97-710: Eastern Island may refer to: An islet in Midway Atoll , US Minor Outlying Islands An islet in Palmyra Atoll , US Minor Outlying Islands See also [ edit ] Easter Island , the Chilean island in the Pacific Ocean East Island (disambiguation) [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with
194-462: A Europe first stance, giving first priority to defeating Nazi Germany. The Japanese had great difficulty replacing their losses in ships and aircraft, while American factories and shipyards produced ever increasing numbers of both. Fighting included some of the largest naval battles in history and massive Allied air raids over Japan , as well as the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki . Japan surrendered unconditionally on 15 August 1945 and
291-568: A National Historic Landmark . As part of the Base Realignment and Closure process, the Navy facility on Midway has been operationally closed since September 10, 1993. However, the Navy assumed responsibility for cleaning up environmental contamination. The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11 caused many deaths within the bird community on Midway. It was reported that
388-781: A bombing of the city of Darwin on 19 February, which killed at least 243 people. At the Battle of the Java Sea in late February and early March, the IJN defeated the main ABDA naval force, under Admiral Karel Doorman . The Dutch East Indies campaign ended with the surrender of Allied forces on Java and Sumatra. In March and April, an IJN carrier force launched a raid into the Indian Ocean . British Royal Navy bases in Ceylon were hit and
485-465: A floating dry dock joined the tender. After the Battle of Midway, a second airfield was developed on Sand Island. This work necessitated enlarging the island through landfill techniques that, when completed, more than doubled its size. From August 1, 1941, to 1945, U.S. military forces occupied Midway. In 1950, the Navy decommissioned Naval Air Station Midway , only to re-commission it again to support
582-435: A shield volcano , perhaps as large as the island of Lanai . As the volcano piled up, lava flows built the island, its weight depressed the crust, and the island slowly subsided for millions of years, a process known as isostatic adjustment . As the island subsided, a coral reef around the former volcanic island could maintain itself near sea level by growing upwards. That reef is now over 516 ft (157 m) thick (in
679-404: A tropical savanna climate ( Köppen As ) with very pleasant year-round temperatures. Rainfall is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, with only one month (June) having an average annual precipitation of less than 60 mm (2.4 in). Midway has no indigenous inhabitants and was uninhabited until the 19th century. The atoll was sighted on July 5, 1859, by Captain N.C. Brooks, of
776-584: A 1.5 m (4.9 ft) -tall wave completely submerged the atoll's reef inlets and Spit Island, killing more than 110,000 nesting seabirds at the National Wildlife Refuge . Scientists on the island, however, do not think it will have long-term negative impacts on the bird populations. A U.S. Geological Survey study found that the Midway Atoll, Laysan, and Pacific islands like them could become inundated and unfit to live on during
873-525: A U. S. Navy base not part of the State of Hawaii, Midway was a separate country for amateur radio purposes. During this era, there were two main amateur radio stations: KM6BI on Sand Island and KM6CE on Eastern Island. Many other amateurs operated under callsigns from their quarters. They all provided a vital link to home via messages and phone patches. From 1958 through 1960, the United States installed
970-566: A broad ocean area system for good positions outside the target area, was installed at Midway as part of the system supporting Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) tests. Other Pacific MILS shore terminals were at the Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay supporting Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) tests with impact areas northeast of Hawaii and the other ICBM test support systems at Wake Island and Eniwetok . Eastern Island Eastern Island
1067-500: A defensive perimeter to absorb and defeat Allied counterattacks; Japanese decisonmakers believed such a military situation would lead to a negotiated peace that would preserve Japanese territorial gains. Japanese planning divided the early war into two operational phases. The First Operational Phase was further divided into three separate parts in which the major objectives of the Philippines, British Malaya, Borneo, Burma, Rabaul and
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#17327658027971164-746: A four-month campaign. The Japanese achieved major military victories, but world opinion—in particular in the US—was hostile to Japan's invasion, especially after the Panay incident . In addition, the Japanese had failed to destroy the Chinese army, which continued to resist from the new Nationalist capital in Chongqing , or in the case of the Communists, Yan'an . In 1939, Japanese forces tried to push into
1261-559: A halt. The Japanese media, influenced by military propagandists, began to refer to the embargoes as the " ABCD line " ("American-British-Chinese-Dutch"). The Japanese Imperial General Headquarters (GHQ) began planning for a war with the Western powers in April or May 1941. Japan increased its naval budget and placed large formations of the Army, along with their attached air components, under
