 km/h).
As the first rigid airship to use helium rather than hydrogen, Shenandoah had a significant edge in safety over previous airships. Shenandoah was powered by 300 hp (220 kW), eight-cylinder Packard gasoline engines. In October 1924, Shenandoah flew from Lakehurst, NJ to California and on to Washington state to test the newly erected mooring mast at Fort Lewis. This was the first flight of a rigid airship across North America. Plans were underway to bring the USS Shenandoah to Ewa Mooring Mast.
On 2 September 1925, Shenandoah departed Lakehurst on a promotional flight to the Midwest that would include flyovers of 40 cities and visits to state fairs. Unfortunately the next day was a disaster.
While passing through an area of thunderstorms and turbulence over Ohio early in the morning of 3 September, during its 57th flight, the airship was caught in a violent updraft that carried it beyond the pressure limits of its gas bags. It was torn apart in the turbulence and crashed in three main pieces near Caldwell, Ohio. Fourteen crew members, including Commander Zachary Lansdowne, were killed.
The Navy and congress was still supportive of navy fleet airship concepts after the crash of the USS Shenandoah and they came back with new redesigned airships and reduced the height of the new mooring masts from 160 feet to 60 feet high. Also added was a big railway track for the new airships to be tethered to to keep them from going vertical in high wind gusts after being moored.
USS Macon (ZRS-5)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Macon_(ZRS-5)
The Akron And Macon as Flying Aircraft Carriers
“The Navy airships USS Akron (ZRS-4) and USS Macon (ZRS-5) were designed for long-range scouting in support of fleet operations. Often referred to as flying aircraft carriers, each of the helium inflated airships carried F9C-2 Curtiss Sparrow hawk biplanes which could be launched and recovered in flight, greatly extending the range over which the Akron and Macon could scout the open ocean.
The airships were equipped with internal hangars which could stow and service up to five aircraft in flight. Aircraft were launched and retrieved by means of a trapeze, and could enter and exit the hangar through a large T-shaped opening at the bottom of the hull. Airplanes greatly increased the range and area over which the airships could search but also addressed the airship’s inherent weakness; they were slow and vulnerability to enemy air attack.
In 1935 the Navy was sending the huge USS Macon to the Ewa Mooring Mast, however the Macon was damaged in a storm and lost off California's coast in February 1935, in service for less than two years.
If the USS Macon had arrived at the Ewa Mooring Mast in 1935 it would have looked like this. The huge helium airship also was an aircraft carrier in the sky for F9C-2 Curtiss Sparrow hawk biplanes.
Unlike the German LZ 129 Hindenburg which used flammable hydrogen gas, the USS Macon used much safer helium gas for lift. The Hindenburg infamously crashed upon landing in a horrendous fire at Lakehurst Naval Air Station on May 6, 1937, killing 36 people.
Hindenburg Disaster: Real Zeppelin Explosion Footage (1937) | British Pathé
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgWHbpMVQ1U&t=4s
Ewa Mooring Mast Field never saw any Navy airships however it almost had a visit from the around the world traveling German LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin
Graf Zeppelin made 590 flights totaling almost 1.7 million kilometers (over 1 million miles). It was operated by a crew of 36, and could carry 24 passengers. It was the longest and largest airship in the world when it was built. It made the first circumnavigation of the world by airship and the first nonstop crossing of the Pacific Ocean by air, never having any injuries or fatal accidents.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbAF4iVcBaI
Graf Zeppelin over Rio de Janeiro in 1930
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_127_Graf_Zeppelin
The Zeppelin: Aboard ‘the hotel in the sky’ - BBC Culture
1925 was a big year for Hawaii with the construction of the Ewa Mooring Mast. Navy commander John Rodgers also attempted a trans-Pacific seaplane flight. It failed but he became a hero. Killed a year later in an air crash, the Hawaii State Kalaeloa airport is named John Rogers Field in memorium.
(Curiously but not directly related, In his 1925 book, “Winged Defense,” Army aviation proponent General Billy Mitchell predicted how Japan might attack Hawaii — starting at 7:30 AM, destroying hangars and planes on the ground, followed by 100 bombers striking Pearl Harbor’s naval base.)
Contract #5088 was let on 4 May 1925 to Louis R. Smith of Honolulu to erect the mooring mast, clear the site, erect buildings and install incidental machinery and piping. The contract price was $29,880.00 for this work. The work was completed prior to the date required, 29 July 1925. The cost of clearing the 50 acres of land which was included in the above price was $170.00 per acre. An addition to the contract price was allowed for extra work, the final cost being $30,180.24.
On March 3rd 1925 the United States of America sublet from the Oahu Railway and Land Company the Ewa Mooring Mast tract of land described as:
“that portion of the Ahupuaa of Honouliuli, Island of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii lying westerly of the Ewa Mill Railway Station and south of the Oahu Railway right-of-way and described as follows: Beginning at a monument on the south side of the Oahu Railway and Land Company’s right-of-way, which monument is an offset of twenty (20) feet from the center line of the track at station nine hundred and seventy one (971) shown on the Right-of-Way and Track map—Oahu Railway and Land Company, -Main Line Station 780-00 to Station 991-00 due East three thousand (3000) feet, thence due south three thousand (3000) feet, thence due west three thousand (3000) feet, thence due north three thousand (3000) feet to monument, all bearings true.
