U.S. MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, HANGAR HASS Hl-311-Q NO. 101 AND HANGAR NO. 102 HABS Hl-311-Q Honolulu County Hawaii PHOTOGRAPHS WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA REDUCED COPIES OF MEASURED DRAWINGS FIELD RECORDS HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY PACIFIC WEST REGIONAL OFFICE National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior 333 Bush Street San Francisco, CA 94104 HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY . rtfft1\¢'<, , ;,.,~::p~~ U.S. MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, HANGARS 101 AND 102 HABS No. Hl-311-Q Location: Restricted. The two hangars, 101 and 102, are located on the Mokapu Peninsula on the windward side of Oahu, Hawaii, on present-day Marine Corps Base {MCB) Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay. The locations of the two hangars are restricted pending concurrence of the owner to release the building locations to the public. MCB Hawaii is located near Hawaii. Present Owner: U.S. Marine Corps Present Use: Aircraft Hangar Significance: Hangars 101 and 102 at MCB Hawaii are significant for their association to American military history and architecture. First, the two buildings are part of the U.S. military and economic expansion into the Pacific region starting in the 1930s and early 1940s to counter the Japanese Empire. The hangars are associated with the Hepburn Board's recommendation, and the U.S. Navy's implementation of those recommendations, for the development of a naval air base at Kaneohe Bay on Oahu for five patrol squadrons to relieve overcrowding of aircraft at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor {the only permanent naval air station in Hawaii). Second, the hangars are part of the Navy's aviation infrastructure that developed during World War II, and NAS Kaneohe Bay was developed to field primarily the Consolidated Patrol Boat Y {PBY) Catalina and other patrol bombers to maintain control of the shipping lanes of the Pacific. Hangars 101 and 102 were built to house and repair the station's Catalina aircraft. Third, the design of Hangars 101 and 102 represent the distinctive characteristics of the standardized B-M Seaplane Hangar type constructed in the U.S. military buildup before and during World War II. As part of the 1940 Naval Appropriations Act, the Navy contracted with the Albert Kahn, Inc. architectural firm to produce standardized plans for landplane and seaplane hangars. The distinctive characteristics, design, and materials used in the construction of Hangars 101 and 102 are an expression of Kahn's standardized seaplane hangar work are excellent examples of his military hangar design. Fourth, Hangar 101 is directly connected to the Japanese attack on 7 December 1941. The targeting of NAS Kaneohe, the near complete destruction of Hangar 101 in the Japanese attack of 7 December 1941, and the subsequent repair and reconstruction of Hangar 101 are associated with the United States' entry into World War II, a major event that has contributed to the broad pattern U.S. MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, HANGARS 101 AND 102 HABS No. HI‐311‐Q (Page 2) of U.S. history. Additionally, the repairs and reinforcement to Hangar 101 embody the military’s construction and design response to the attack of 7 December 1941. Hangar 101 was bombed and nearly destroyed during the attack and is a contributing element to the NAS Kaneohe Bay National Historic Landmark (NHL) at MCB Hawaii. Both Hangars 101 and 102 are determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) as contributing elements to the NAS Kaneohe Bay Historic Aviation District. Historians: Geoff Mohlman, MA; David Crowell, MS; and Travis Fulk, MA, SEARCH, February 2015. Project The Historic American Buildings Survey team for this project included Geoff Information: Mohlman, MA; David Crowell, MS; John Cullinane, AIA; and Travis Fulk, MA, all of whom work for SEARCH. The team also included Dennis Hirota, PhD, PE, LPLS, of Sam O. Hirota, Inc., and David Franzen of Franzen Photography. Geoff Mohlman, David Crowell, and Travis Fulk served as the historians for the project; Dennis Hirota served as the Engineer and Surveyor; and David Franzen served as the photographer. Part I. Historical Information A. Physical History 1. Date(s) of erection: 1940, Maintenance Hangar (102); 1940‐41, Hangar 101; 1941‐ 42, Hangar 101 Repair; 1941‐42, Maintenance Hangar (102) Expansion1 2. Architect: Albert Kahn, Inc.2 (presently Albert Kahn Associates) 3. Original and subsequent owners, occupants, uses: The two hangars were originally utilized by the U.S. Navy from 1940‐41 to 1952. The buildings were transferred to the U.S. Marine Corps in 1952 and remain in its stewardship today. The buildings were originally used as seaplane hangars, and subsequent use has them still serving their original function as aircraft hangars but now for fixed rotor aircraft. 