Fort William Rufus



Fort William Rufus was an artificial island made of concrete, situated west over Keehi Lagoon towards the entrance of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It's fire-power consisted of two twelve inch guns and numerous three-inch anti-aircraft guns. It was constructed by the British in order to protect the Harbor from enemy attack, and named after the English king, William 2nd. However, because of it's all concrete casing, it was known universally by it's nick-name, “The Concrete Battleship.”

In 1914, the US Navy attacked Hawaii and successfully captured the islands. However, the suborn resistance it's British garrison prevented the US from fully utilising the harbor. Unfortunately, while the fort was invulnerable to direct assault, it had no anti-personal defences. After taking out one of the three-inch anti-aircraft guns on the forts stern, a combined US Marine, army and engineer force successfully approached it, and poured a volatile mixture that was two parts heavy diesel oil, and one part gasoline down the forts ventilation shafts.

After attaching explosives to the shafts, they withdrew and blew them up, destroying the fort in a titanic blast.