Peshawar Lancers Redux: Kingdom of Hawaii Revised

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chris N

The records that the young teacher had come across clearly indicated that Hawaii in the late 1850s was in a period of growth. King Kamehameha III had been pushing the country through a lot of improvements. Healthcare had been one of those important areas that he knew needed to be improved. The King supported the establishment of a hospital nearly 20 years before and had pushed things forward. The result was the Polynesian population had reversed its decline and had in fact grown. The Number of Doctors and nurses had also massively increased> The Monarchy had supported the establishment of the Royal College of Hawaii and one of the schools was that of Medicine. Still it would be another 18 years before the University of Hawaii was formed.
The Hawaii of the 1850s was a country doing a balancing act. It attempted to balance the Great Powers off against one another. There were immigrants from Europe , the United States and even Asia. The King and his supported like Walter Gibson , Charles Bishop struggled to modernize the country and sought to provide it with resources.
Just before America started its slide into the Great Struggle over Slavery. The King created the beginnings of a Navy for much like Great Britain Hawaii was heavily dependent upon trade and that trade came aboard Merchant ships.
 

chris N

Having a family that played a role in the growth of the Kingdom meant that the young teacher had access to documents and journals that others had not seen. He checked the Naval Academy for additional information and was surprised to read
stuff that had never been made public. Former British and American Naval officers had played a role in shaping the development of the Royal Hawaiian Navy. But what role did the King and people like Walter Gibson and others play in the development of the military and of the government. Hawaii seemed to be a mixture of the British and American system. The Upper Chamber of the Hawaiian legislature was a development based upon the Hawaiian chiefs and Nobility but if not for the establishment of a first rate medical system it might not have happen. Indeed the growth of the Polynesian Population after a period of medical disasters caused by contact with the arrival of Europeans was nothing short of a miracle.
 

chris N

It appeared from the records that the first warships purchased by the Hawaiian Government were British built gunboats. The government bought three of the vessels and had two larger vessels built locally. The Royal Hawaiian Naval Academy was first started to be built in 1856 in Hawaii using Hawaiian building Materials. The first class of Midshipmen started their education the same year and in 1861 the first class was graduated. The Royal Hawaiian Navy acted as both an armed forces branch of the Hawaiian Military and as a coast guard. It wasn't long before the American Civil War spilled over into the Pacific and the Hawaiian Navy had to insure that no vessel was attacked in Hawaiian waters.
 

chris N

Records indicated that the Royal Hawaiian Navy patrolled the sea lanes. When One of its vessels went into a possible Combat action it would raise a really large Hawaiian Flag from its Mast. The Navy wasn't looking for trouble but it would protect shipping in Hawaiian waters or bound for Hawaii.
 

chris N

The Royal Hawaiian Navy clearly showed that it would not accept either Confederate nor Union Naval vessels bringing the war into Hawaiian Waters. While the Kings sympathy was clearly with the United States the Government of Hawaii preferred to remain neutral. Its Navy patrol ed and prevented attacks on Union Merchant ships near Hawaii and within sight of its warships. Hawaii set up a claim to Midway Island and began construction of an outpost there for its Navy.
By 1864 it was clear that the Confederacy was losing the war and in 1865 a Confederate Warship pulled into Hawaiian waters and surrendered to the Hawaiian Authorities. The Ship was taken over by the Royal Hawaiian Navy and a Marine Guard detachment was assigned to protect it from anyone.
 

chris N

By 1865 the Royal Hawaiian Navy was beginning to come together. The Midshipmen had risen to the rank of Ensign and had discovered that there was a lot of hard work ahead for then still by 1865 some had been promoted to Lt Jg and the Navy now had a very large warship in its hands. It was clear that the records of the time indicated that the United States did attempt to claim the ship but that Hawaii made a case that it had been turned over to them.
 

