Lahaina Roads
Lahaina Roads, also called the Lahaina Roadstead[1] is a channel of the Pacific Ocean in the Hawaiian Islands. The surrounding islands of Maui, and Lānaʻi (and to a lesser extent, Molokaʻi and Kahoʻolawe) make it a sheltered anchorage.
Through the 1940s, Lahaina Roads was an alternative anchorage to Pearl Harbor.[2][3] While planning for the attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Japanese planners hoped that some significant units would be at anchor there. With Lahaina's deep water, any elements of the Pacific Fleet that were sunk there in all likelihood would never have been recovered. It is located around the area 20°52′0″N 156°44′0″W / 20.86667°N 156.73333°W, off the coast of the town of Lahaina.
The possibility that elements of the Pacific Fleet would be at Lahaina Anchorage was taken seriously in the plan of the Kido Butai (the Japanese naval strike force) for the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Scout planes were dispatched from the fleet, and I class submarines were sent to Lahaina Roads to reconnoiter the anchorage.[4]
The name is also used for a vacation condominium complex in Lahaina.[5]
References
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Lahaina Roadstead
- ^ Paul Stillwell (1991). Battleship Arizona: an illustrated history. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-023-5.
- ^ Paul Stillwell (1981). Battleship Air raid, Pearl Harbor!: recollections of a day of infamy. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-086-0.
- ^ James F. DeRose (2000). Unrestricted warfare: how a new breed of officers led the submarine force to victory in World War II. J. Wiley. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-471-38495-3.
- ^ "Lahaina Roads Condos, Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii". Aloha Condos Maui. Retrieved 2010-01-11.
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