07 December 1941
Located at the epicenter of military operations in the Pacific, Ford Island was the place both Army and Navy units called home. The island, which sat directly in the mouth of Pearl Harbor, was once a sugar plantation, but sold to the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1916. In 1919, the U.S. War Department divided the Ford Island into two sections, one for each military branch. While the U.S. Army Air Force continued to use the runways on the island, the U.S. Navy would use the southeastern portion of the island as a submarine and battleship maintenance grounds.
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Construction on the island continued from 1919-1939, and in
1940, the area around the island was dredged to allow battleships and aircraft carriers
entrance into the channel. The extra soil was used to increase the size of Ford
Island by more than 100 acres.
Even with all this activity, Ford Island was still a small
plot of land, measuring 1 mile long by 1.5 miles wide. Still, this would allow
the airfield to be extended, as well as the construction of a new control
tower, repair hangar, barracks, and other buildings for general use.
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The continued growth of Ford Island made it a valuable asset
to the U.S. presence in the Pacific. For that reason, the Imperial Japanese
Navy felt that attacking Ford Island was their highest priority. They
considered a surprise attack their best means to cripple the U.S. Nayv and
allow the Japanese freedom in the western Pacific, where they were at war with
China, Australia, and Great Britain.
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