Return to THE US SUBMARINER MEMORIAL BUILDINGS & STRUCTURES PROJECT


HOLMES HALL
University of Hawaii at Manoa HI

From the USSVI Webmaster::

The entries in the NAMES PROJECT are for Buildings and Structures that are named for those who were affiliated in some manner with our submarine force. Most are for the obvious heroes such as Morton, Breault, Cromwell etc.. In any case each entrant was connected to the sub service and each had something named in his honor/memory.

As I understand it the naming of HOLMES HALL in-fact had nothing to do with W. J. Holmes' submarine service. Nevertheless Holmes' WWII contribution plus his previous submarine duties in the 1930s certainly make HOLMES HALL an appropriate and worthy addition to the USSVI NAMES PROJECT.

Sid Harrison - 2003

Encouraging the inclusion of HOLMES HALL
14 Feb 2003

Excerpt of the E-Mail from Bill Whalen (Cold war submarine Quartermaster) that prompted me to research the web for more information and images about W. J. (Jasper) Holmes)

I've been re-reading SILENT RUNNING, and have been following the lead contained in that book to Wilfred Jay Holmes (or Jasper Holmes).

Holmes was mentioned in the book's timeframe as a former submarine skipper who was working in intelligence in the Pacific -- he was instrumental in the Yamamoto shoot-down, Battle of Midway, etc.

Holmes wrote under the pen name Alec Hudson. He wrote many stories for the Saturday Evening Post*. You might recognize his most famous work among bubbleheads: UP PERISCOPE!

Anyway, the point of this e-mail is that... here's a building named for a submariner, but not because he was a submariner. Even so, I think it should be included in the listing.

Bill Whalen

More...

Excerpt of a June 1999 internet posting made by a retired Navy Officer

Frank,

I was quite interested to see your plug for Capt. Holmes book about intelligence in the Pacific Theater. Holmes was one of my father's best friends out here in Honolulu. They served at the Sub Base together until medical problems prevented Holmes from continuing sea duty. (Time frame 1933-1935. Dad was skipper of the S-46 at the time.)

During that period, Captain Holmes began to write a series of novelettes that were published in the Saturday Evening Post. Several of them were about a theoretical way for a foreign power to attack the US, through Pearl Harbor. In short, they were a presage to WW-II. Jasper (as he was known to all) Holmes literally charted the war that was to come six years later.

Incidentally, all of his stories were illustrated by Anto Otto Fisher, one of the greatest sea life painters of all time (in my opinion).

Later, after his distinguished wartime service as Chester Nimitz' right hand intelligence officer, Captain Holmes was instrumental in raising the caliber of the University of Hawaii's Engineering Department to front line academic stature. Holmes Hall, the Department's primary building, bears continuing testimony to the magnificent triad of this fine officer's remarkable career. He was everything that I would characterize as a great man.

Just some footnotes to your interest in his book.

Lowe Bibby
Commanding Officer, USS BLENNY SS-324 1964-1966.
Kailua, HI USA
Saturday, June 26, 1999 at 18:13:55 (PDT)

Bibby source: http://www.webenet.net/~ftoon/memory/guestbook97-99.html

Holmes Hall

Holmes Hall houses the College of Engineering at University of Hawaii at Manoa, and is named after Wilfred Jay Holmes, Senior Professor Emeritus of Engineering and Mathematics and the First Dean of the College of Engineering. Groundbreaking for the building took place on November 3, 1969 and was completed and occupied in mid-1972. http://www.bookstore.hawaii.edu/manoa/main/allsites.asp

Click thumbnail
for full image

  The sculpture in the foreground, the Gateway of Hope, was made from three-eights of an inch thick steel plates that were cut, rolled and welded together.

http://www.hawaii.edu/uhimages/gallery.html

http://www.eng.hawaii.edu/Holmes/about.html

Capt W. J. Holmes, USNR (RET) AOIC JICPOA

Communications Intelligence Unit Pearl Harbor (1929-1947)
Navy Photos provided by the Rear Admiral J. N. Wenger,
Naval Security Group Command Display, Pensacola, FL.

Image and text: http://www.anzwers.org/free/navyscpo/frupac_history_1.html


Post WWII "Up Periscope Seminar" - Held at Nimitz Musuem Fredicksburg,Texas
W. J. Holmes' son (Eric) was in attendence as were many well known WWII Submarime figures).     Copied from Saga Stories published in Polaris as presented in the website of Paul Wittmer a WWII Submarine Veteran   Wittmer's Table of Contents


"The birth and history of Supplementary Radio Unit Pacific 1929-1947"

Source: Supplementary RADIO UNIT, COMMANDANT, NAVY 128,
CO FLEET POST OFFICE, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.
SECRET LETTER JSH/J1 File A-3(I) SERIAL Z-006094 of 8 January 1946.
Subj: Frupac History

http://www.anzwers.org/free/navyscpo/hawaii_intro.html

FRUPAC - U.S.Fleet Radio Unit Pacific


Excerpt from Remarks as delivered by Admiral Thomas B. Fargo
Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet
CPF Intelligence/Cryptology Dedication Ceremony Pearl Harbor, Hawaii\
June 1, 2001

As we know it today, the Japanese used a separate code table to conceal geographic locations. While cryptanalysts in Washington, the Philippines and Hawaii were all convinced that intercepted Japanese communications indicated a forthcoming major Japanese offensive, there was significant disagreement over the intended target. In order to prove to the doubters in Washington, CDR Jasper Holmes devised a plan to prove that the Japanese Code designation AF (Alpha Foxtrot) was indeed Midway Atoll. CDR Holmes convinced CDR Layton to approach Admiral Nimitz with a plan to prove that Station HYPO's cryptanalytic methods were correct.

Source: http://www.cpf.navy.mil/speech/speeches/010601intel.htm


LINKS shown below contain misc. references to W. J. Holmes
or to the WWII Cryptologic/Intel. efforts

  • http://www.anzwers.org/free/navyscpo/hawaii_intro.html
  • http://www.anzwers.org/free/navyscpo/SUPRADPAC.gif
  • http://www.anzwers.org/free/navyscpo/wahiawa_introduction.html
  • http://www.anzwers.org/free/navyscpo/Command_Display_main_room_4.html
  • http://www.usncva.org/clog/smok_jkt.html
  • http://www.gopusa.com/ww2/2002/ww2_0612p.shtml
  • http://www.usncva.org/clog/midway.html
  • http://www.worldwar2history.info/Midway/ambush.html
  • http://www.artn.nwu.edu/midway/phil.html
  • http://www.cpf.navy.mil/speech/speeches/010601intel.html
  • http://www.anzwers.org/free/navyscpo/Command_Display_main_room_4.html
  • http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0870211625/theintelligepageA/102-1632039-4290535
  • Yamamoto Shootdown    From U S Navy in the Pacific War 1941-1945
  • http://www.simonsays.com/excerpt.cfm?isbn=0743217349
  • http://www.authorlink.com/ss204bat_x.html
  • http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=30826932407858
  • http://www.maritime.org/ecm2.htm

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