May-July 1925: Location of an old sisal plantation. Access was via a coral road extending north-south off of the main “Government Road” This may likely have been the original entrance into the 1900’s sisal plantation. The road continued south towards Ewa coast and was a main north-south access road throughout the later Ewa Field and MCAS Ewa base. The site also had huge limestone karst sinkholes and caves. Marines in 1941 said some were as big and deep as railway boxcars.
Activity began in May of 1925 after the site selection with clearing of sisal and kiawe (algarroba, mesquite) and then surveying. A square area of 3000 x 3000 feet around the selected mooring site was cleared of vegetation. The square area was based upon the required radius which included radials connected to anchor blocks embedded into the karst. Sisal is still used today for rope and mats.
The Ewa mooring mast site was leased from the Campbell estate through the primary lessee the Hawaiian Meat Company, Ltd., which used the large acreage to graze free range beef cattle. The rental fee for the Navy was moderate but with one stipulation: the area could not be fenced. As a free range area with the mooring mast periphery covered with kiawe trees, the beans were very good food for the cattle that roamed the area at that time. This is why early photos show cattle grazing around the mooring mast. The mooring mast caretaker and later Marines in 1941 also added some dairy cows.
The sisal was cut and left to dry in piles for later burning. When Marines arrived in 1941 they made extensive use of the dried sisal stocks for plant borders and recreational fencing. In June, 1925 two simple wooden sheds were constructed for storing operations and maintenance equipment. To facilitate the assembly of the over 120 foot tall mast, 3 gasoline-hoisting engines were installed and a 160-foot tall scaffold was built. Then the base of the mast was installed secured by a concrete pad.
Work in June also comprised blasting the dense coral rock for surge block anchors. A 2018 geophysical survey south of the swimming pool site where Marines had parked their cars in late 1941 found an anomaly matching the location of the northern most 1925 surge block anchor, where it apparently still is. This was the very first physical documentation of original mooring mast subsurface infrastructure.
By mid-June, more than half of the mast had been erected and by July 2nd, the landing platform for the kite balloon basket had been constructed. And on July 30, 1925 the mooring mast was completed. This included piping and mechanical engine telegraph wires between the mast and the machinery house and air ship connections to water and a gasoline pipe which had been installed at the top of the mast.
Inside the base buildings were various mooring mast winches, generators, gas lines, electrical panels
The complete lighter-than-air mooring mast and appurtenances consisted of a 10,000-gallon storage facility for aviation gasoline; a small telephone line (trench type) of about 2 to 6 cables; a 2 inch water pipe from the Ewa plantation, and a machinery house consisting of the necessary machinery to moor the airship and other miscellaneous equipment. About the year 1932 the mooring mast was cut down to the so-called “stub-mast” and so remained until its eventual dismantling authorized by letter on the 24th of May, 1942. It was replaced by a high wooden Army designed air traffic control tower with meteorology station and another level for directing Ewa Field’s air defense Army AAA gun batteries.
Some would most likely wonder why this tall mast construction went up so quickly and smoothly- and the answer is that the Ewa Mooring Mast was actually a “portable mooring mast kit” pre-manufactured in Philadelphia and sent by train across the US mainland, by ship to Honolulu and then on to the Oahu Railway which carried it out to the Ewa site for assembly. Other nearly identical pre-manufactured mooring mast kits were also constructed in Texas, California and Washington State. The Navy also had constructed a mooring mast tender ship, the USS Patoka, for planned Pacific ocean crossings.
The Ewa Mooring Mast provided spectacular views of the Ewa Plain, including Ewa Sugar Plantation and villages. There was also a decades long close association with the Ewa community, including schools, churches, sports events, railway, bus line and annual carnivals. It remains today the Ewa historic center. The Ewa community also suffered casualties and deaths from the December 7, 1941 air attack.
The photo above of the new Ewa mooring mast shows the base (left) to the top platform (right.)
In January through December, 1932: Modification to the mooring mast which was shipped in from Mare Island, California. The most dramatic alteration to the mooring mast was the decrease in height from 160 feet to 60 feet. There were also excavations for new anchors, gasoline tanks, a new water system and plumbing. The mast was painted alternate black and white to make it more visible to aircraft.
Another change to the 3000 x 3000 landscape was the installation of a double circular coral grade pathway and circular wide gauge railroad track around the 300 foot diameter mast. Oahu Railway was narrow gauge so there was never any plan to connect this circular track to OR&L. OR&L did built a narrow gauge spur into Ewa Field in 1941 for supplies and construction materials. The track for the 1932 Ewa Mooring Mast was for mooring the aft (tail end) of the planned airships due to the fact that airships could go vertical in adverse high wind conditions. Lowering the mast also made docking safer.
Much of the work for the mast was completed between January and March of 1932. The circular railroad track was complete by December of 1932 for the airship aft “rideout” tether car.
