Battery Hawkins

 (1914-1943) - Battery Hawkins was a reinforced concrete, Taft Period 3 inch coastal gun battery on Fort Kamehameha, Honolulu County, Hawaii. The Battery was named in G.O. 72, 1913, for Brigadier General Hamilton S. Hawkins, Commandant of Cadets at West Point (1888-1892) who served in the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865) and Spanish American War (1898). Battery construction started in December 1912, was completed in March 1914 and transferred to the Coast Artillery for use 6 Mar 1914 at a cost of $ 22,200. Deactivated in 1943.

Taft Period (1905-1915)
Originally built as a Taft Period concrete coastal gun battery with two 3" M1903 guns mounted on M1903 Barbette carriages. This was a two story battery with the guns located on the upper level and the magazines below. Shells were moved from the magazine level to the gun loading platform by hand. No shell or powder hoists were provided. Electrical power was furnished by the emplacement power plant.



World War I (1917-1918)
The guns of were not affected by the World War I redistribution or the following 1920 disarmament program.

World War II (1941-1945)
Battery Hawkins was a part of the Harbor Defenses of Pearl Harbor plan throughout World War II. When the war ended the battery was declared surplus. The guns and carriages were processed for salvage on 7 Nov 1945.

Current Status
Repurposed battery buildings now on Hickam Air Force Base, Honolulu, Hawaii. No period guns or mounts in place.

Sources:
 * Grobmeier, Alvin H., Officers of the U.S. Army and Others in Honor of whom Coast Artillery Forts and Batteries in Hawaii Have Been Named, CDSG News, Vol. 6, No. 4 (Nov. 1992), pp. 66-67

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