Hundreds of native Hawaiian men partook in a tug-of-war with a ship that had run aground where the Wa’oli River meets the sea.
The year was 1824, and the vessel in distress was King Kamehameha II’s luxury yacht, Ha’aheo o Hawai’i.
The men, dressed in malo (loincloths) and lined up in steady formation, pulled in unison on three thick, handmade hau ropes tied to the ship’s mainmast. They strained against the weight of the 192-ton ship. They had been tasked with uprighting the vessel, also known as the ‘Pride of Hawai’i,’ under the direction of one of Kaua’i’s chiefs, Kia’imakani, who sang to the men as they pulled.
Visitors from the mainland United States might know this highly distinguished yacht as Cleopatra’s Barge, out of Salem, Massachusetts, the first deep-water, luxury yacht ever built in America.
In 1815, George Crowninshield commissioned Retire Becket, a well-known Salem shipbuilder, to build the first deep-water yacht in the history of the United States. Retire Becket’s ships were masterpieces and were usually attributed with being the first to accomplish great feats. Cleopatra’s Barge was considered the first American yacht. Just a year later, Cleopatra’s Barge was completed and launched, attracting thousands of spectators. In 1818, the ship was dismantled, interior furnishing removed, re-rigged as a brig, a two-masted, square-rigged ship with an additional gaff sail on the mainmast, and sold at auction.
In November 1820, the ship arrived in Hawai’i via Captain John Sutter. Liloliho purchases the brig and cargo for piculs of sandalwood weighing over one million pounds (a picul is an East Asian measurement of 133.33 pounds used in the absence of Hawaiian money). The value would be close to $80,000 at the time. Sandalwood was the Kingdom Chiefs’ largest trade export. Liholiho gives the ship its new name, “HA’aheo o Hawai’i” (Pride of Hawai’i).
In late July 1821, Liholiho (Kamehameha II) made a surprise and dangerous crossing of the Kaua’i Channel from Honolulu. The young king made a hasty decision to sail on the voyage, apparently to shore up his control of Kaua’i and to direct its future by meeting with Kaumuali’i, King of Kaua’i and Ni’ihau. Liholiho invited Kaumuali’i on board Ha’aheo o Hawai’i for an hour one morning, and as soon as they were well-seated in the cabin, Liholiho secretly gave orders to have the anchor hoisted and to sail away for O’ahu, thus making a captive of his royal guest! ’
This was seen as a royal kidnapping of Kaumuali’i. Thus, ending the ancient rule of Kaua’i by a resident ali’i nui (supreme ruler of the island). Now the island of Kaua’i, along with neighboring Ni’ihau, was in the firm grip of the Kamehameha kingdom, ruled from the faraway Hawaiian Island of O’ahu.
In April 1824, Ha’aheo o Hawai’i anchored on the east side of Hanalei Bay. It lost anchor in a strong wind current and drifted across the bay to the mouth of Waioli Stream on the west side of Kaua’i’s Hanalei Bay. It slid into the surrounding reef. Days later, several hundred native Hawaiians attempted to free the ship using several thousand yards of hau (a variety of hibiscus) rope cable. The main mast broke, and the quest to salvage the ship ended. Cannons and other items were managed to be taken off Ha’aeho o Hawai’i. It was reported in the Hae Hawai’i (Hawaiian-language newspaper) that the Pride of Hawai’i was wrecked.
The wreck still lies buried under a deep layer of sand just outside the mouth of Waioli Stream in Hanalei Bay.
In 1994, Paul Johnston, the maritime curator at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., was issued the only underwater archaeology permits ever issued by the State of Hawai’i. Johnston’s excavation began in Hanalei Bay in 1995 and continued through the year 2000. Johnston was able to bring up artifacts from Ha’aheo o Hawai’i.
In 2015, Paul Johnston’s illustrated book, Shipwrecked in Paradise: Cleopatra’s Barge in Hawai’i. was published.
The Kaua’i Museum collaborated with the Smithsonian Institute in displaying in their main hall artifacts from the 1824 shipwreck at Hanalei Bay of the brig Ha’aheo o Hawai’i, the royal yacht of Liholiho (Kamehameha II), and the ruler of the Kingdom of Hawai’i. The Ha’aheo o Hawai’i exhibit is a significant addition to the Kauai Museum. Each artifact is a treasure; each piece tells a great story.
The artifacts are displayed front and center in protective cases lined with red velvet. Each piece has a story. A bilge pump, for example, indicates that indoor plumbing was present on the ship.
Other items include a tampion, a cylindrical wooden pin used to plug cannons. The device prevented sea spray from infiltrating heavy artillery, which was likely used for ceremonial purposes to announce the ship’s arrivals and departures.
No treasure chests of gold or silver were discovered, but visitors can see many other signs of affluence, like hand-painted cobalt blue porcelain bowls from the Chinese Ming dynasty, and an ornamental copper relief of Cupid, likely used to adorn furniture.
Lead musket balls, a powder flask, silverware, and a folding pocketknife are among the objects from Ha’aheo o Hawai’i.
Today, the Ha’aheo o remains in its final resting place in this bay, reburied deep within the sand by excavators. On a clear day, its shape can be seen from the air, a physical trace of historic Hawai’i.