The shortened mast to 60 feet was for the new class of Navy airship and in expectation of visits by the USS Akron and the USS Macon airships. News of the Macon’s destruction off the California coast was received while FERA (The Federal Emergency Relief Administration program established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933) work on reconditioning of the Ewa facilities was at its peak. Coral was being hauled from West Loch for the aircraft landing mat, and living quarters for 80 men were being erected, needed for mooring operations.
The Honolulu Advertiser of February 14, 1935, announced:
Work on the reconditioning of the mooring mast at Ewa and the temporary quarters which were to house the Macon’s crew during their stay here was ordered discontinued yesterday, pending further orders from Washington, as the result of the dirigible’s crash Tuesday.
Filling and leveling the ground around the mast, however, will continue, it was learned yesterday. The same number of FERA workers will probably continue to work there. The field will be put in condition to make it suitable for emergency airplane landings.
The Mooring Mast railway rail is still found around MCAS Ewa along with other construction and archeological artifacts never officially documented in any NASBP – MCAS Ewa base closure surveys.
The 1500 foot emergency landing strip was smoothed out within the circle surrounding the mast. This strip became known as Ewa Mooring Mast Field and was an auxiliary emergency field for Ford Island pilots who made infrequent visits. However Pan American Clipper flights used the Ewa Mooring Mast as a visual reference when flying in from the west, finding Barbers Point Lighthouse, then the Ewa Mooring Mast for the final approach to their middle loch landing area in Pearl Harbor’s North Channel.
Pan Am Clipper lining up for a Pearl Harbor water landing, above, the GPS location
of the mooring mast today. The mast pad was removed when the MCAS Ewa tower ramp was
expanded after construction of the new 1945 tower administration building. However there are many subsurface mooring mast archeological features never officially documented.
Curiously, there is today the FAA circle, which many believe is the original mooring mast site. This
is actually an FAA radio beacon site which broadcasts a repeating signal for inbound aircraft to line up and land on the nearby main Honolulu airport runway.
More historic facts about the 1925 and later 1932 Ewa Mooring Mast
Diagram of what a docked USS Macron would look like, buried anchor blocks with underground location of northern radial anchor using ground penetrating radar (GPR) in 2018
An old north-south county road from the sisal plantation days ran by Navy caretaker Chief Petty officer Joneses’ house, connecting the mooring mast area with the nearby modern plantation village of Ewa, to the north. To the south the same road somewhat lost its identity by crossing the runway, then reappeared in the boondocks (as seen in old air photos) and finally reaching the Ewa coast where there were a few ranch style beach homes with windmills to pump up fresh water from the subterranean karst reservoirs. The former Ewa Sisal plantation was abandoned and used for free range cattle grazing.
Navy Petty Officer Jones and family occupied the small bungalow house which later became the Ewa Field base commander’s office and then eventually the post office of the greatly expanded MCAS Ewa Third Marine Aircraft Wing. Inset shows the later front gate as “Ewa Gate” in 1958. In the background is Building 972 under construction. Today it and SOSUS buildings are National Register eligible for their Cold War era history. The 3000 x 3000 foot Ewa Mooring Mast site is now 2016 National Register Ewa Battlefield. The OR&L – Hawaiian Railway is also a National Register site. Ewa Plantation village and buildings were also placed on the Hawaii State historic register, but not National Register.
The caretakers house, a few sheds, some out-buildings, an unused mooring mast and a little-used coral runway constituted the 1941 Marine Air Group 21 facilities. Occasionally the runway had been used for practice landings and field exercises by Army fliers from Wheeler Field. Marine airfield contractors came in 1941 and laid down new asphalt main and cross wind runways and a new concrete parking ramp.
1936 Ewa Mooring Mast Field, 1935 storage shed with hundreds of helium gas cylinders
When the Marines arrived they converted the mooring mast into an air traffic control tower. Prior to their arrival the Army Air Corps 18th Pursuit Squadron used the coral airstrip for dispersed maneuvers.
1941 Marines made good use of the wooden-like sisal stalks for fences and plant borders
When the aviation Marines arrived in mid-January 1941 on board the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) from the North Island Naval Air Station, San Diego, California, the expeditionary air unit was called Marine Air Group 21. This was the first Marine Corps airfield in the Pacific. They later established more island airfields on Wake and Midway prior to the Japanese IJN attack of December 7, 1941.
Mast stages: The original 1925 160 foot mooring mast, the 60 foot lower 1932 mooring mast used in 1941 by Marines as the Ewa Field control tower, and the final 1942 Army wooden tower replacement.
By 1945 there was a new MCAS Ewa control tower built by Navy SeaBees, however it was torn down after the base officially closed in 1952. It was nearly identical to the still existing NAS Barbers Point tower building which is used today by the Hawaii State DOT for John Rogers Field – Kalaeloa Airport.
Near this battlefield area are 48 still buried pre-war vintage Marine aircraft from the Dec 7, 1941 attack.
Common Ewa Mooring Mast misconceptions. The visible FAA Circle is not the original mooring mast circle. This is an FAA 25 watt Non Directional Beacon (EWABE NDB, 21.3247094/-158.0489997) which directs aircraft for an inbound landing at HNL airport. But it also means that nearly all Hawaii visitors actually fly directly over historic Ewa Mooring Mast Field - Ewa Field at around 1000 feet for a landing.