1358-475: A major armed clash in January 1941 , effectively ending their co-operation. Japanese strategic bombing efforts mostly targeted large Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Wuhan , and Chongqing , with around 5,000 raids from February 1938 to August 1943. Japan's strategic bombing campaigns killed between 260,000 and 350,934 non-combatants . As early as 1935, Japanese military strategists had concluded that
1455-539: A major naval battle near Midway resulted in the U.S. Navy inflicting a devastating defeat on the Imperial Japanese Navy . Four Japanese fleet aircraft carriers , Akagi , Kaga , Hiryū and Sōryū , were sunk, along with the loss of hundreds of Japanese aircraft, losses that the Japanese Empire would never be able to replace. The U.S. lost the aircraft carrier Yorktown , along with
1552-699: A military alliance with Germany and Italy, becoming one of the three main Axis Powers . The war entered a new phase with Japanese defeats at the Battle of Suixian–Zaoyang , the 1st Battle of Changsha , the Battle of Kunlun Pass and the Battle of Zaoyi . After these victories, Chinese nationalist forces launched a large-scale counter-offensive in early 1940; however, due to a lack of military-industrial capacity, they were repulsed in late March 1940. In August 1940, Chinese communists launched an offensive in Central China ; in retaliation, Japan instituted
1649-598: A number of its carrier- and land-based aircraft that were either shot down by Japanese forces or bombed on the ground at the airfields. The Battle of Midway was, by most accounts, the beginning of the end of the Imperial Japanese Navy's control of the Pacific Ocean. Starting in July 1942, a submarine tender was always stationed at the atoll to support submarines patrolling Japanese waters. In 1944,
1746-481: A rough, incomplete circle around the two main islands and creating Midway Lagoon is Spit Island, a narrow reef . Roughly equidistant between North America and Asia, Midway is the only island in the Hawaiian Archipelago that is not part of the state of Hawaii . Unlike the other Hawaiian islands, Midway observes Samoa Time ( UTC−11:00 , i.e., eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time ), which
1843-620: A small boat to seek help. On 19 December, four of the men perished when the boat was upset in the breakers off of Kauai . The survivor reached the U.S. Consulate in Honolulu on Christmas Eve . Relief ships were despatched and reached Kure Atoll on 4 January 1871. The survivors of the Saginaw wreck reached Honolulu on 14 January 1871. In 1903, workers for the Commercial Pacific Cable Company took up residence on
1940-474: Is a 2.4 sq mi (6.2 km ) atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the United States and is an unorganized and unincorporated territory. The largest island is Sand Island, which has housing and an airstrip. Immediately east of Sand Island, across the narrow Brooks Channel, is Eastern Island, which is uninhabited and no longer has any facilities. Forming
2037-837: Is also used, referring to the period from the Mukden Incident of 1931 through 1945. The major Allied participants were China , the United States and the British Empire . China had already been engaged in a war against Japan since 1937 . The US and its territories, including the Philippine Commonwealth , entered the war after being attacked by Japan . The British Empire was also a major belligerent consisting of British troops along with colonial troops from India as well as from Burma , Malaya , Fiji , Tonga ; in addition to troops from Australia , New Zealand and Canada . The Dutch government-in-exile (as
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#17327658027972134-712: Is one hour behind the time in the Hawaii–Aleutian Time Zone used in Hawaii. For statistical purposes, Midway is grouped as one of the United States Minor Outlying Islands . The Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge , encompassing 590,991.50 acres (239,165.77 ha) of land and water in the surrounding area, is administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The refuge and surrounding area are part of
2231-539: Is roughly equidistant between North America and Asia and lies almost halfway around the world longitudinally from Greenwich , England. It is near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, 1,310 miles (2,110 km) northwest of Honolulu , Hawaii, and about one-third of the way from Honolulu to Tokyo , Japan. Unlike the rest of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands , Midway is not part of
2328-886: The Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theater , was the theater of World War II that was fought in eastern Asia, the Pacific Ocean , the Indian Ocean , and Oceania . It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the Pacific Ocean theater , the South West Pacific theater , the Second Sino-Japanese War , and the Soviet–Japanese War in the last few months of the war. The Second Sino-Japanese War between
2425-807: The Declaration by United Nations on 1 January 1942, the Allied governments appointed the British General Archibald Wavell to the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM), a supreme command for Allied forces in Southeast Asia. This gave Wavell nominal control of a huge force, albeit one that was thinly spread across a vast area, from Burma to the Philippines to northern Australia. Other regions, including India, Hawaii, and
