![]() ![]() In 1950, Wake Island was a stop on Pan Am's round-the-world service between San Francisco and New York City, with the airline operating double-decker Boeing 377 Stratocruiser propliners into the airfield. Wake Island was held by Japan until September 1945. ![]() The Battle of Wake Island began nearly a year later. During the construction, several military personnel were already deployed. naval bases throughout the Pacific Ocean. (later acquired by Washington Group International) which, together with seven other companies, built many of the U.S. The company contracted to build the base was Morrison-Knudsen Co. Support craft arrived at Wake on 9 January 1941, laid to off Wilkes Islet, and the next day commenced landing naval supplies and advance base equipment for the development of the base. Construction plans included a runway to be used by F4F Wildcat airplanes and commercial airliners of greater size, which couldn't land on water. This advanced detachment established a naval air station on Wake Island. On 26 December 1940, implementing the Hepburn Board's recommendations, a pioneer party of 80 men and 2,000 short tons (1,800 t) of equipment sailed for Wake Island from Oahu. The seaplane base on Peale Island was too limited to support realistic military activity on the atoll, thus supporting plans for developing a full-scale military air base with a runway for land-based aircraft. A hotel was built, farm animals imported, and hydroponic truck farming commenced. By the time of North Haven's return to Wake, after a month's voyage westward to Manila, the project was well underway, and, three months later, on 9 August 1935, a Pan American Sikorsky S-42 flying boat made the first aerial landing at the atoll.įrom 1935 until 1940, when two typhoons swept Wake with resultant extensive damage to the now elaborately developed Pan American facilities, development and use of the base were steady but uneventful. īetween 5 and, Pan American's air base construction vessel, North Haven, landed supplies and equipment on Wilkes Islet for eventual rehandling to Peale Islet which, because of its more suitable soil and geology, had been selected as the site for the PAA seaplane base. With the war, that route through the Japanese administered islands of the central Pacific was not possible, and Wake, along with the next stop, Guam, were lost, forcing the development of the route skirting Japanese held areas. ![]() It was a key element in the first South Pacific air ferry route to be used in flying aircraft from the U.S. A year prior, jurisdiction over Wake Island was passed to the Navy Department, which cooperated with PAA in updating topographical surveys, due to the potential military value of having a suitable mid-Pacific air base. The first intention to build an air base surfaced in 1935, when Pan American World Airways (PAA) selected Wake Island as an intermediate support base for their seaplane routes to the Far East, especially the Philippines. The airfield can support about twice as many personnel during transpacific military deployments. The runway can be used for emergency landings by commercial jetliners flying transpacific routes and has been used in the past by airlines operating jet, turboprop, and prop aircraft on scheduled flights.Īs of 2018, four active duty Air Force airmen and around 100 contractors were stationed at Wake Island, supporting refueling stops and missile defense system development and testing. Air Force and operated by the 611th Air Support Group. Wake Island Airfield ( IATA: AWK, ICAO: PWAK) is a military air base located on Wake Island, which is known for the Battle of Wake Island during World War II. IATA: AWK, ICAO: PWAK, FAA LID: AWK, WMO: 91246 Pacific Air Forces Regional Support Center Military ( United States Air Force) airfield ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |