Midway Atoll

Midway Atoll (also known as Midway Island or Midway Islands, : Pihemanu) is a 2.4 square mile (6.2 ) located in the North Pacific Ocean (near the northwestern end of the ) at, about one-third of the way between  and. It is less than 140 s east of the, about 2800 nmi west of and 2200 nmi east of. It consists of a ring-shaped barrier and several sand s. The two significant pieces of land, Sand Island and Eastern Island, provide habitat for hundreds of thousands of seabirds. Island sizes are:

The atoll, which has a tiny population (40 in 2004, but no indigenous inhabitants), is an of the, designated an  under the authority of the. It is a administered by the  (FWS). The visitor program closed in January 2002 and there are no facilities at the present time for receiving visitors. However, visitors who are able to provide their own transportation can contact the refuge manager for information on visiting the atoll. The economy is derived solely from governmental sources. All food and manufactured goods must be imported.

Midway, as its name suggests, lies nearly halfway between and. It also lies almost halfway around the earth from.

Midway is best known as the location of the, fought in on ,. Nearby, the defeated a ese attack against the Midway Islands, marking a turning point in the war in the.

For statistical purposes, Midway is grouped as one of the.

Geography and geology
Midway Atoll is part of a chain of volcanic islands,, and s extending from up to the tip of the  and known as the. Midway was formed roughly 28 million years ago when the seabed underneath it was over the same from which the  is now being formed. In fact, Midway was once a perhaps as large as the island of. As the volcano piled up lava flows building up the island, the load of it depressed the crust and the island slowly subsided over a period of millions of years, a process known as. As the island mass subsided, a around the former volcanic island was able to maintain itself near sea level by growing upwards. That reef is now over 516 feet (160 m) thick (Ladd, Tracey, & Gross, 1967; in the lagoon, 384 m or 1,261 ft), comprised mostly post- 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 10 kilometers across. The islands of Midway Atoll have been extensively altered as a result of human habitation. Starting in 1869 with a project to blast the reefs and create a port on Sand Island, the ecology of Midway has been changing. Birds native to other NWHI islands, such as the and, were released at Midway. trees from were planted to act as windbreaks. Seventy-five percent of the 200 species of plants on Midway were introduced. The FWS has recently continued this trend by introducing the Laysan duck to the island, while, at the same time, extending efforts to exterminate other introduced species.

The atoll has some 20 miles (32 ) of roads, 4.8 miles (7.8 km) of pipelines, one port (on Sand Island, which is closed to public use), and two runways (both paved, around 6,500 ft/2,000 m long). As of 2004, airfield at Midway Atoll has been designated as an emergency diversion airport for aircraft flying under  rules. The FWS closed all airport operations on,. Since that time, no public visitation at all has been allowed.

Uniquely among the Hawaiian islands, Midway observes, eleven hours behind.

Nineteenth century


The atoll was discovered, by Captain N.C. Middlebrooks, though he was most commonly known as Captain Brooks, of the  ship Gambia. The islands were named the "Middlebrook Islands" or the "Brook Islands". Brooks claimed Midway for the United States under the of 1856, which authorized Americans to temporarily occupy uninhabited islands to obtain. On, , of the  formally took possession of the atoll for the United States; the name changed to "Midway" some time after this. On  the atoll became the first offshore islands annexed by the U.S. government, as the Unincorporated Territory of Midway Island; administered by the U.S. Navy. Midway was the only island in the entire Hawaiian archipelago that was not later part of the.

The first attempt at "settlement" was in 1871, when the Pacific Mail and Steamship Company started a project of blasting and dredging a ship channel through the reef to the lagoon using money put up by the U.S. Congress. The purpose was to establish a mid-ocean coaling station avoiding the high taxes imposed at ports controlled by the Hawaiians. The project was shortly a complete failure, and the, evacuating the last of the channel project's work force in October 1871, then ran aground at , stranding all aboard.

Early twentieth century
In 1903, workers for the took up residence on the island as part of the effort to lay a trans-Pacific telegraph cable. These workers introduced many non-native species to the island, including the, , , , , and various trees, along with ants, cockroaches, termites, centipedes, and countless others.

Later that year, President Theodore Roosevelt placed the atoll under the control of the U.S. Navy, which on  opened a radio station, in response to complaints from cable company workers about ese squatters and poachers. In 1904 - 1908 Roosevelt sent 21 to stop the wanton destruction of bird life by Japanese poachers, and to keep Midway safe as a U.S. possession, protecting the cable station.

In 1935, operations began for the, a large flying boat run by. The Clipper island-hopped from to, providing the fastest and most luxurious route to the Orient and bringing tourists to Midway until 1941. Only the extremely wealthy could afford a Clipper trip, which in the 1930s cost more than three times the annual salary of an average American. With Midway on the route between and, the large seaplanes landed in the quiet atoll waters and pulled up to a float offshore. Tourists were loaded onto a small powerboat that whisked them to a pier, where finally they would ride in to the Pan Am Hotel or the "Gooneyville Lodge," named after the ubiquitous "Gooney birds" (es).

World War II
The location of Midway in the Pacific became important to the military. Midway was a convenient refueling stop on transpacific flights. It also became an important stop for Navy ships. Beginning in 1940, as tensions with the Japanese were rising, Midway was deemed second only to in importance to protecting the U.S. west coast. Airstrips, gun emplacements and a seaplane base quickly materialized on the tiny atoll. The channel was widened, and was completed. Architect designed the Officer's quarters, the mall and several other hangars and buildings. Midway's importance to the U.S. was brought into focus on, with the Japanese. Six months later, on, , a naval battle near Midway resulted in the exacting a devastating defeat of the. This was, by most accounts, the beginning of the end of the Japanese Navy's control of the Pacific Ocean. Midway was also an important submarine base for what was known as the .

Korean and Vietnam Wars
From  to 1945 it was occupied by U.S. military forces. In 1950, the Navy decommissioned Naval Air Station Midway, only to re-commission it again to support the. Thousands of troops on ships and planes stopped at Midway for refueling and emergency repairs. From 1968 to  Midway Island was a Navy Air Facility. During the, the U.S. established a secret underwater listening post at Midway in an attempt to track submarines. These sensitive devices could pick up whale songs for miles and the facility remained top-secret until its demolition at the end of the Cold War. flew night and day as an extension of the DEW Line, and antenna fields covered the islands.

With about 3,500 people living on Sand Island, Midway also supported the U.S. troops during the. In June 1969, President held a secret meeting with ese President  at the Officer-in-Charge house or "Midway House".

Civilian rule


In 1978, the Navy downgraded Midway from a Naval Air Station to a Naval Air Facility and large numbers of personnel and dependents began leaving the island. With the conflict in Vietnam over, and with the introduction of s and nuclear submarines, Midway's significance to national security was diminished. The World War II facilities at Sand and Eastern Islands were listed on the on.

Midway was designated an overlay on   while still under the primary jurisdiction of the Navy. As part of the process, the Navy facility on Midway has been operationally closed since , although the Navy assumed responsibility for cleaning up environmental contamination at Naval Air Facility Midway Island.

Beginning, the general public could visit the atoll through study. This program ended in 2002, but another visitor program is expected to begin in 2008.

On, President  signed Executive Order 13022, which transferred the jurisdiction and control of the atoll to the. The Fish and Wildlife Service assumed management of the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. The last contingent of Navy personnel left Midway on, after an ambitious environmental cleanup program was completed.

On, President  designated the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as a national monument. The encompasses approximately 140000 sqmi, and includes 4500 sqmi of coral reef habitat. The Monument also includes the established by Theodore Roosevelt in 1909, the, and the.

Lead paint on the buildings still poses an environmental hazard to the albatross.