The other misconception is that there is still a mooring mast round hole in the ground somewhere to be found. In fact as photos show during original construction and the photo above of the still existing Fort Lewis, WA, mooring mast site, the mast was mounted on a concrete pad with basically just four bolts.
The Ewa Mooring Mast front entrance gate, later became the Ewa Field front gate which was strafed by Japanese Zero fighters on December 7, 1941. The Navy Cold War patrol missions using Lockheed EC-121 and later the Lockheed P-3 Orion aircraft had their command headquarters at Building 972 constructed near the Ewa Field front gate in 1958. This was used until the final squadron left to re-base at Kaneohe MCAS. Since the final 1999 NASBP closure the entire former MCAS Ewa – Mooring Mast Field has largely been undeveloped due to the US Navy land owner and Hunt Corp of Texas not doing required federal NHPA surveys and a Cultural Landscape Report (CLR) which would correctly identify and document the many historic and cultural features. This is a federal responsibility the Navy still refuses to undertake.
Monograph on the Mooring Mast and Lighter Than Air Station
Prepared by: Lieutenant H.A. Ingram, (CC), U.S. Navy, 20 March 1931
A letter of the Chief of Naval Operation, dated 19 February, 1920, approved conclusions by the Joint Aeronautical Board on a policy in regard to the Development and Use of Rigid Airships. The last of these conclusions was “that the location of dirigible shed should be governed by the necessity of shed for construction, for suitable experimental flights, and, at present, by the advantages of location with regard to possible use in a campaign in the Pacific.” Following the conclusions were recommendations as follows:
“That the Aeronautical Board, guided by the above recommendations, submit to the Joint Board a report on locations on the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts and on the Island of Oahu, suitable for dirigible operating fields, stating the advantages of each from a strategical and aeronautical point of view and whether or not the land at each location belongs to the Army or the Navy.”
p.94 On 18 May, 1921, the Chief of Naval Operations asked for recommendations from the Commandant as to a suitable site for a rigid airship station in Hawaii. In choosing a site the following qualifications were to be sought in so far as practicable:
(a) Salubrious climate, light winds free from gusts. Excessive heat, cold, rain and fog to be avoided. Healthy locality, water availability. Not in swampy lands or where mosquitoes to be found.
b) Flat field, at least one mile square and as large as possible up to three miles square. Open approaches, no high buildings or hills within half mile. Firm ground, grass covered, well drained.
c) Far enough from open sea to prevent bombardment and behind line of Coast Artillery fortifications. Close to major Fleet Base.
d) Near market for materials and labor. Efficient transportation and communication facilities.
e) Near market for supplies and means for recreation for personnel.
The cost of the property must not be excessive; there should be no question of the U.S. obtaining a clear title to tract, the ability to purchase or lease for a long period…
p. 95 On 12 August, 1921, the Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Station, Pearl Harbor, reported as follows: “The entire Island of Oahu has been thoroughly investigated from the air, on the ground, and by chart and Commanding Officer is of the opinion that this island offers only two possible sites for a Rigid Airship Station:
Mokapu Peninsula, lying on the north side of the island and east of Kaneohe Bay,
And,
The low level land on the south side of the island between the entrance to Pearl Harbor and Barbers Point.
p.96 Land on south side of island-Pearl Harbor to Barbers Point:
Suitable land up to 2 ½ or 3 miles square can be had. Very near standard telegraph and telephone. Land is covered with Algaroba, but could be cleared. Air conditions are rather turbulent, particularly during high wind. This condition prevails on the lee coasts of all the islands.
It is very close to a fleet base—one to three miles from Pearl Harbor.
Excellent railroad facilities—comparatively good road facilities. Good water supply doubtful.
Site is open to bombardment from sea, but has the protection of all the Army coastal fortifications on the island.
Nearest possible site to a market for material and labor.
Commanding officer is of the opinion that this latter site is the best possibility on the island.”
p.99 For the Mokapu site: The question of water supply in this locality would be a serious one. The main source of water supply on this island is artesian wells, but this peninsula is without the zone of satisfactory artesian water…
HONOULIULI
The land to the westward of the entrance to Pearl Harbor is held by two parties: The Dowsett Company, and the James Campbell Estate. The portion owned by the Campbell Estate is leased to the Oahu Railway and Land Company, the lease expiring December 31, 1939. The rental price cannot be determined inasmuch as the area in question is only one parcel of several which make up the lease. The Campbell Estate is holding its property in this section at about $200.00 per acre, this price including the leasehold rights. The Dowsett Company is holding its property at approximately $350.00 per acre. The main source of income from both of these parcels is cattle-raising. The land is not in cultivation and is not suitable for sugar or other agricultural purposes.
Remarks previously made with reference to land titles also apply in this section. The natural characteristics of the land in this vicinity are not such as to require an undue expenditure for development. To provide adequate water supply for a station located at the westward of the Pearl Harbor entrance would require a considerable expenditure. Driving wells in this locality would not be satisfactory. It will be necessary to secure water either by a submarine line crossing the harbor entrance and connecting with the existing Fort Kamehameha system, or by seeking a new supply in the well district to the northward.”