4. Builder, contractor, suppliers: Contractors Pacific Naval Air Bases (CPNAB)3 1 Bureau of Yards and Docks, Maintenance Hangar, Elevations, December 9, 1939, drawing no. 136477; Environmental Compliance and Protection Department, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Historic Building Inventory: World War II Era Buildings Aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay (August 2011), 49‐52. 2 Bureau of Yards and Docks, Maintenance Hangar, Elevations, December 9, 1939, drawing no. 136477; Environmental Compliance and Protection Department, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Historic Building Inventory: World War II Era Buildings Aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay (August 2011), 49‐52. 3 Anthony, Hawaii Under Army Rule. U.S. MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, HANGARS 101 AND 102 HABS No. HI‐311‐Q (Page 3) 5. Original plans and construction: Albert Kahn Inc.’s Maintenance Hangar plans were approved in December 1939, and CPNAB began construction in 1940. The date of the plans for Hangar 101 is not known; however, CPNAB began construction in 1940. The Maintenance Hangar (102) and Hangar 101 were completed by December 1941, prior to the Japanese attack. Both hangars were based on the standardized Type B‐ M Seaplane Hangar, although the Maintenance Hangar (102) was designed and built at roughly quarter‐scale to be easily expanded to a full‐size B‐M Seaplane Hangar. Because the standardized B‐M plans and Hangar 101 plans could not be located and compared, it is not known if there were any variations to the standardized design outside of the approximate quarter‐scale version of the Maintenance Hangar (102). The hangars were built in a line parallel to the seaplane ramps along Kaneohe Bay with the hangar door openings perpendicular to the bay. Parking, taxiways, and paved areas surrounded the hangars. Hangar 101 was based on standard B‐M Seaplane Hangar design of a rectangular, steel‐frame building around a central, single open hangar bay flanked by two‐story lean‐tos on the northeast and southwest sides of the hangar. Overall hangar dimensions of the B‐M Seaplane Hangars were 320'‐0" x 240'‐0", and the open hangar bay was created by the clear span, flat gabled trusses at an interior height of 38'‐0". The flat gabled roof was a built‐up composite roof topped by the two distinctive sawtooth monitors. There were large, horizontal‐rolling, hangar doors on the southeast and northeast sides of Hangar 101. The hangar doors were made up of steel‐frame door panels with two rows of steel‐sash panel windows. There were large rectangular hangar door storage bays on the north, east, south, and west corners of the hangar. Steel‐sash window panels clad the first and second floors’ exterior of the lean‐tos, and the rest of the exterior was clad in asbestos‐protected metal panels, scheduled on the original plans as mansard protected metal. The original design of the Maintenance Hangar (102) was a rectangular‐plan, steel‐ frame building with a central open bay and flanked by one‐story lean‐tos on the northeast and southwest side of the hangar. The overall dimensions of the hangar and lean‐tos was 158'‐2" x 110'‐0" and 45'‐0" high. The Maintenance Hangar (102) roof had a low‐pitch shed roof, later expanded to a flat gable, with a built‐up composite roof. There was a large, horizontal‐rolling, hangar door with steel‐sash panel windows and a large rectangular hangar door storage at the north corner on the northwest side. Steel‐sash panels clad the exterior lower third of the hangar and lean‐tos. Corrugated asbestos or asbestos‐coated corrugated metal clad the hangar door storage and the upper third of the hangar covering the steel trusses. The monolithic floor was reinforced poured concrete. Scuttles topped the hangar door storage bay. 6. Alterations and additions: Both hangars have undergone major alterations since the original construction, ranging from the rebuilding of Hangar 101 to the expansion of U.S. MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, HANGARS 101 AND 102 HABS No. HI‐311‐Q (Page 4) Hangar 102. Although the hangars have been extensively altered on the interior and exterior, the massing of the buildings remains essentially unchanged. With the exception of the center administration areas and enclosed second floor lean‐tos, the interior layout of the rooms and door openings remain largely intact since the original construction. a. Hangar 101 The first significant alterations to Hangar 101 were the repairs and reinforcement of the structure following the Japanese attack in 1941. Much of the steel framing was reused through straightening, patching, and adding additional steel for rigidity, such as the built‐up lattice box beams on the center columns. The steel columns in the hangar, and steel‐sash window headers and sills in the lean‐tos, were encased in concrete. The floors and roof decks in the lean‐tos were replaced with poured concrete slab floors and roof decks, and new interior and exterior walls, windows, and doors were installed throughout the hangar.