Wake Island

Wake Island (also known as Wake Atoll) is a having a  of 12 miles (19 kilometers) in the North, located about two-thirds of the way from  (2,300 s or 3,700 km west) to  (1,510 miles or 2,430 km east). It is an, of the , administered by the ,. Access to the is restricted, and all current activities on the island are managed by the  and the. The largest island (Wake Island) is the center of activity on the and features a 9,800 foot (3,000 m) runway.

For purposes, Wake is grouped as one of the.

Geography
Wake is located to the west of the and is one day ahead of the.

Although Wake is officially called an in the singular form, it is actually an atoll comprising three islands (Wake, Wilkes, and Peale) surrounding a central. Referring to the atoll as an island is the result of a pre- desire by the to distinguish Wake from other atolls, most of which were.


 * Geographic coordinates:
 * Area (land): 2.5 mi² (6.5 km²)
 * Coastline: Wake Atoll- 21.0 mi (33.8 km)  Wake Proper-12.0 mi (19.3 km)
 * Maritime claims
 * exclusive economic zone: 200 (370 km)
 * territorial sea: 12 nm (22 km)
 * Elevation extremes:
 * lowest point: Pacific Ocean, 0 feet (0 m)
 * highest point: Ducks Point, 20 feet (6 m)

Climate
Wake Island lies in the zone but is subject to periodic  storms during the. surface temperatures are warm all year long, reaching above 80 (26.7 ) in summer and fall. s occasionally pass over the island.

Typhoon Ioke
On, , the United States Air Force evacuated all 188 residents and suspended all operations as category 5 headed toward Wake. By, the southwestern eyewall of the storm passed over the island, with winds well over 185 miles per hour (300 km/h), driving a 20 ft (6m) and waves directly into the lagoon inflicting major damage. A US Air Force assessment and repair team returned to the island in September 2006 and restored limited function to the airfield and facilities leading ultimately to a full return to normal operations.

Flora and fauna
The flightless was the island's only known native land bird. It became when the Japanese, cut off from resupply in 1944-45, turned to  and  to avoid.

Pre-European discovery
Some scant Marshallese  suggests that prior to European, nearby  traveled to what is now Wake Island, which the travelers called Enen-kio after a small orange - said to have been found on the atoll. In ancient Marshallese, s surrounding the of s, called , were done using certain fresh human bones, which required a. A man could save himself from being sacrificed if he obtained a wing bone from a certain very large said to have existed on Enen-kio. Small groups would therefore brave traveling to the atoll in hope of obtaining and returning with this bone, thus saving the life of the potential human sacrifice.

Based upon this oral tradition along with concepts of first-usage lands rights claims commonly held in  as  for settling,   a small  of Marshall Island descendents who call themselves the  lay claim to Wake Island. The Marshall Islands and U.S. governments, who also have competing claims over the island, vigorously deny the claim. No evidence suggests there was ever a permanent of Marshall Islanders on Wake Island.

European discovery and exploration
On, , , a Spanish explorer with two ships, Los Reyes and Todos Santos, discovered "a low barren island, judged to be eight in circumference," to which he gave the name of "San Francisco." The island was eventually named for Captain William Wake, master of the trading, Prince William Henry, who visited in 1796.

1828 report to the describes  discovery of a 25-mile long island situated at 19°15' N, 166°32' E, with a reef at the eastern edge, while captaining the Bellona in 1823. The island was "covered with wood, having a very green and rural appearance" and was probably, Reynolds concludes,, placed on charts of the time by.

On, , the commanded by   of the U.S. Navy, landed on and surveyed Wake. Wilkes described the atoll as "a low coral one, of triangular form and eight feet above the surface. It has a large lagoon in the centre, which was well filled with of a variety of  among these were some fine ." He also noted that Wake had no fresh water and that it was covered with, "the most abundant of which was the tournefortia." The expedition's, , collected many new s, including an from a  and various  specimens.

Wreck of the Libelle
Wake Island first received international attention with the of the Libelle. On the night of, , the 650 ton Libelle of , , struck the eastern  of Wake Island during a. The ship was under the command of Captain Tobias and en route from to. Among its passengers were singer Anna Bishop (ex wife of the celebrated French harpist Nicolas Bochsa), her husband Martin Schultz (a  diamond merchant), and three other members of an English  troupe.

After 21 days, the 30 stranded passengers and crew set sail in a and a  for the then Spanish island of. The longboat, containing the opera troupe, Mr. Schultz and other passengers, arrived on Guam. The gig, commanded by the Libelle’s captain, was lost at sea. While stranded on Wake Island, Captain Tobias had buried valuable cargo including 1,000 flasks (34,500 kg) of, coins and precious stones worth approximately $150,000, and at least five ships conducted operations in their recovery. The plight of the Libelle, its passengers and cargo was reported by many newspapers.

