Johnston Atoll

Johnston Atoll is a  in the  at , about 1400 kilometers (750 ) west of. There are four islands located on the platform, two natural islands, Johnston Island and Sand Island, which have been expanded by coral, as well as North Island (Akau) and East Island (Hikina), s formed from coral dredging.

The four islands comprise a total land mass of. Due to the atoll's tilt, much of the reef on the southeast portion has subsided. But even though it does not have an encircling reef crest, the reef crest on the northwest portion of the atoll does provide for a shallow, with depths ranging from 3-10 m.

Johnston is an of the, administered by the  of the  as part of the. For statistical purposes, Johnston Atoll is grouped as one of the.

Its climate is tropical but generally dry. Northeast trade winds are consistent and there is little seasonal temperature variation. With elevation ranging from sea level to 5 m at Summit Peak, the islands contain some low-growing vegetation on mostly flat terrain and no natural fresh water resources.

History
The island was named for Captain James Johnston who claimed its official discovery on,. The Johnston Atoll was claimed by both the United States and the in. The Atoll's deposits, mined by U.S. interests operating under the, were worked until depletion at about.

On, ,  established the Johnston Atoll as a Federal bird refuge and placed it under the control of the. On, President  transferred control of Johnston Atoll to the  to establish an air station and also to the  to administer the bird refuge. In, the U.S. Navy began developing a seaplane base, an airstrip and refueling facilities on the atoll. It was designated as a Naval Defensive Sea Area and Airspace Reservation on,.

Johnston Atoll was shelled by in. The area was subsequently a U.S. nuclear weapons test site and later the site of the (JACADS).

Between and  several sounding rockets were launched from Johnston Island. There were also several nuclear missiles launched from the island in 1962 during the nuclear test series, from a launchpad at. Afterwards, the radioactive debris and soils were placed in a 25 acre landfill on the island, along with residue from containers returned from Vietnam after the war.

In 1963, the Congress passed a Limited Test Ban Treaty that contained a provision known as "Safeguard C". Safeguard C was the basis for maintaining Johnston Atoll as a "ready to test" above ground nuclear testing site should atmospheric nuclear testing be deemed necessary. In 1993, Congress zero-funded the Johnston Atoll Safeguard C mission and redefined the island's military mission as the storage and destruction of chemical weapons.

The atoll has no indigenous inhabitants, although during the latter 20th century there was an average of 300 U.S. military and 1,000 civilian contractor personnel present at any given time. The central means of transport to the island was the airport which had a paved, military runway. The islands were wired with 13 outgoing and 10 incoming commercial telephone lines, a 60-channel submarine cable, 22 DSN circuits by satellite, an with standard remote terminal, a digital telephone switch, the  (MARS station), a UHF/VHF air-ground radio, and a link to the  (PCTN) satellite.

The atoll's economic activity was limited to providing services to U.S. military personnel and contractors located on the island. All food and manufactured goods were imported. The base had six 2.5 MW generators supplied by the base's support contractor, Holmes and Narver, using Enterprise Engine and Machinery Company (Oakland CA) DSR-36 diesel engines. The runway facility was also available to commercial airlines for emergency landings (a fairly common event). By the end of jurisdiction of the atoll was transferred from the military to the. All structures and facilities, including those used in JACADS, were removed and the runway was marked closed.

On, , Johnston Island was struck by. The eastern eyewall passed directly over the atoll, with winds exceeding 100 mph.

License plates
There have been a number of supposed "Johnston Atoll" license plates issued for sale on-line. According to reputable license plate collectors, these were made as souvenirs and were never officially issued. Johnston Atoll only had one road, which made the use of official license plates unnecessary. Official vehicles had either U.S. Government license plates or a Department of Defense registration number painted on the front and rear of the vehicle. Passenger vehicles had plates from the original place of registration (often ).