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Fort DeRussy is a
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
military reservation A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and Military operation, operations. A military base always provides ...
in the
Waikiki Waikiki (; haw, Waikīkī; ; also known as Waikiki Beach) is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Waikiki is most famous for Waikiki Beach, which is one of six beaches in the district ...
area of
Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...
, under the jurisdiction of the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
. Unfenced and largely open to public traffic, the installation consists mainly of landscaped greenspace. The former Battery Randolph now houses the U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii, which is open to the public. The
Hale Koa Hotel The Hale Koa Hotel, which means ''House of the Warrior'' in Hawaiian, is an Armed Forces Recreation Center (AFRC) resort hotel located on Waikiki Beach and owned by the United States Department of Defense. It sits on the southeast corner of For ...
, an
Armed Forces Recreation Center Armed Forces Recreation Centers (AFRCs) are a chain of Joint Service Facility resorts hotels owned by the United States Department of Defense to provide rest and relaxation in the form of lodging and outdoor recreation for United States military s ...
, and the Daniel K. Inouye
Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies The Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS) is a U.S. Department of Defense institute that officially opened Sept. 4, 1995, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Center addresses regional and global security issues, inviting militar ...
are also located on Fort DeRussy.


History

The property was once owned by Chinese millionaire merchant
Chun Afong Chun Afong (; 1825 – September 25, 1906) was a Chinese businessman and philanthropist who settled in the Hawaiian Kingdom during the 19th century and built a business empire in Hawaii, Macau and Hong Kong. He immigrated to Hawaii from Guangd ...
, who built a villa on the three acres of landscaped grounds. Afong used this property to host parties and receive royal guests, dignitaries, diplomats, military officers and others. He sold the property in 1904 to the
United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...
for $28,000; the Army constructed Batteries Randolph and Dudley (no longer extant). High Chiefess
Elizabeth Kekaʻaniau Pratt Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sc ...
and her husband Franklin Seaver Pratt may have also owned property on the site called Bath Villa. Fort DeRussy in Honolulu is one of five Forts DeRussy in the United States. There is one in
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, one in
Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
, and one in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
: these four were all built during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. This one was named for General
René Edward De Russy René Edward De Russy (February 22, 1789 – November 23, 1865) was an engineer, military educator, and career United States Army officer who was responsible for constructing many Eastern United States coastal fortifications, as well as some fort ...
(1789–1865), who supervised military fort construction and was also Superintendent of West Point during his career. Coming as children with their family to the United States as refugees from
Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to refer ...
(now Haiti), both René and his younger brother
Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...
grew up in Virginia and graduated from the
United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...
at West Point. At advanced ages, both served during the American Civil War: René on the Union side and Louis in the Confederate Army, the oldest West Point graduate to serve in it. Located on
Waikiki Beach Waikiki (; haw, Waikīkī; ; also known as Waikiki Beach) is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Waikiki is most famous for Waikiki Beach, which is one of six beaches in the district ...
, near Oahu's historic
Royal Hawaiian Hotel The Royal Hawaiian Hotel is a beachfront luxury hotel located in Waikiki in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. It is part of The Luxury Collection brand of Marriott International. One of the first hotels established in Waikiki, the Royal ...
and the
Moana Hotel The Moana Hotel is a historic hotel building in Honolulu, Hawaii, located at 2365 Kalākaua Avenue in the Waikiki neighborhood. Built in the late 19th century as the first hotel in Waikiki, the Moana opened in 1901. It is listed on the National Re ...
, the former Shore
Battery Randolph Fort DeRussy is a United States military reservation in the Waikiki area of Honolulu, Hawaii, under the jurisdiction of the United States Army. Unfenced and largely open to public traffic, the installation consists mainly of landscaped greenspac ...
was used as a site for servicemen on Rest and Recuperation (R&R) during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. Fort DeRussy was one of a number of shore batteries on the island of Oahu originally designed to provide coastal defense. Due to the increased effectiveness of air attacks, most of the guns on these sites were retired during the early 1950s. The 14-inch guns of Shore Battery Randolph were fired once in a practice shortly after the
Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...
. This resulted in shattering many of the windows in the Royal Hawaiian and Moana hotels, and the guns were not fired again.


Active facilities

Official military facilities include the Daniel K. Inouye
Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies The Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS) is a U.S. Department of Defense institute that officially opened Sept. 4, 1995, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Center addresses regional and global security issues, inviting militar ...
, the Fort DeRussy Chapel, and the
Hale Koa Hotel The Hale Koa Hotel, which means ''House of the Warrior'' in Hawaiian, is an Armed Forces Recreation Center (AFRC) resort hotel located on Waikiki Beach and owned by the United States Department of Defense. It sits on the southeast corner of For ...
, a
Morale, Welfare and Recreation Morale, Welfare and Recreation, abbreviated MWR, is a network of support and leisure services designed for use by U.S. servicemembers (active, Reserve, and Guard), their families, military retirees, veterans with 100 percent service-connected disab ...
facility.


U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii

The U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii is housed inside Battery Randolph, a former
coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of c ...
battery. Battery Randolph was constructed in 1911 to defend
Honolulu Harbor Honolulu Harbor, also called ''Kulolia'' and ''Ke Awa O Kou'' and the Port of Honolulu , is the principal seaport of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii in the United States. From the harbor, the City & County of Honolulu was developed and urbanized ...
on
Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...
from attack, and was equipped with two 14-inch guns on disappearing carriages, with a range of about . It was named for Maj Benjamin H. Randolph (who died 1907). The museum's collection contains some
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
armor pieces, an
AH-1 Cobra The Bell AH-1 Cobra is a single-engined attack helicopter developed and manufactured by the American rotorcraft manufacturer Bell Helicopter. A member of the prolific Huey family, the AH-1 is also referred to as the HueyCobra or Snake. The A ...
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
, and small arms indoors, as well as the battery itself. The exhibits cover the history of US Army warfare in the Pacific hemisphere and admission is free. It is located on Kalia Road, coordinates . Another installation of two 6-inch guns was called Battery Dudley, named for Gen. Edgar S. Dudley (died 1911). The "Artillery District of Honolulu" (state historic site 80-13-1382) was added to the
National Register of Historic Places listings in Oahu __NOTOC__ This is a list of properties and districts on the Hawaiian island of Oahu that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Oahu is the only major island in Honolulu County. The location of the city of Honolulu, Oahu is the m ...
on June 5, 1984.


Army museums

:''See: National Museum of the United States Army#Other Army museums''


See also

* 16th Coast Artillery (United States)


References


Further reading

*


External links


US Army Museum of Hawai'i
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Derussy Military Reservation Geography of Honolulu Museums in Honolulu Military and war museums in Hawaii Buildings and structures in Honolulu Coastal artillery D Waikiki DeRussy 1911 establishments in Hawaii Military installations established in 1911 National Register of Historic Places in Honolulu