American possession
Wake Island was annexed by the United States (empty territory) on,. In 1935, constructed a small village, nicknamed "PAAville", to service flights on its U.S.- route. The village was the first human settlement on the island and relied upon the U.S. mainland for its food and water supplies; it remained in operation up to the day of the first Japanese air raid.

Military buildup
In January 1941, the constructed a military base on the atoll. On, the first permanent military garrison, elements of the 1st Marine Defense Battalion, totaling 449 officers and men, were stationed on the island, commanded by Navy. Also on the island were 68 U.S. Naval personnel and about 1,221 civilian workers.

They were armed with six used 5 inch/51 cal (127 mm) s, removed from a ; twelve 3 inch/50 cal (76.2 mm) M3  (with only a single working anti-aircraft  among them); eighteen  heavy machine guns; and thirty heavy, medium, and light, water or air-cooled s in various conditions but all operational.

Battle of Wake Island
On, , the same day as the (Wake being on the opposite side of the International Date Line), at least twenty-seven ese medium "Nell" bombers flown from bases on Kwajelein in the Marshall Island group attacked Wake Island, destroying eight of the twelve  fighter aircraft belonging to Marine Corps fighter squadron  on the ground. All of the Marine garrison's defensive emplacements were left intact by the raid, which primarily targeted the aircraft.

The garrison&mdash;supplemented by civilian volunteers&mdash;repelled several Japanese landing attempts. An American journalist reported that after the initial Japanese amphibious assault was beaten back with heavy losses, the American commander was asked by his superiors if he needed anything, to which the commander sent back the message "Send us more Japs!", a reply which became a popular legend. However, when Lieutenant-Colonel Deveraux learned after the war that he was credited with that message he pointed out that he was not the commander, contrary to the reports, and denied sending that message: "As far as I know, it wasn't sent at all.  None of us was that much of a damn fool.  We already had more Japs than we could handle."

The garrison was eventually overwhelmed by the numerically superior Japanese invasion force. American casualties were fifty-two military personnel and approximately seventy civilians killed. Japanese losses exceeded 700 killed, with some estimates ranging as high as 1,000; in addition, the Japanese lost two destroyers, one submarine and twenty four aircraft.

In the aftermath of the battle, most of the captured civilians and military personnel were sent to in, while some of the civilian laborers were pressed into service by the Japanese and tasked with improving the island's defenses. After a successful American air raid on, , the Japanese garrison commander Rear Admiral ordered the execution of the ninety-eight prisoners on the pretext that they were. One prisoner escaped the mass execution, but was later personally beheaded by Sakaibara. After the war, Sakaibaira was tried for war crimes, found guilty, and executed at Guam; his subordinate was sentenced to life in prison.

Captain, one of the pilots from VMF-211, was awarded the United States posthumously for shooting down two Japanese , and many of his comrades were also highly decorated for their roles in the fighting. The was created for American veterans of the battle.

Japanese occupation and surrender
The Japanese-occupied island was bombed several times by American air forces; one of these raids was the first mission for future.

On, , the remaining Japanese garrison surrendered to a detachment of the. In a brief ceremony, the handover of Wake was officially conducted.



Postwar
On, the island served as a one-day meeting site between  and President , meeting to discuss strategy for the  hostilities that had broken out four months earlier.

Since 1974, the island's airstrip has been used by the U.S. military and some commercial cargo planes, as well as for emergency landings. There are over 700 landings a year on the island. There are also two offshore anchorages for large ships. On, , the World War II-related resources on Peale, Wilkes, and Wake Islands were designated a  (and thereby also listed on the ).

The United States military personnel have left, and there are no indigenous inhabitants. Wake, with an undelineated maritime boundary with them, is claimed by the, and some civilian personnel ("contractor inhabitants") remain. , an estimated 200 contractor personnel were present. The island remains a strategic location in the North Pacific Ocean and serves as an emergency landing location for transpacific flights. Some World War II facilities and wreckage remain on the islands.

Subsequently the island was used for strategic defense and operations during the. It was administered by the United States Army (formerly known as the United States Army Space and Strategic Defense Command).

Since 1974, Wake Island has served as a launch platform for military rockets involved in testing anti-missile systems and atmospheric re-entry trials. Launches take place from 19.29°N, 166.61806°W.

From late April until the middle of August 1975, Wake Island was used as a refugee camp for more than 8,000 ese refugees who fled their homeland after the fall of that ended the.

The territorial claim by the Republic of the on Wake Atoll leaves a certain amount of ambiguity regarding the actual or hypothetical role of the U.S. military, responsible under agreement for the defence of Marshallese territory, in the event of any strategic crisis or hostilities involving Wake. However, the atoll was formally annexed by the U.S. in the 19th century and is still administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior.