Battery Closson (Honolulu, Hawaii)

 military, fortification, artillery battery, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places

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Constructed between 1907 and 1916, Battery Closson was completed with a pair of M1888 12in artillery pieces that were casemated behind a 20ft thick reinforced concrete walls which themselves were shielded by 30ft of sloped earth. In service barely four years before its main armament was made obsolete by advancing artillery technology, the battery was equipped with more modern M1895 12in guns that were mounted on a new barbette carriage that could traverse a full 360 degrees, allowing the battery to engage targets anywhere within its 17-mile range.

Augmented with the addition of two anti-aircraft mounts during the 1920's, Battery Closson was eventually casemated again to protect from air attack as a result of the December 7th, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. With its main guns vulnerable to from strafing and bombs, Battery Closson's AA battery nevertheless successfully downed a Japanese "Zero" fighter, the first of its kind to fall into US hands in the conflict.

Remaining operational through the end of the Second World War, Battery Closson was deactivated and disarmed following the war and remains in a largely sealed-off and disused state. The Battery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.