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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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MCAS Kaneohe Bay
Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay or MCAS Kaneohe Bay (IATA: NGF, ICAO: PHNG, FAA LID: NGF) is a United States Marine Corps (USMC) airfield located within the Marine Corps Base Hawaii complex, formerly known as Marine Corps Air Facility (MCAF) Kaneohe Bay or Naval Air Station (NAS) Kaneohe Bay. It is located two miles (3 km) northeast of the central business district of Kaneohe, in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. The airfield has one runway (4/22) with a 7,771 x 200 ft (2,369 x 61 m) asphalt surface.

History

Fort Hase and NAS Kaneohe Bay

The United States Army acquired 322 acres (1.30 km) of the peninsula when President Woodrow Wilson signed executive order 2900 establishing the Kuwaaohe Military Reservation. Little is known about the operations of the fort, however, at the end of World War I, the military property was leased for ranching. In 1939, Kuwaaohe was reactivated, subjected to many name changes to include Camp Ulupa’u, and eventually named Fort Hase.

Prior to and during World War II, Fort Hase grew from a humble beginning as a defense battalion to a major unit of the Windward Coastal Artillery Command. U.S. Navy planners began to eye the peninsula in 1939 as the home of a strategic seaplane base. They liked the isolated location, the flat plains for an airfield and the probability of flights into prevailing trade winds. In 1939, the Navy acquired 464 acres (1.88 km) of the peninsula for use of the PBY Catalina patrol seaplanes for long-range reconnaissance flights. One year later, the Navy owned all of the Mokapu Peninsula except for Fort Hase. In 1939 the Navy awarded a base construction contract to the Pacific Naval Air Base Contractors consortituim (PNABC). Most of the original contract work at Kaneohe had been completed when the Navy transferred what was undone to the Seabees of the 56th Naval Construction Battalion on 1 April 1943. The 112th CB was tasked with adding a second runway 400' x 5,000' to the airfield. That was completed by the men of the 74th CB.

During the 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor, portions of Hangar 1 were destroyed. In 1987, the hangar and five sea plane ramps were designated a National Historic Landmark.

7 December 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the air station minutes prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Of the 36 Catalinas stationed here, 27 were destroyed and six others were damaged, along with 18 sailors who perished in the attack. The first Japanese aircraft destroyed in action were shot down at Kaneohe, along with Aviation Ordnanceman Chief Petty Officer John William Finn becoming one of the first Medal of Honor recipients of World War II for valor on that day.

During the war, the air station was a major training base in the Pacific Theater. The Fleet Gunnery School trained thousands of Navy gunners. There was a school for celestial navigation, sonar, aircraft recognition, and turret operations. Flight instructors also trained Navy and Marine Corps aviators in flight operations prior to being sent to a forward combat area. Following the war, Fort Hase had become a skeleton outpost and the air station consisted of limited air operations, a small security detachment, and a federal communications center.

In November 1958 the first of the Pacific Missile Impact Location System for the Navy's Pacific Missile Range (PMR) was operational at the station to monitor Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) test impacts northeast of Hawaii.

Marine operations

President Richard Nixon shaking hands with Senator Hiram Fong prior to departing for Guam from Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Base on February 20, 1972

In 1949, the Navy decommissioned the air station. On 15 January 1952, the U.S. Marine Corps recommissioned the idle airfield Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, making it an ideal training site for a combined air/ground team. Station Operations and Headquarters Squadron supported flight operations until 30 June 1972, when Station Operations and Maintenance Squadron (SOMS) was commissioned in its place. SOMS served until it was disbanded on 30 July 1994. Marine Corps Air Facility Kaneohe Bay was formed on that date and continues today to serve the operational needs of the aviation community.

On 28 May 1987, the station was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places and a National Historic Landmark, in recognition of its role in World War II.

Following the 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission decision to close Naval Air Station Barbers Point, the base acquired four Navy P-3 Orion patrol squadrons and one SH-60 Seahawk anti-submarine squadron in 1999. By 2020 the Navy had transitioned to the P-8 and the P-3C squadrons were retired at Kaneohe. Today there are almost 10,000 active duty Navy and Marine Corps personnel there, directed by Marine Aircraft Group 24.

The installation was re-designated as an Air Station (vice an Air Facility) in May 2009. At the same time, the airfield was named for Major general Marion Eugene Carl, and the USMC announced that new squadrons would be stationed there.

On 15 January 2016, two Marine helicopters from the air station collided over the North Shore of Oahu, leaving twelve U.S. Marines missing and feared dead.

Based units

Flying and notable non-flying units based at MCAS Kaneohe Bay.

United States Marine Corps

Marine Corps Installations – Pacific

1st Marine Aircraft Wing

United States Navy

Accidents and incidents

The aftermath of the accident
  • 20 November 2023 - A Boeing P-8A Poseidon assigned to the VP-4 suffered a runway excursion and came to rest in Kāneʻohe Bay after attempting to land on runway 22. All nine occupants onboard escaped without any injuries. The aircraft received substantial damage, and was later recovered and stored on site.

Insignia

  • Old MCAS Kaneohe Bay insignia
    Old MCAS Kaneohe Bay insignia
  • Old MCAS Kaneohe Bay patch
    Old MCAS Kaneohe Bay patch

See also

References

  1. ^ "PHNG Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps Air Station (Marion E Carl Field)". Airnav.com. 21 May 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  2. ^ Hawaii NHL Kaneohe Naval Air Station. File Unit: National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: Hawaii, 1964 - 2013. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  3. ^ MCAS Kaneohe Bay Archived 2010-12-21 at the Wayback Machine, official website, retrieved 2011-4-11
  4. ^ FAA Airport Form 5010 for NGF PDF, effective 2007-10-25
  5. ^ Building the Navys Bases in World War II, History of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and Civil Engineering Corps, 1940-46, Chapter XXII, Pearl Harbor, part 1, Oahu, p.[1]
  6. ^ Subcommittee on Military Construction (March–April) (29 April 1959). Military Construction Appropriations for 1960: Hearings. pp. 169–170. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  7. ^ Subcommittee on Military Construction (May) (20 May 1959). Military Construction Appropriations for 1960: Hearings. pp. 818, 824. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Air Station Salutes". Hawaii Marine. Vol. 11, no. 2. Marine Corps Base Hawaii. 13 January 1982. p. 4. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  9. ^ "Kaneohe Naval Air Station". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 1 March 2007. Retrieved 4 July 2008.
  10. ^ "NPS Form 10-900: National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 17 June 1986. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  11. ^ "NPS Form 10-900; attached photos". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 17 June 1986. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  12. ^ "K-Bay gets new name, status". Honolulu Advertiser. Marine Corps Times. 25 May 2009. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  13. ^ "12 feared dead in military helicopter crash in Hawaii". United Press International. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  14. ^ Kaminski, Tom (2021). "US Marine Corps Aviation / US Navy Aviation". US Navy & Marine Corps Air Power Yearbook 2021. Key Publishing. pp. 104–115. ISBN 978-1-913870-13-3.
  15. ^ "LIVE UPDATE: Large military aircraft overshoots runway, ends up in Kaneohe Bay". www.hawaiinewsnow.com. 21 November 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  16. ^ "Accident Boeing P-8A Poseidon 169561, Monday 20 November 2023". asn.flightsafety.org. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
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