18.
In 1908 the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard was established. The period from
1908 to 1919 was one of steady and continuous growth of the Naval Station,
Pearl Harbor, with the exception of the discouraging collapse of the
drydock in 1913. Work on the dock started on September 21, 1909 and on
February 17, 1913, the entire drydock structure rumbled, rocked, and caved
in. It was ceremonially opened to flooding by Mrs. Josephus Daniels, wife
of the Secretary of the Navy, on 21 August 1919. The Act of 13 May 1908
authorized the enlargement and dredging of the Pearl Harbor channel and
lochs "to admit the largest ships," the building of shops and supply houses
for the Navy Yard, and the construction of a drydock. Work progressed
satisfactorily on all projects, except the drydock. After much wrangling
with Congress to secure an appropriation of over three million dollars for
its construction, it was wrecked by "underground pressure. " In 1917, Ford
Island in the middle of Pearl Harbor was purchased for joint Army and Navy
use in the development of military aviation in the Pacific.