2522-687: The Empire of Japan and the Republic of China had been in progress since 7 July 1937, with hostilities dating back to 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria . However, it is more widely accepted that the Pacific War itself began on 7 December (8 December Japanese time) 1941, when the Japanese simultaneously attacked American military bases in Hawaii , Wake Island , Guam , and the Philippines ,
2619-772: The Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge and the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. In 2007, the Monument's name was changed to Papahānaumokuākea ( Hawaiian pronunciation: [ˈpɐpəˈhaːnɔuˈmokuˈaːkeə] ) Marine National Monument. The National Monument is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the State of Hawaii. In 2016, President Barack Obama expanded
2716-753: The Khmer Issarak , and the Hukbalahap . The Soviet Union fought two short, undeclared border conflicts with Japan in 1938 and again in 1939 , then remained neutral through the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact of April 1941, until August 1945 when it (and Mongolia ) joined the rest of the Allies and invaded the territory of Manchukuo , China, Inner Mongolia , the Japanese protectorate of Korea and Japanese-claimed territory such as South Sakhalin . Mexico provided air support in
2813-729: The Korean War . Thousands of troops on ships and aircraft stopped at Midway for refueling and emergency repairs. Midway Island was a Naval Air Facility from 1968 to September 10, 1993. With about 3,500 people living on Sand Island, Midway supported the U.S. troops during the Vietnam War . In June 1969, President Richard Nixon met South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu at the Officer-in-Charge house, also known as "Midway House". Amateur Radio Because of its particularly remote location and political status as
2910-1016: The Kwantung Army to oversee its occupation of Manchukuo and the China Expeditionary Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War, created the Southern Expeditionary Army Group at the outset of its conquests of South East Asia. This headquarters controlled the bulk of the Japanese Army formations which opposed the Western Allies in the Pacific and South East Asia. In 1931, without declaring war, Japan invaded Manchuria , seeking raw materials to fuel its growing industrial economy. By 1937, Japan controlled Manchuria and
3007-559: The Martin M-130 flying boats operated by Pan American Airlines . The M-130s island-hopped from San Francisco to the Republic of China , providing the fastest and most luxurious route to the Far East and bringing tourists to Midway until 1941. Only the wealthy could afford the trip, which in the 1930s cost more than three times the annual salary of an average American. With Midway on the route between Honolulu and Wake Island ,
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3104-727: The Missile Impact Location System (MILS) in the Navy-managed Pacific Missile Range, later the Air Force-managed Western Range , to localize the splashdowns of test missile nose cones. MILS was developed and installed by the same entities that had completed the first phase of the Atlantic and U.S. West Coast SOSUS systems. A MILS installation, consisting of both a target array for precision location and
3201-652: The Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS), Naval Facility (NAVFAC) Midway Island, to track Soviet submarines. The facility became operational in 1968 and was commissioned on January 13, 1969. It remained secret until its decommissioning on September 30, 1983, after data from its arrays had been remoted first to Naval Facility Barbers Point, Hawaii, in 1981 and then directly to the Naval Ocean Processing Facility (NOPF) Ford Island, Hawaii. U.S. Navy WV-2 In 1978,
3298-654: The South West Pacific . US sources refer to two theaters within the Pacific War: the Pacific theater and the China Burma India Theater (CBI). However, these were not operational commands. In the Pacific, the Allies divided operational control of their forces between two supreme commands, known as Pacific Ocean Areas and Southwest Pacific Area . The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) did not integrate its units into permanent theater commands. The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), which had already created
3395-622: The Soviet Far East . They were defeated in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol by a mixed Soviet and Mongolian force led by Georgy Zhukov . This caused the Japanese to abandon attempts to expand to the north , while Soviet aid to China ceased as a result of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact. In September 1940, Japan decided to invade French Indochina , which was controlled at the time by Vichy France . On 27 September Japan signed
3492-773: The Thai government signed an armistice and entered an alliance with Japan. Although Japan declared war on the United States and the British Empire , the declaration was not delivered until after Japanese forces had already struck British and American targets. In the early hours of 7 December (Hawaiian time), carrier-based Japanese aircraft launched a surprise, large-scale air strike on the U.S. Pacific Fleet's anchorage at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, which knocked eight American battleships out of action, destroyed 188 American aircraft, and killed 2,403 Americans. The Japanese believed that