chris N

Hawaii was undergoing a lot of changes Honolulu was seeing a lot of rebuilding as the infrastructure was improved and modernized. It was clear that some of those that were supporters of the monarchy were also believers in a Greater Hawaii but Hwaii was in noway ready to do anything. Yet an event was to happen which would cause a massive lose of life and devastation to civilization. This event would come to be know as The Fall. It would alter things for many and change the destiny of Hawaii.
 

chris N

From what young Christopher Kamehameha found in the records Hawaii was struggling to find something that would allow it to grow economically. Unfortunately the islands had little in the way of natural resources. It had to import almost everything that it needed. The growth of the Hawaiian Navy had spurred the growth of shipbuilding industry and of some ability to manufacture but even so the records were clear that there was a need to import raw materials. The Post Civil War period in the United States saw a lot of former Southern Soldiers and sailors looking for work. Some of them found jobs in Hawaii. In particular those people were men who had been involved in the construction of things like warships and artillery.
 

chris N

Still in the period from 1865-1870 Hawaii saw a lot of growth. The city of Honolulu began a series of improvements which would continue over the next 25 years > The Pineapple business continued to grow Abandon whalers were broken up and the Royal Hawaiian Constabulary became a well trained law enforcement organization in the islands. Then came the big event known as The Fall. It effected everything in the world. Some believed it was the end of the world but people like the King and the Prime Minister saw it as a call to arms Walter Gibson saw a chance to make a difference and when new of the disaster and its impact reached Hawaii the King and Government decided that rather than sticking there heads in the sand to act.
 

chris N

The Impact of the Fall was devastation on a scale never seen before. Cities were destroyed and tidal waves altered the landscape of Europe, North America and parts of Africa and Asia. The death total was beyond belief but that was just the start of it a winter like no other forced the resettlement of the population. Britain and its resources were struggling to evacuate the British isles as fast as possible so there was no help for Canada and the Caribbean. Hawaii heard the call for help and its Merchant Marine and Navy moved to help. Hawaiian Marines need to go to maintain order. Ships sailed from Vancouver to Hawaii. For some it was just the first step in a long trip
 

chris N

Prime Minister Walter Gibson , with the permission of the King declared a state of Emergency. Hawaii made several agreements to protect other islands and landed troops on them. The Royal Hawaiian Constabulary was ordered to increase its force from 500 men to more than 1200 officers. The Royal Hawaiian Navy went back to its strength during the American Civil War and began to look at building larger ships.
 

chris N

The Royal Hawaiian Navy began to check on other Polynesian islands in view of The Fall. The Spanish Garrison on Guam was replaced by an Hawaiian one and the soldiers sent to the Philippines.
 

chris N

Hawaii used the post Fall period to fill the vacuum left by the need of Britain to spend all of its energies moving the population from Great Britain to South Africa and India. The Royal Navy resources were tight that thus Hawaii's help was deeply appreciated by the British Imperial Government. The Hawaiian co-operated with the Australian and New Zealand Colonial governments to prevent piracy and threats to marine shipping.
 

chris N

Charles Bishop was the Hawaiian Secretary of State. He was quite busy attempting to pull the various parts of the Polynesian Peoples together under Hawaii's leadership. He and the diplomatic corp were busy working with the Australian, New Zealanders, Canadians as well as forging agreements with The Central American Republic. For people like Mr Dole who had hoped to unite Hawaii with the United States the Fall was something that had crushed that dream forever. Indeed the Monarchy and the emerging National Conservative Party had move the country on a path that while it had much risk also had a lot of Opportunity . Hawaii was going to help Britain by filling some of the gaps in the Pacific. Britain had stretched itself to its limits and the Royal Navy just wasn't big enough to meet all of the demands on it. Thus the assistance of the Royal Hawaiian Navy was welcomed. Britain now formally recognized the Kingdom of Hawaii and moved to establish an Embassy and sent a Naval and Army group to help co-ordinate things. ( This was something that had remained secret for a time and Christopher Kamehameha II was anxious to look through the files to see how far it went)
 
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