As a result of these reports the Commandant on 19 November, 1921, stated to the Chief of Naval Operations that the most suitable site for the location of a rigid airship station in Hawaii, as possessing the maximum of the conditions to be fulfilled, is, on the south side of Oahu, between Pearl Harbor and Barber’s Point and so recommended.
p.101 On March 2, 1922, the Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics stated that neither of the proposed sites were considered desirable as they were open to attack from the sea. The problem was referred to a Joint Army and Navy Aeronautical Board to be appointed by the Commanding General and the Commandant of the Fourteenth Naval District.
On 19 June 1924 the Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics requested that the Commandant advise as to one or more recommended locations for the erection of a guyed mooring mast which was then available at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The installation was to be self-contained and temporary in character. The area selected would have to have a 1500 foot radius clear and unobstructed and to be level or rising to a slight knoll at the foot of the mast.
The mast was shipped from Philadelphia on an Isthmian Steamship Company vessel about 1 August 1924.
p.101
Only two sites on Government land were found, both on Schofield Reservation. One of these is in the open space west of the Artillery Reservation, the other in the triangle south of the road to Wahiawa.
* The open space west of the Artillery Reservation was rejected because the site was in use and was “essential to the military efficiency of the garrison of Schofield Barracks, and since there is no other suitable place available in the Post, the site is question must continue as at present used…”
The second site proposed would be “a menace to airplanes taking off from Wheeler Field, and those flying at night….and the proximity to the site of high tension electric lines.”
p. 103
These reports were submitted to the Departmental Aeronautical Board on 2 December 1924. The board on 4 December 1924 advised against either site and recommended that consideration be given to erecting the mooring mast on land acquired by lease situated within the sector extending from Barbers Point, to West Loch and from the ocean to the Oahu Railway and Land tracks passing through Ewa.
On 29 December 1924 the Bureau of Aeronautics informed the Commandant that it was desired to send the Los Angeles on a trip to Honolulu during the spring of 1925 and that it was necessary that a site be selected and the mast installed and tested without delay. The Bureau suggested sites at Puuloa Naval Reservation, at Waipio Point, and between Puuloa Reservation and Kekaa Point.
On 24 January 1925 the Commandant reported to the Bureau of Aeronautics that
1. The Waipio peninsula site was not suitable because it was only 1300 feet wide and the tail of the airship might obstruct the channel; it was within one mile of Ford Island flying field; and clearing the site of algarroba trees would be expensive.
2. P.104 The sites between Puuloa Reservation and Kekaa Point were not suitable because of unfavorable atmospheric conditions and because they were within one to two and one half miles from Ford Island Flying field.
3. The Puuloa Naval Reservation site was not considered suitable because it was too close to the Coast Defense guns and clearing the site of algarroba trees would be very expensive
4. The site southwest of Ewa Village on land owned by the James Campbell estate and leased to the Oahu Railway and Land Company was considered favorably. A plot 3000 feet square with a difference in elevation from north to south of but 15 feet could be obtained on very favorable terms. The land had been planted in sisal but cultivation had been abandoned. The Commandant recommended that he be authorized to lease the land and to make contracts for clearing it and erecting the mast by either Government or contract labor as seemed most advantageous.
The Commandant was authorized by the Secretary of the Navy by dispatch on 26 February 1925 to draw up a lease as he had recommended and to forward it to the Navy Department for approval.
The Ewa site for the mooring mast is located on land owned by the James Campbell Estate generally described as the Honouliuli and Kahuku Ranch properties. It was leased to Benjamin F. Dillingham on 19 November 1889 for a fifty year term from the first day of January 1890. The lease includes 10 tracts of land totaling 48,490 ½ acres. The annual rental was $20,000.00 for the first year, $30,000.00 for the second year and $40,000.00 for the third and each ensuing year. The lessor agreed to pay all taxes. He agreed not to out any forest trees on the mountains above the pasture lands. He was permitted to sublet the land but not to assign the lease. On 12 December 1889, Mr. Benjamin F. Dillingham leased the same premises to the Oahu Railway and Land Company for the sum of one dollar and other valuable considerations and in addition the payments to Dillingham of the same rentals agreed upon by the latter with James Campbell for a term of 49 years and eleven months after 1 January 1890.
On March 3rd 1925 the United States of America sublet from the Oahu Railway and Land Company the tract of land described as:
“that portion of the Ahupuaa of Honouliuli, Island of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii lying westerly of the Ewa Mill Railway Station and south of the Oahu Railway right-of-way and described as follows: Beginning at a monument on the south side of the Oahu Railway and Land Company’s right-of-way, which monument is an offset of twenty (20) feet from the center line of the track at station nine hundred and seventy one (971) shown on the Right-of-Way and Track map—Oahu Railway and Land Company, -Main Line Station 780-00 to Station 991-00 due East three thousand (3000) feet, thence due south three thousand (3000) feet, thence due west three thousand (3000) feet, thence due north three thousand (3000) feet to monument, all bearings true.
The land was for use as an aviation field including and specifically and principally the erection of a portable mooring mast with temporary buildings, apparatus, etc., for lighter-than-aircraft, reserving the right of grazing for cattle of the lessor when the premises are not in use for the specific purpose of mooring any lighter-than-aircraft.
