Oahu's 8-inch Naval Turret Batteries 1942-1949 - Personal Page of ...

February 2008 The Coast Defense Journal Page 11
Naming the Batteries
On June 12, 1942, Lt. Col. Earl Fielding, AG HSAC, informed the commanders of the North
Shore Groupment and the Harbor Defenses of Kaneohe, Pearl Harbor, and Honolulu Harbor of the
new battery names on Oahu. Amongst the named batteries were Brodie and Opaeula in the North
Shore Groupment; Salt Lake in the HD of Pearl Harbor, and Wilridge in the HD of Honolulu Harbor.
Brigadier General Lyman, the Hawaiian Department engineer, died suddenly of a heart attack on August
11, 1942, two days after his promotion. On September 4, 1942, Fielding wrote Brig. Gen. Hans
Kramer, the new Hawaiian Department engineer, regarding the names of new batteries, armament,
manning personnel, and site coordinates within the HSAC, including the four 8-inch NT batteries.
In 1946, the 8-inch NT Batteries were renamed after deceased officers of the Coast Artillery Corps, as
will be described later.(21)
General Description of the Batteries
Each battery was initially to have its two 8-inch twin-gun mounts some 450 feet apart, on top of
cylindrical concrete-and-steel barbettes designed to withstand the shock of firing. However, the 450
feet between turrets was not strictly adhered to; the only battery that came close to that dimension was
Battery Brodie at 449.79 feet. The distances between gun mounts varied from 482 feet at Salt Lake, to
361 feet at Opaeula, to a minimum of 267 feet at Wilridge.(22) This distance may have been dictated
by local topography.