3589-427: The sealing ship Gambia . The islands were named the "Middlebrook Islands". Brooks claimed Midway for the United States under the Guano Islands Act of 1856, which authorized Americans to occupy uninhabited islands temporarily to obtain guano . There is no record of any attempt to mine guano on the island. On August 28, 1867, Captain William Reynolds of USS Lackawanna formally took possession of
3686-458: The " Three Alls Policy " ("Kill all, Burn all, Loot all") in occupied areas, killing at least 2.7 million civilians. By 1941 the conflict had become a stalemate. Although Japan had occupied much of northern, central, and coastal China, the Nationalist Government had retreated to the interior and set up a provisional capital at Chongqing , while the Chinese communists remained in control of base areas in Shaanxi . Japanese offensive action against
3783-589: The 200 species of plants on Midway, 75 percent are non-native. Recent efforts have focused on removing non-native plant species and re-planting native species. Lead paint on the buildings posed an environmental hazard ( avian lead poisoning ) to the albatross population of the island. In 2018, a project to strip the paint was completed. Pacific War Allied occupation of Japan Second Sino-Japanese War Taishō period Shōwa period Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups The Pacific War , sometimes called
3880-452: The 21st century, due to increased storm waves and rising sea levels . Midway was designated an overlay National Wildlife Refuge on April 22, 1988, while still under the primary jurisdiction of the Navy. From August 1996, the general public could visit the atoll through study ecotours . This program ended in 2002, but another visitor program was approved and began operating in March 2008. This program operated through 2012, but
3977-422: The Allied embargo. This was known as the Southern Plan . It was decided—because of the close relationship between the U.K. and the U.S., and the belief that the U.S. would inevitably become involved in the ongoing war in Europe—that Japan would also seize the Philippines, Wake Island and Guam . Japan had initially planned for a limited war, where Japanese forces would seize key objectives and then establish
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4074-414: The Allies staging areas from which to mount a counteroffensive. By November 1941 these plans were mostly complete, and were modified only slightly over the next month. Japanese military planners' expectation of success rested on the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union being unable to effectively respond to a Japanese attack because of the threat posed to each by Nazi Germany; in particular, the Soviet Union
4171-417: The Americans, faced with such a sudden and massive blow to their naval power in the Pacific, would agree to a negotiated settlement. However, American losses were less serious than initially thought: the three American aircraft carriers were at sea during the attack, and vital naval infrastructure, Honolulu's submarine base, and signals intelligence units were unscathed. The fact that the bombing happened while
4268-406: The British colonies of Malaya , Singapore , and Hong Kong , and invaded Thailand . The Pacific War saw the Allies pitted against Japan, the latter aided by Thailand and to a lesser extent by the Axis powers , Germany and Italy . The Japanese achieved great success in the initial phase of the campaign, but were gradually driven back using an island hopping strategy. The Allies adopted
4365-449: The Chinese 38th Division, led by Sun Li-jen . Meanwhile, in the Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road , the Japanese captured Toungoo after hard fighting and sent motorized units to capture Lashio . This cut the Burma Road , which was the western Allies' supply line to Chinese Nationalist troops. Many of Chinese troops were forced either to retreat to India, or withdraw in small parties to Yunnan . Accompanied by large numbers of civilian refugees,
4462-429: The Dutch East Indies were, due to their abundant oil reserves, crucially important for further expansion by the Japanese Empire. By 1940 the Japanese also included Indochina, Malaya, and the Philippines within their concept of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Japanese troop build-ups in Hainan, Taiwan, and Haiphong were noted in foreign media, Japanese military officers were increasingly and openly talking about
4559-428: The Dutch East Indies would be occupied. The Second Operational Phase called for further expansion into the South Pacific by seizing eastern New Guinea, New Britain, Fiji, Samoa, and strategic points in around Australia. In the Central Pacific, Midway Island was targeted, as were the Aleutian Islands in the North Pacific. Japanese strategists believed that the seizure of these key areas would provide defensive depth and deny
4656-416: The FWS closed all airport operations on November 22, 2004, public access to the island was restored in March 2008. Eastern Island Airstrip is a disused airfield used by U.S. forces during the Battle of Midway. It is mostly constructed of Marston Mat and was built by the United States Navy Seabees . Despite being located at 28°12′ N, which is north of the Tropic of Cancer , Midway Atoll has
4753-500: The IJN and IJA launched simultaneous surprise attacks on the United States and the British Empire on 7 December (8 December in Asia/West Pacific time zones). The locations of this first wave of Japanese attacks included the American territories of Hawaii, the Philippines , Guam , and Wake Island and the British territories of Malaya , Singapore , and Hong Kong . Concurrently, Japanese forces invaded southern and eastern Thailand and were resisted for several hours, before