The lease term began March 3, 1925, and ended June 30, 1926. The lease may, at the option of the Government, be renewed at an annual rental of one dollar ($1.00)….
The lease was signed by the Navy Department on April 13, 1925.
On 18 March 1925 the Bureau of Aeronautics authorized the clearing of fifty-four acres of land on the mooring mast site and allotted funds therefor.
On April 2d the Secretary of the Ewa Plantation agreed to permit the government to use a right-of-way through the plantation to the mooring mast site.
On April 10, 1925, the Ewa Plantation agreed to furnish water as a favor at a cost of 10 cents per thousand gallons not to exceed 5,000 gallons per day, the government to furnish and install the water line and meter.
Contract #5088 was let on 4 May 1925 to Louis R. Smith of Honolulu to erect the mooring mast, clear the site, erect buildings and install incidental machinery and piping. The contract price was $29,880.00 for this work. The work was completed prior to the date required, 29 July 1925. The cost of clearing the 50 acres of land which was included in the above prince was $170.00 per acre. An addition to the contract price was allowed for extra work, the final cost being $30,180.24.
p. 107 The mast is located approximately in the center of the leased site in
Latitude 81°-19’ 02.74”
Longitude 158°-02’ 43.18”
As determined by the Coast and Geodetic Survey.
The Army requested permission to use the mast in 1928 as an observation station during the maneuvers in April and May and to observe the field target practices by mobile batteries in June, July and August which was granted.
p. 107 A new lease was executed on 13 May 1929.
Arrangement were made to moor the Graf Zeppelin to the mast during her Round the World cruise in the summer of 1929. Up to the present time no airship has been moored at the Ewa mast.
A report of the Commanding Officer, Naval Air Station, dated February 9, 1931, describes the present condition of the site.
p.108 “MISCELLANEOUS IMPROVEMENTS, EWA MOORING MAST $15,000”
(A) Grounds. The Ewa reservation comprises 206 acres of which approximately fifty acres containing the mooring mast and anchors were cleared and graded by contractor in July, 1925. At that time it was considered unnecessarily expensive to remove loose stones, some of them of large size, on the surface of the ground. Now the previously graded area is covered with algarroba growth to a height of about four or five feet. The algarroba growth must be removed and the stone should be removed in advance of mooring a ship at the mast. Estimated cost $10,000.
b) Communication System. Estimates are ready for the installation of the system whenever the Bureau deems it necessary. Plans call for (1) installation of circuits from railroad track at Ewa to mast; (2) Provision of a telegraph mast; (3) Provision of terminal facilities at the Navy Yard and Naval Air Station for telephone and telegraph and for the remote control of transmitter and receiver at the high power radio station in the yard. The mooring station at Ewa lacks equipment to make it a base of operations for any dirigibles. The unsettled status of that station, and especially of the lease on land, makes it inadvisable to expend any money on its development other than the amount above recommended.
There is no provision, for instance, for housing and maintaining any landing crew. The fire protection is only sufficient for the station as it now stands. If the navy department desires that the mooring mast at Ewa be kept in readiness for use by dirigibles, then the above amounts should be appropriated in order that the landing area be kept clear and available also for a landing field and in order that there may be proper and sufficient communication facilities at hand. There are a number of other items of work which should be carried on at this mast if it is to be made into a regular mooring station. As it stands now it is in the status of an emergency station. Estimated cost $5,000.00.
Honolulu Star Bulletin, December 5, 1931 “Mooring Mast at Ewa to Be Used By Akron”
“Navy Prepares Tower Built for Shenandoah: Men in Charge Experienced”
With the airship Akron apparently scheduled to visit Hawaii, interest of the air minded in the islands has turned again to the mooring mast near Ewa.
Standing in a desolation of keawe, the mooring mast gives the impression of having been neglected and abandoned until one reaches the very foot of the 160-foot steel tower.
But on closer inspection, after one has meandered to the small clearing about the mast, one learns that navy efficiency has not been lacking just because the mooring mast has been idle for six years.
Winches for steadying an airship and hauling her to anchorage can be put in operation on short notice. A generator can be put to work to furnish an airship with electricity; fuel, water and helium lines stand ready for use as soon as the first airship docks.
But the mast as it stands is not sufficient. Soon a contract will be let and the keawe forest will be cleared away for a large area around the mast. Then facilities for handling the world’s greatest airship will be installed and the Ewa mooring mast will be ready to do the job for which it was designed six years ago.
Trained Men There
Lest visitors to the mast should mistake the men they meet there for mere guards, it should be stated here that they are experienced in lighter-than-air work and if one of them is drawn into a conversation he is apt to display a considerable knowledge on the subject. For example, let us introduce to the visitors Chief Boatswain’s Mate J.F. McCarthy.
Mr. McCarthy is in charge of the small detachment at the mooring mast. He has to be asked questions in order to learn things about mooring masts and airships. But most visitors will be able to secure that information for themselves. Here is a little information about Mr. McCarthy himself.
