The Decades of derussy: 1920-1930

Throughout the 1920s, Fort DeRussy transformed from marshlands into a bustling military post.

The Army Corps of Engineers used silt from dredging Pearl Harbor to fill in the marshes and historic Kalia fishing ponds. The Territory of Hawaii completed similar fill projects nearby to raise “low, marshy, and unsanitary” coastal areas. As the lands continued to take shape, Fort DeRussy became a primary site for training the Army’s Coastal Artillery Corps.

The aerial image below shows Fort DeRussy in 1928, with channels dug out of the coral in order to float the 14-inch guns in on barges. USAMH 6241 

The influx of soldiers to the islands necessitated training areas unique to the duties of Coastal Artillery units. The above image is a temporary training center built in 1915 on Fort DeRussy. In 1920, Engineers erected barracks buildings for the recruit training center at a cost of $32,000. The training consisted of a one-month long intensive orientation into the role of coastal defense in Hawaii for newly arriving soldiers. It remained in operation until early 1942. 

USAMH 802

A Non-Commissioned Officers’ School opened in 1920 with the capacity to instruct seventy-five students over the course of a three-month period. The curriculum was specifically targeting NCOs within the Coastal Artillery Corps.

A photo collage for the Non-Commissioned Officers’ School at Fort DeRussy. USAMH 140

The daily operations of a coastal artillery battery involved a large team of soldiers. Officer and Senior enlisted positions included: Fire Commander, Communication Officer, Battery Commander, Range Officer, and Emplacement Officer.

Each gun emplacement had an additional twenty-nine enlisted men in the gun detachment, thirteen men in an ammunition detachment, and a reserve unit. Individual assignments ranged from operating the rammer, breech, hoist to delivering the 14-inch projectile.

Below is the rammer detail as they push the projectile forward off the ammunition truck and into its seat in 1921. USAMH 135

By 1929, the maximum range for Battery Randolph increased to over 12 miles, thanks in part, to tweaking each carriage elevation to 20 degrees. As Fort DeRussy entered 1930, it solidified into a premier destination for training, coastal defense, and recreation