4850-459: The Japanese puppet states of Manchukuo (consisting of most of Manchuria ), and the collaborationist Wang Jingwei regime (which controlled the coastal regions of China), respectively. Japan conscripted many soldiers from its colonies of Korea and Taiwan . Collaborationist security units were also formed in Hong Kong , Singapore , the Philippines , the Dutch East Indies , British Malaya , British Borneo , former French Indochina (after
4947-563: The Japanese on 15 February 1942. About 130,000 Indian, British, Australian and Dutch personnel became Japanese prisoners of war. Bali and Timor fell in February. The rapid collapse of Allied resistance left the "ABDA area" split in two. Wavell resigned from ABDACOM on 25 February, handing control of the ABDA Area to local commanders and returning to the post of Commander-in-Chief, India . Meanwhile, Japanese aircraft had all but eliminated Allied air power in Southeast Asia and were carrying out air attacks on northern Australia , beginning with
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#17327658027975044-449: The Japanese rose, Midway was deemed second only to Pearl Harbor in importance to the protection of the U.S. West Coast . Airstrips, gun emplacements, and a seaplane base quickly materialized on the tiny atoll. The channel was widened, and Naval Air Station Midway was completed. Midway was also an important submarine base. On February 14, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8682 to create naval defense areas in
5141-488: The Navy downgraded Midway from a Naval Air Station to a Naval Air Facility, and many personnel and dependents began leaving the island. With the war in Vietnam over and with the introduction of reconnaissance satellites and nuclear submarines, Midway's significance to U.S. national security was diminished. The World War II facilities at Sand and Eastern Islands were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 28, 1987, and were simultaneously added as
5238-440: The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and added the Office of Hawaiian Affairs as a fourth co-trustee of the monument. The so-called Gooney monument shown in the image was carved from a 30-foot (9.1 m) mahogany log as a personal project by a U.S. Navy dental officer stationed on the island. The project began in 1949. The statue was 11 feet (3.4 m) tall and stood for 40 years before succumbing to termite damage. It
5335-461: The State of Hawaii due to the Hawaiian Organic Act of 1900 that formally annexed Hawaii to the United States as a territory, which defined Hawaii as "the islands acquired by the United States of America under an Act of Congress entitled 'Joint resolution to provide for annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States,'" referring to the Newlands Resolution of 1898. While it could be argued that Midway became part of Hawaii when Captain N.C. Brooks of
5432-422: The US was not officially at war caused a wave of outrage across the country. Japan's fallback strategy, relying on a war of attrition against the United States, was beyond the Imperial Japanese Navy's capabilities. Opposition to war in the United States vanished after the attack. On 8 December, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands declared war on Japan, followed by Australia
5529-503: The Western powers through armed forces of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere . Japanese officials integrated what they called the Japan–China Incident ( 日支事変 , Nisshi Jihen ) into the Greater East Asia War. During the Occupation of Japan (1945–52), these terms were prohibited in official documents (although their informal usage continued). The war became officially known as the Pacific War ( 太平洋戦争 , Taiheiyō Sensō ) . The Fifteen Years' War ( 十五年戦争 , Jūgonen Sensō )
5626-403: The aircraft carrier HMS Hermes was sunk, along with other Allied ships. The attack forced the Royal Navy to withdraw to the western part of the Indian Ocean, paving the way for a Japanese assault on Burma and India. In Burma, the Japanese captured Moulmein on 31 January 1942, and then drove outnumbered British and Indian troops towards the Sittang River . On 23 February, a bridge over
5723-408: The atoll as part of their efforts to conserve the species. Over 250 different species of marine life are found in the 300,000 acres (120,000 ha) of the lagoon and surrounding waters. The critically endangered Hawaiian monk seals raise their pups on the beaches, relying on the atoll's reef fish, squid, octopus, and crustaceans. Green sea turtles , another threatened species, occasionally nest on
5820-407: The atoll for the United States; the name changed to "Midway" some time after this. The atoll was the first Pacific island annexed by the United States as the Unincorporated Territory of Midway Island and was administered by the United States Navy . The first attempt at settlement was in 1870 when the Pacific Mail Steamship Company started a project of blasting and dredging a ship channel through
5917-454: The atoll from invasion. The battle was a critical Allied victory and a significant turning point of the Pacific campaign of World War II . About 50 people live on Sand Island: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff and contract workers. Visiting the atoll is possible only for business reasons, which includes permanent and temporary staff, contractors, and volunteers, as the tourism program has been suspended due to budget cutbacks. In 2012,