Mr. McCarthy has been 14 years in airship work. He helped handle the British R-38 on one of her early test flights, he was in the Shenandoah when she fell into three pieces and scattered herself over Ohio in 1925 and he has helped build and fly smaller ships since then and instruct other naval air men in that subject.
Mr. McCarthy will never forget the morning of September 3, 1925. For on that morning he was picked up under a black walnut tree near Sharon, Ohio, with his neck badly torn, left collar bone and left arm broken and numerous other injuries.
Mr. McCarthy was in the bow of the great airship when the storm caught her. “We went up three times about a mile each time,” he said, “at the rate of about 80 feet per second. After the third boost the ship shivered and then started to go to pieces.”
Nearly Fell Out
“I was walking along on a catwalk and it went out from under me as the control car was carried away. I grabbed a girder overhead when the catwalk went out with the control car. After losing this weight we started going up at a terrific speed.
“We must have gone up to 13,000 or 14,000 feet when I heard Commander Rosendahl (now commanding the Akron) calling me. He wanted to know who was in my section and I said I was the only one. Then he knew he was in command of the bow of the ship, because he was the highest ranking naval officer there, the captain having fallen in the control car.
“He took charge and we operated as a free balloon, being able to control our vertical movements. We finally came down about 12 miles from the rest of the wreck.
“We almost landed once when we found a farm field that looked good for a crash. But there was a big red barn in the way and we dropped ballast and went over it. But we dragged through a walnut tree beyond and I was swept clear with a section of the ship. I crashed down through the tree and that was all I knew until they told me about it in the hospital.”
Those are just the highlights of Mr. McCarthy’s story. It tells nothing of the horrors they must have endured as the great airship was broken to pieces in the gale when en route from Lakehurst to Minneapolis, Minn.
Still Feels Injuries
Mr. McCarthy had been a navy inspector of construction. He has continued as an instructor at the lighter-than-air school of the navy at Lakehurst and in many other capacities. But he has not been allowed to fly in the larger ships because of the injuries he sustained in the crash of the Shenandoah.
It is fitting that a survivor of this ship should be in charge at the Ewa mooring mast. For the mast was built to accommodate the Shenandoah.
Mr. McCarthy believes that the mast is capable of taking care of the Akron with minor alterations.
Plans for the alterations are in the hands of the public works office at Pearl Harbor. There it was learned that wooden or concrete anchors used for steadying the ship will be replaced but that the balance of the mast is in good condition.
It is probable, navy officials said, that the height of the mast may be reduced and a circular railroad track will be built. This would necessitate the removal of buildings there except the machinery house near the foot of the mast. New quarters for the men stationed at the mast and for the crew of the Akron may be constructed, but plans are still unsettled, it was reported.
Navy engineers estimate it will take six weeks to clear the area within an 800 feet radius of the mast.
Caption of photo:
The Ewa mooring mast, which is being prepared for the visit here of the world’s greatest airship, the Akron, next spring. At the left is the mast from a distance and the inset shows the platform at the top of the mast looking up from the bottom. The circled of flood lights will be noted. Below is Chief Boatswain’s Mate J.F. McCarthy, in charge of the navy men at the mast, and one of his assistants, Charles F. Moore. At the right, Moore begins the 160-foot climb to the top of the mast.
Honolulu Star Bulletin, December 7, 1931 “New Mast for Akron Here is New Navy Plan” “Complete Equipment for Handling Dirigible May be Shipped to Hawaii”
Naval authorities at Washington are contemplating the shipment of a new mooring mast to Hawaii to be used by the Akron during her projected visit to the islands during fleet maneuvers, it was learned today at the office of the commandant, 14th naval district, at Pearl Harbor.
If this is done, naval authorities here indicated, the new mast probably will replace the Ewa mooring mast, which was built in 1925.
The mast, which may be sent here, is of the most modern type, it was stated. It is generally known as a stub mast and includes a “cradle.”
The cradle is a machine on which the airship rests. The machine runs on a circular track about the mast so as to keep it in line with prevailing air currents. The nose of the airship is anchored to the central unit of the mast, which would be much shorter than the Ewa mooring mast.
That Ewa mast was built to moor an airship which would float freely.
Honolulu Advertiser February 14, 1935 Ewa Mast Grooming Called Off
Work on the reconditioning of the mooring mast at Ewa and the temporary quarters which were to house the Macon’s crew during their stay here was ordered discontinued yesterday, pending further orders from Washington, as the result of the dirigible’s crash Tuesday.
Filling and leveling the ground around the mast, however, will continue, it was learned yesterday. The same number of FERA workers will probably continue to work there. The field will be put in condition to make it suitable for emergency airplane landings.
Honolulu Advertiser, February 14, 1935 Zep Buildings Defend Ship After Crash
Akron, O., Feb. 13—Engineers of the Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation, builders of the USS Macon, were at a loss today to account for the collapse of the huge airship.
“Regardless of what happened I stand 100 per cent behind that ship,” said Edgar Everhart, Jr.,--construction expert. “If an engine explosion occurred, as has been reported, the effect would have been the same on any type of aircraft.”
