Lahaina Roads
Encyclopedia
Lahaina Roads, also called the Lahaina Roadstead is a channel of the Pacific Ocean
in the Hawaiian Islands
. The surrounding islands of Maui
, and Lānai
(and to a lesser extent, Molokai
and Kahoolawe
) make it a sheltered anchorage.
Through the 1940s, Lahaina Roads was as an alternative anchorage to Pearl Harbor. While planning for the attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Japanese planners hoped that some significant units would be at anchor there because with Lahaina's deep water, those elements of the Pacific Fleet in all likelihood would never have been recovered.
It is located around the area 20°52′0"N 156°44′0"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.
The name is also used for a vacation condominium
complex in Lahaina.
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
in the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
. The surrounding islands of Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
, and Lānai
Lanai
Lānai or Lanai is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is also known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation. The only town is Lānai City, a small settlement....
(and to a lesser extent, Molokai
Molokai
Molokai or Molokai is an island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is 38 by 10 miles in size with a land area of , making it the fifth largest of the main Hawaiian Islands and the 27th largest island in the United States. It lies east of Oahu across the 25-mile wide Kaiwi Channel and north of...
and Kahoolawe
Kahoolawe
Kahoolawe is the smallest of the eight main volcanic islands in the Hawaiian Islands. Kahoolawe is located about seven miles southwest of Maui and also southeast of Lanai, and it is long by wide, with a total land area of . The highest point on Kahoolawe is the crater of Lua Makika at the...
) make it a sheltered anchorage.
Through the 1940s, Lahaina Roads was as an alternative anchorage to Pearl Harbor. While planning for the attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Japanese planners hoped that some significant units would be at anchor there because with Lahaina's deep water, those elements of the Pacific Fleet in all likelihood would never have been recovered.
It is located around the area 20°52′0"N 156°44′0"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
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
in 1941. Scout planes were dispatched from the fleet, and I class submarines were sent to Lahaina Roads to reconnoiter the anchorage.
The name is also used for a vacation condominium
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
complex in Lahaina.