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#17327658027976014-455: The central Pacific territories. The proclamation established the "Midway Island Naval Defensive Sea Area", which encompassed the territorial waters between the extreme high-water marks and the three mi (4.8 km) marine boundaries surrounding Midway. "Midway Island Naval Airspace Reservation" was also established to restrict access to the airspace over the naval defense sea area. Only U.S. government ships and aircraft were permitted to enter
6111-496: The city, which fell to Japan after three months of fighting. The Japanese continued to push deeper into China, capturing the capital Nanjing in mid-December 1937 and committing atrocities in the Nanjing Massacre , including rape, murder and torture. In March 1938, Nationalist forces won their first victory at Taierzhuang , but the city of Xuzhou was taken by the Japanese in May. In June 1938, Japan deployed about 350,000 troops to invade Wuhan and captured it in October after
6208-407: The command of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Historically, the IJA consumed the majority of the state's military budget (with a 73% - 27% split in 1940), but from 1942 to 1945 the IJA would account for 60% of Japan's military spending, while the IJN would account for 40%. Japan's key initial objective was to seize economic resources in the Dutch East Indies and Malaya, in order to alleviate the effects of
6305-470: The flying boats landed in the atoll and pulled up to a float offshore in the lagoon. Tourists transferred to the Pan Am Hotel or the "Gooneyville Lodge", named after the ubiquitous "Gooney birds" ( albatrosses ), in this case Laysan Albatross and Black-footed Albatross . The military importance of the location of Midway in the Pacific included its use as a convenient refueling stop on transpacific flights and for Navy ships. Beginning in 1940, as tensions with
6402-402: The form of the 201st Fighter Squadron and Free France sent naval support in the form of Le Triomphant and later the Richelieu . The Axis -aligned states which assisted Japan included the authoritarian government of Thailand . Also involved were members of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, which included the Manchukuo Imperial Army and Collaborationist Chinese Army of
6499-482: The island as part of the effort to lay a trans-Pacific telegraph cable. To make the island more verdant, these workers introduced many non-native species to the island, including the canary , cycad , Norfolk Island pine , she-oak/Ironwood , coconut , and various deciduous trees; along with some 9,000 short tons (8,200 t) of soil from Oahu and Guam. Ants, cockroaches, termites, centipedes, and countless other organisms were unintentionally introduced to Midway and
6596-534: The island. The first was found in 2006 on Spit Island and another in 2007 on Sand Island. A resident pod of 300 spinner dolphins lives in the lagoons and nearshore waters. Human habitation has extensively altered the islands of Midway Atoll. Starting in 1869 with the project to blast the reefs and create a port on Sand Island, the environment of Midway Atoll has experienced profound changes. Several invasive exotics have been introduced; for example, ironwood trees from Australia were planted to act as windbreaks. Of
6693-407: The jurisdiction of the state. Midway Atoll is approximately 140 nmi (260 km; 160 mi) east of the International Date Line , about 2,800 nmi (5,200 km; 3,200 mi) west of San Francisco , and 2,200 nmi (4,100 km; 2,500 mi) east of Tokyo. Midway Atoll is part of a chain of volcanic islands, atolls, and seamounts extending from the Island of Hawaii up to
6790-806: The lagoon, 1,261 ft (384 m), comprised mostly of post- Miocene limestones with a layer of upper Miocene (Tertiary g ) sediments and lower Miocene (Tertiary e ) limestones at the bottom overlying the basalts). What remains today is a shallow water atoll about 6 mi (9.7 km) across. Following Kure Atoll , Midway is the 2nd most northerly atoll in the world. The atoll has some 20 mi (32 km) of roads, 4.8 mi (7.7 km) of pipelines, one port on Sand Island ( World Port Index Nr. 56328, MIDWAY ISLAND), and an airfield. As of 2004, Henderson Field airfield at Midway Atoll, with its one active runway (rwy 06/24, around 8,000 ft (2,400 m) long) has been designated as an emergency diversion airport for aircraft flying under ETOPS rules. Although
6887-431: The larger Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument . From 1941 until 1993, the atoll was the home of Naval Air Facility Midway Island , which played a crucial role in the Battle of Midway , June 4–6, 1942. Aircraft based at the then-named Henderson Field on Eastern Island joined with United States Navy ships and planes in an attack on a Japanese battle group that sank four carriers and one heavy cruiser and defended
6984-412: The last year that the visitor program was in operation, 332 people made the trip to Midway. Tours focused on the unique ecology of Midway and its military history. The economy is derived solely from governmental sources. Nearly all supplies must be brought to the island by ship or plane, although a hydroponic greenhouse and garden supply some fresh fruits and vegetables. As its name suggests, Midway
7081-538: The naval defense areas at Midway Atoll unless authorized by the Secretary of the Navy . Midway's importance to the U.S. was brought into focus on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor . Two destroyers bombarded Midway on the same day; this was the first Bombardment of Midway . A Pan-Am flying clipper stopped at Midway and evacuated passengers and Pan-American employees from Wake island, which had also been attacked earlier that day. The clipper
7178-603: The next day. Thailand, with its territory already serving as a springboard for Japan's Malayan Campaign , surrendered within hours of the Japanese invasion. The government of Thailand formally allied with Japan on 21 December. To the south, the IJA seized the British colony of Penang on 19 December, encountering little resistance. Hong Kong was attacked on 8 December and fell to Japanese forces on 25 December 1941. American bases on Guam and Wake Island were seized by Japan at around
7275-785: The overthrow of the French regime in 1945 ), as well as Timorese militia . Germany and Italy both had limited involvement in the Pacific War. The German and the Italian navies operated submarines and raiding ships in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, notably the Monsun Gruppe . Between 1942 and 1945, there were four main areas of conflict in the Pacific War: China, the Central Pacific , South-East Asia and
7372-905: The possessor of the Dutch East Indies ) was also involved. All of these were members of the Pacific War Council . From 1944 the French commando group Corps Léger d'Intervention also took part in resistance operations in Indochina. Some active pro-allied guerrillas in Asia included the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army , the Korean Liberation Army , the Free Thai Movement , the Việt Minh ,
7469-721: The prospect of war, and Admiral Sankichi Takahashi was reported as stating that a showdown with the US was necessary. In an effort to discourage Japanese militarism, Western powers including Australia, the US, Britain, and the Dutch government in exile , which controlled the Dutch East Indies, stopped selling oil , iron ore, and steel to Japan. In Japan, the government and Japanese nationalists viewed these embargoes as acts of aggression; imported oil made up about 80% of domestic consumption, without which Japan's economy would grind to
7566-675: The reef to the lagoon using money put up by the United States Congress . The purpose was to establish a mid-ocean coaling station to avoid the high taxes imposed at ports controlled by the Kingdom of Hawai'i . The project was a failure, and the USS ; Saginaw evacuated the channel project's workforce in October 1870. The ship ran aground on 21 October at Kure Atoll , stranding 93 men. On 18 November, five men set out in
7663-615: The rest of Australia, remained under local commands. On 15 January, Wavell moved to Bandung in Java to assume control of ABDACOM. In January, Japan invaded British Burma, the Dutch East Indies, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands, and captured Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Rabaul . After being driven out of Malaya, Allied forces in Singapore attempted to resist the Japanese during the Battle of Singapore, but were forced to surrender to
7760-470: The retreating and regrouping Chinese forces was largely stalled by the mountainous terrain in southwestern China, while the Communists organized widespread guerrilla and saboteur activities in northern and eastern China behind the Japanese front line. Japan sponsored several puppet governments , one of which was headed by Wang Jingwei . Conflicts between Chinese Communist and Nationalist forces vying for territorial control behind enemy lines culminated in
7857-646: The river was demolished prematurely, stranding most of an Indian division. On 8 March, the Japanese occupied Rangoon . The Allies attempted to defend Central Burma, with Indian and Burmese divisions holding the Irrawaddy River valley and the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Burma defending Toungoo . On 16 April, 7,000 British soldiers were encircled by the Japanese 33rd Division during the Battle of Yenangyaung , but subsequently rescued by
7954-631: The same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eastern_Island&oldid=906370379 " Category : Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Midway Atoll Midway Atoll ( colloquial : Midway Islands ; Hawaiian : Kuaihelani , lit. 'the backbone of heaven'; Pihemanu , 'the loud din of birds')
8051-515: The same time. British, Australian, and Dutch forces, already drained of personnel and matériel by two years of war with Germany, and heavily committed in the Middle East, North Africa, and elsewhere, were unable to provide more than token resistance. Two major British warships, the battlecruiser HMS Repulse and the battleship HMS Prince of Wales , were sunk by a Japanese air attack off Malaya on 10 December 1941. Following
8148-758: The sealing ship Gambia sighted it in 1859, it was assumed at the time that Midway was independently acquired by the United States when Captain William Reynolds of USS Lackawanna visited in 1867, and thus not part of the Hawaii Territory. In defining which islands the state of Hawaii would inherit from the Territory, the Hawaii Admission Act of 1959 clarified the question, specifically excluding Midway (along with Palmyra Island , Johnston Island , and Kingman Reef ) from
8245-483: The soil. On January 20, 1903, the United States Navy opened a radio station in response to complaints from cable company workers about Japanese squatters and poachers . Between 1904 and 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt stationed 21 Marines on the island to end wanton destruction of bird life and keep Midway safe as a U.S. possession , protecting the cable station. In 1935, operations began for