Honolulu Advertiser, February 14, 1935 Injured Officers Tell of Plunge
Lt. Campbell with Wiley in Crashing Ship
By: Lieut G.W. Campbell, Officer of USS Macon
Lieut. Commander Herbert V. Wiley and myself were in the control car when the Macon struck the water last night. We were the last to leave ship.
The Macon was floating on the water when Wiley looked at me and said, “Boy, we’d better jump.” We were wearing rubber lifeboats and plunged into the sea side by side.
I plunged pretty deep and the ship struck me on the head as I came to the surface. I guess I was unconscious for the next thing I remember was when I saw Wiley swimming powerfully 15 feet away.
I had swallowed lots of water and was somewhat dazed. Wiley looked back and noticed I was in bad shape and he swam back and towed me to a life raft 15 feet away.
It took me some time to realize what had happened. It was all pretty hazy at first. I still have a headache from that crack on the head.
Honolulu Advertiser, February 15, 1935 Congress Quiz Follows
Naval Board Hearing
Advocates of Lighter Than Air Craft Doubt Continuation
While officialdom today debated the future of dirigibles for military use, two investigations were started into the crash of the Macon off the coast of California last night, with the loss of two lives. Following a secret conference between Secretary of Navy Claude Swanson and high naval officials, the former announced a naval court of inquiry would convene in two or three days to investigate the disaster. This inquiry probably will decide the fate of future lighter than air craft insofar as the government is concerned.
Immediately following Swanson’s announcement, Chairman Carl Vinson of the House naval affairs committee announced a Congressional investigation of the disaster would begin after the navy’s inquiry is completed. Vinson said he had not yet determined whether his full committee would investigate the crash. He indicated some members of his committee might journey to California to obtain first hand information.
Believe Last Dirigible
The crash of the third and last of the huge dirigibles built by the navy brought forth a wave of Congressional criticism of the practicability of lighter than air craft in military use. It was apparent that for the present at least congress would be in no mood to grant further appropriations for dirigible experiments.
“The navy has not made up its mind as regards the future of dirigibles,” Swanson said after today’s conference. However, he pointed out he had never recommended construction of a dirigible since he became secretary of the navy and still had to be convinced of their practicability.
“Frankly I do not know whether they justify the expenses and accidents,” he said. “We need other things worse, for example, ships and airplanes.’
Swanson indicated that representatives of the Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation, which built the Macon, might be called to testify at the inquiry.
Real Cause Unknown
Rear Admiral Ernest J. King, chief of naval aeronautics, said Rear Admiral Joseph Reeves, commander of the fleet, would be in charge of the navy’s official inquiry into the disaster. The inquiry, King said, probably will meet on a battleship at San Francisco to hear testimony of the 81 survivors of the crash.
Naval regulations require that the court of inquiry consist of three naval officers and an advocate general. One of the officers will be a dirigible expert, King said.
“I am confident there will be ample evidence as to how the accident began and the sequence of facts,” King said. “Whatever happened apparently caused a break up of the ship’s stern, but we yet do not know the original cause.”
King praised the maneuvering of Lieut. Commander Herbert V. Wiley in landing the huge dirigible on the water. He credited Wiley’s performance with saving the lives of 81 of the 83 men aboard the dirigible.
President Studies Case
President Roosevelt, who remained up until a late hour last night to study reports of the crash, said today he had no thought of asking congress to appropriate funds to replace the Macon.
The president said if such money was made available he would prefer construction of 50 long range scouting planes. He pointed out, however, that his attitude does not necessarily mean finish to the development of lighter than air craft in the United States nor a departure from past policy regarding the use of giant dirigibles.
Senator Joe Robinson, Democratic floor leader, was one of the few members of congress not to condemn dirigibles as unworthy of further experimentation. He predicted that work on lighter than air craft would continue despite last night’s disaster.
“I think it is significant that Dr. Hugo Eckener has been operating the Graf Zeppelin so successfully,” Robinson said.
Britten Advocates Halt
Former Representative Fred A. Britten, R., Ill., one of the first advocates of the United States developing the use of dirigibles, expressed doubt whether further experiments should be made.
“I am beginning to wonder if the cost and sacrifice in developing lighter than aircraft is not too great,” he said.
“I thought the United States could compete with Germany in constructing dirigibles, but the coast and sacrifices have been so appalling, I am wondering if we had better not let other nations continue alone.”
However, Britten said it was possible dirigibles may eventually become capable in commercial trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic flying. He said he considered it probably the navy’s dirigible facilities might be turned over to the Department of Commerce for development in ocean flying.
“Sunnyvale might reasonably be developed into the biggest heavier than air base in the world,” he said. “It has all the facilities and would be excellent as a trans-Pacific take off point.”
Senator William H. King, D., Utah, announced tonight he will seek an amendment to the administration’s $4,880,000,000 work relief bill to prevent the use of any funds for military purposes or the construction of dirigibles.
“I am definitely opposed to building such bubbles in view of the Akron and Macon disasters,” he said. “Their only purpose is to please certain manufacturers and a few wild naval officers.”
Sources:
Wikipedia
Lee Gar, Fort Lewis mooring mast researcher
Airships.net
United States Navy archives, Honolulu news archives
M.L. Shettle, United States Marine Corps Airs Stations of World War II
Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society
