Lahaina Roads, also called the Lahaina Roadstead is a channel of the Pacific Ocean in the Hawaiian Islands. The surrounding islands of Maui, and Lānaʻi (and to a lesser extent, Molokaʻi and Kahoʻolawe) 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 / 20.866667°N 156.733333°W / 20.866667; -156.733333Coordinates: 20°52′0″N 156°44′0″W / 20.866667°N 156.733333°W / 20.866667; -156.733333, 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.
Famous quotes containing the word roads:
“Lift your eyes
Where the roads dip and where the roads rise
Seek only there
Where the grey light meets the green air
The hermit’s chapel, the pilgrim’s prayer.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)