8342-583: The table above. The atoll, which has a small population (approximately 60 in 2014, but no indigenous inhabitants), is designated an insular area under the authority of the United States Department of the Interior . Midway was formed roughly 28 million years ago when the seabed underneath it was over the same hotspot from which the Island of Hawaii is now being formed. Midway was once
8439-554: The tip of the Aleutian Islands and known as the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain , between Pearl and Hermes Atoll and Kure Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands . It consists of a ring-shaped barrier reef nearly 5 mi (8.0 km) in diameter and several sand islets. The two significant pieces of land, Sand Island and Eastern Island, provide a habitat for millions of seabirds. The island sizes are shown in
8536-423: The world's Laysan albatross population and 34–39 percent of the global population of black-footed albatross . A minimal number of the very rare short-tailed albatross also have been observed. Fewer than 2,200 individuals of this species are believed to exist due to excessive feather hunting in the late nineteenth century. In 2007–08, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service translocated 42 endangered Laysan ducks to
8633-459: Was occupied by the Allies. Japan lost its former possessions in Asia and the Pacific and had its sovereignty limited to the four main home islands and other minor islands as determined by the Allies. In Allied countries during the war, the "Pacific War" was not usually distinguished from World War II , or was known simply as the War against Japan . In the United States, the term Pacific theater
8730-875: Was completed. On September 13, 2000, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt designated the Wildlife Refuge as the Battle of Midway National Memorial. The refuge is now called the "Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial". On June 15, 2006, President George W. Bush designated the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as a national monument. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument encompasses 105,564 sq nmi (139,798 sq mi; 362,074 km ) and includes 3,910 sq nmi (5,178 sq mi; 13,411 km ) of coral reef habitat. The Monument also includes
8827-690: Was home to the Naval Security Group Activity, Midway Island, from July 1, 1954, until February 1971. The activity operated AN/GRD-6 High-Frequency Direction Finder, which was part of the Eastern and Western Pacific HFDF networks. During the Cold War , the U.S. established a shore terminal, in which output of the array at sea was processed and displayed utilizing the Low-Frequency Analyzer and Recorder (LOFAR) , of
8924-451: Was on its usual passenger route to Guam when the attack on Pearl Harbor happened; it then made a return journey going from Wake to Midway, Honolulu, and back to the USA. A Japanese submarine bombarded Midway on February 10, 1942. In total, Midway had been attacked 4 times between 7 December 1941 and the Japanese submarine attack of 10 February 1942. Four months later, on June 4, 1942,
9021-656: Was prepared to move deeper into China. The Marco Polo Bridge Incident on 7 July 1937 provoked full-scale war between China and Japan. The Nationalist Party and the Chinese Communists suspended their civil war in order to form a nominal alliance against Japan, and the Soviet Union quickly lent support by providing large amounts of materiel to Chinese troops. In August 1937, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek deployed some of his best troops to defend Shanghai against some 300,000 Japanese troops attempting to seize
9118-532: Was replaced with a mock egg after its removal. Midway Atoll forms part of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands Important Bird Area (IBA), designated as such by BirdLife International because of its seabirds and endemic landbirds. The atoll is a critical habitat in the central Pacific Ocean and includes breeding habitat for 17 seabird species. Many native species rely on the island, which is now home to 67–70 percent of
9215-481: Was seen as unlikely to commence hostilities. The Japanese leadership was aware that a total military victory in the traditional sense against the United States was impossible, and instead envisaged that rapid, aggressive and expansive conquest would force the U.S. to agree to a negotiated peace that would recognize Japanese hegemony in Asia. Following prolonged tensions between Japan and the Western powers , units of
9312-503: Was suspended in 2013 due to budget cuts. On October 31, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 13022, which transferred the jurisdiction and control of the atoll to the United States Department of the Interior. The FWS assumed management of the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. The last contingent of Navy personnel left Midway on June 30, 1997, after an ambitious environmental cleanup program
9409-684: Was widely used. The US Armed Forces considered the China Burma India theater to be distinct from the Asiatic-Pacific theater during the conflict. Japan used the name Greater East Asia War ( 大東亜戦争 , Dai Tō-A Sensō ) , as chosen by a cabinet decision on 10 December 1941, to refer to both the war with the Western Allies and the ongoing war in China. This name was released to the public on 12 December, with an explanation that it involved Asian nations achieving their independence from
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