Bibliographic details and abstracts are available to all. Downloads of full-text dissertations are restricted to University of Portsmouth members who must login. MPhils may be accessed by all.

Abstract

This paper examines the brief organizational life of the Royal Hawaiian Navy, its influences, the failure of its only mission undertaken by His Hawaiian Majesty’s Ship Kaimiloa, and its impact on cultural history.  In 1887, a failed attempt was made by the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii to employ a navy to augment relations with other Polynesian peoples across the Pacific in the wake of colonial expansion by European nations and the United States.  The Royal Hawaiian Navy was influenced by David Kalakaua, the last king of Hawaii, and a controversial American migrant to the islands called Walter Murray Gibson.

Employing a synthesis of analyzing contemporary newspaper reports from the period, secondary research, and government records, this paper reviews critical studies that are relevant to the topic of the dissertation as a whole.  Included among the considerations regarding the origins of the Royal Hawaiian Navy are the impact of Kalakaua’s world travels, his interactions with other monarchs and naval officials, and details regarding the navy of King Kamehameha the Great, who united the islands of Hawaii.  The experiences of Walter Murray Gibson, Prime Minister of Kalakaua’s government from 1882-1887, who was the driving force behind the acquisition of HHMS Kaimiloa, and his motivations for acquiring Kaimiloa are also examined.  Of important note during the voyage of Kaimiloa was the ouster of Gibson, the new constitution Kalakaua was forced to sign following an armed rebellion, and the impact this ultimately had on the Kingdom of Hawaii.  Finally, the remarkable connection between the 1887 voyage of HHMS Kaimiloa to Samoa with the ancient Hawaiian performance art of hula will be discussed with consideration given to the potential impact that naval history may have on culture and its history.

Course: Naval History - MA - C2457P

Date Deposited: 2024-10-23

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis14474.html