Islands Airfields: Sand and Eastern

¶ … Islands Airfields: Sand and Eastern Islands

For over a century the Midway Atoll played a crucial role in the strategic and economic exploits of the United States. It is the location of one of the most famous battles in the history of the U.S. And the turning point of the war in the Pacific. It was home to two separate airfields with multiple runways as well as seaplane and sea ports. The islands have also been the location of many military meetings and have served as a midpoint in the Pacific to be used as a resupply and refueling area during the Korean and Viet Nam Wars. The atoll has enjoyed much importance and today remains as one of the last few truly undisturbed World War Two battle locations. There is a very small human presence on the islands still, which has been dwindling down from over 3,000 people at the height of World War Two (Bisheno, 54).

The Midway coral atoll was first discovered by humans in 1859 when Captain Nick Brooks discovered it on a voyage with the ship Gambia (Bisheno, 14). They were originally known a Brooks Islands and Shore and the Middle Brooks Islands, after the captain who discovered the small pieces of land (Kernan, Kagan, and Kagan, 76). The islands were later renamed "Midway" due to the fact that they lie approximately half way between the U.S. And Japan. Relative to Hawaii, Midway Atoll is about 1,100-mile to the northwest. In 1867, Navy Captain William Reynolds, sailing the U.S.S. Lackawanna, took possession of the atoll for the U.S. (Kernan, Kagan, and Kagan, 45). Japanese commercial fishermen and hunters used the atoll during the 1880's and 1890's for fishing and hunting sea birds, nearly to extinction. This prompted then President Theodore Roosevelt to place the atoll under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Navy in 1903, becoming the first off-shore islands to be annexed by the United States. Shortly after this, the islands were used as a telegraph line base in the first around the world broadcast that same year (Kernan, Kagan, and Kagan, 49). The Commercial Pacific Cable Company built many buildings and telegraph line support structures during this period, many of which are still in existence.

Tourism followed in the 1920's and 1930's with the addition of a Pan American World Airways Clipper terminal on Sand Island, the largest of the islands in the atoll at just over 1200 acres (Bisheno, 33). This was the beginning of the aviation link between the U.S. And Asia that the islands provided. These islands became a very important strategic location in the Pacific during World War Two and the U.S. And Japanese fought over their use as remotely located airfields more than once during the war. The islands' role in the war is the reason that many people still know of the Midway Islands today. In fact, there were even tour operations being conducted to and from the islands up until the late 1990's (U.S. DOI, 2011).

The atoll is made up of a series of islands as well as a large central lagoon. Because of their location and the ease of landscaping, the islands were made into a U.S. Naval Air Station and multiple air bases were built in 1940 and 1941 (Bisheno, 60). NAS Midway Islands was commissioned in the summer of 1941 and consisted of a seaplane base and three runways on Sand Island as well as three runways on the smaller, 334 acre Eastern Island. The original seaplane base that was used in the 1930's Pan Am clipper flights was converted for Navy use. In addition to the airfield on Eastern Island there were 2 hangars and a small barracks for the pilots, flight crew, and support staff (White, 12). Due to its extremely remote location, all of the building materials for the runways, hangars, barracks, and other structures had to be flown or shipped in. This high cost of construction forced the U.S. military to make due with the raw materials that were already on the island, in the form of coral and other rocks (Bisheno, 51). These were crushed down and used to build most of the runways, which still retain a very light, almost pink hue due to the coral content in the asphalt and concrete.

During World War Two the U.S. used the atoll as a refueling and resupply point for the battle against Japan in the Pacific. The first confrontation that occurred on the islands was when a Japanese destroyer shelled the airfield on the same day as the Pearl Harbor attack (White, 33). Months later, the island was again shelled by a Japanese submarine that surfaced momentarily. During the 1942 Battle of Midway, the islands were again attacked by the Japanese as both air and sea forces congregated around the islands. The resulting multi-day battle claimed thousands of lives and dozens of ships, planes, and vehicles (White, 66). During the battle however, the Japanese never bombed either airfield at Sand or Eastern Island because they were so confident of a win that they wanted to save the airstrips for their own occupation. This occupation did not occur, and after routing the Japanese during the Battle of Midway, the U.S. was able to rebuild many of the structures that had been destroyed in order to once again make the Naval Air Station operational (Kernan, Kagan, and Kagan, 100). In fact, the entire Japanese Fleet was turned back after losing the battle around these islands in an event that many historians feel was the turning point of the war in the Pacific. More than 3,500 Japanese and 300 Americans lost their lives in the battle itself.

Shortly after the battle of Midway, the airfield on Eastern Island was renamed in honor of Major Lofton Henderson, a U.S. officer who died in the Battle of Midway (White, 84). Also, realizing the immense strategic importance of the location and wanting to build up the capabilities of the U.S. Navy in that part of the Pacific, work began to enlarge the airfield on Sand Island to incorporate additional runways and support staff buildings (Bisheno, 153). This meant that more resources were devoted to the island to help build up its infrastructure.

Throughout the war the airfields on the Midway atoll continued to play a pivotal role in supporting U.S. operations in the Pacific and South Pacific. The Naval Air Station is credited with helping to keep the soldiers at the front line well-supplied and supported. By the end of World War Two, Eastern Island's airfield consisted of three asphalt airstrips, the longest of which was 5,300 feet (U.S. DFW, 2011). These landing strips were certainly long enough to accommodate the aircraft of World War Two, but as heavier modern aircraft came into existence, the Eastern Island airfield was eventually abandoned. The island itself has been uninhabited since the early 1970's and all structures and buildings have been demolished (U.S. DOI, 2011). However, the airstrips are still very much intact and can be easily seen from the air. Currently there is grass growing up between the cracks on the asphalt airstrip on Eastern Island, and many photographs have been taken of this peculiar occurrence.

The islands themselves were virtually abandoned after World War Two. During the Korean War, Midway continued to play an important role as a defensive outpost, in the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line, and as a port-of-call and air traffic center during the Vietnam War. In the 1950's, to support the U.S.'s involvement in the Korean War, the airfield facilities on Sand Island were greatly expanded to create a remote but very useful Pacific airborne early warning base (DOI, 2011). On June 8, 1969, Midway served as the setting for secret meetings between U.S.. President Nixon and South Vietnam President Thieu. As many as 3,000 personnel were stationed at Midway during the height of the Cold War and Vietnam War (DFW, 2011).

In 1978, NAS Midway Islands was redesignated NAF Midway Island. The runways at Sand Island were far longer and better built than those at Eastern Island, and NAS Midway Islands continued its existence on Sand Island after the war (DOI, 2011). These runways were used by the U.S. Navy during the Cold War as a base of operations for the U.S.'s sub-hunting aircraft as well as a stopover point for aircraft and ships needing to refuel or land in an emergency.

Although a majority of the Battle of Midway took place at sea, gun emplacements, bunkers, and memorials commemorate the valiant soldiers who fought the famous battle. In May 1987, several ammunition magazines, a pillbox, and two gun emplacements on the west side of Sand Island were designated as National Historic Landmarks and listed on the National Register of Historic Places (DOI, 2011). The airfield and seaplane port on Sand Island were used until 1993 when the land was transferred to the U.S. Department of the Interior, becoming part of the Hawaiian and Pacific Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex (DOI, 2001). This airfield is still currently open and operated by a handful of U.S. government contractors.