Wake Island

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Wake Island may have been found by prehistoric Austronesian mariners before its first recorded discovery by Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira in 1568. Ships continued visiting the area in the following centuries, but the island remained undeveloped until the United States claimed it in 1899. Significant development of the island did not begin until 1935 when Pan American Airways constructed an airfield and hotel, establishing Wake Island as a stopover for trans-Pacific flying boat routes. In December 1941 at the opening of the Pacific Theatre of World War II Japan seized the island, which remained under Japanese occupation until the end of the war in September 1945. In 1972, Pan American Airways ceased using the island for trans-Pacific layovers, instead using Boeing 747 aircraft, which could cross the ocean without stopping. With the withdrawal of Pan American Airways, the island's administration was taken over by the United States Air Force, which later used the atoll as a processing location for Vietnamese refugees during Operation New Life in 1975.

Reader's Guide

Wake Island is claimed by the Marshall Islands but is administered by the United States as an unorganized and unincorporated territory and is part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands. The island is administered by the Department of the Interior and managed by the United States Air Force. While there are no permanent residents, approximately 300 people are on the island at any given time, primarily military personnel and contractors. The natural areas of Wake are a mix of tropical trees, scrub, and grasses that have adapted to the limited rainfall. Thousands of hermit crabs and rats live on Wake, and in the past, cats were introduced to help control the rat population, which at one time was estimated at 2 million. The Wake Island rail, a small flightless bird, once lived on the atoll but went extinct during World War II. Many seabird species also visit Wake, although the thick vegetation has caused most birds to nest in a designated bird sanctuary on Wilkes Island. The submerged and emergent lands at Wake Island are a unit of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.

Did You Know?

• Wake Island was named St Francis Island by Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira in 1568 because the date of discovery was the eve of the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi.
• The atoll's name comes from British sea captain Samuel Wake, who rediscovered it in 1796 while in command of the Prince William Henry.
• In 1866, the barque Libelle struck the eastern reef of Wake Island; survivors sailed a 22-foot longboat to Guam after 13 days at sea.
• The Wake Island rail, a small flightless bird, went extinct during World War II.
• At one time, the rat population on Wake Island was estimated at 2 million.

Discovery, Naming, and Early Encounters

The first recorded discovery of Wake Island was on October 2, 1568, by Spanish explorer and navigator Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira. Since the date was the eve of the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, the captain named it St Francis Island (Spanish: Isla San Francisco). The ships were in need of water and the crew was suffering from scurvy, but after circling the island, it was determined that Wake was waterless and had 'not a cocoanut (coconut) nor a pandanus' and 'there was nothing on it but sea-birds, and sandy places covered with bushes.' In 1796, Captain Samuel Wake of the merchant ship Prince William Henry also came upon Wake Island, naming the atoll Wake, for himself. Soon thereafter, the 80-ton fur trading merchant brig Halcyon arrived at Wake and Master Charles William Barkley, unaware of Captain Wake's visit and other prior European contact, named the atoll Halcyon Island in honor of his ship. On December 20, 1841, the United States Exploring Expedition, commanded by US Navy Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, arrived at Wake on USS Vincennes and sent several boats to survey the island. Wilkes described the atoll as 'a low coral one, of triangular form and eight feet [2.4 m] above the surface. It has a large lagoon in the center, which was well filled with fish of a variety of species; among these were some fine mullet.' The expedition's naturalist, Titian Peale, noted that 'the only remarkable part in the formation of this island is the enormous blocks of coral that have been thrown up by the violence of the sea'. Peale Island is named after the naturalist Titian Peale, who visited the island in 1841, and Wilkes Island is named after U.S. Naval officer Charles Wilkes, who led the U.S. expedition to Wake Atoll in 1841.

Aviation, War, and Shifting Strategic Roles

Significant development of the island did not begin until 1935 when Pan American Airways constructed an airfield and hotel, establishing Wake Island as a stopover for trans-Pacific flying boat routes. In December 1941 at the opening of the Pacific Theatre of World War II Japan seized the island, which remained under Japanese occupation until the end of the war in September 1945. In 1972, Pan American Airways ceased using the island for trans-Pacific layovers, instead using Boeing 747 aircraft, which could cross the ocean without stopping. With the withdrawal of Pan American Airways, the island's administration was taken over by the United States Air Force, which later used the atoll as a processing location for Vietnamese refugees during Operation New Life in 1975.

Ecosystem, Extinction, and Conservation

The natural areas of Wake are a mix of tropical trees, scrub, and grasses that have adapted to the limited rainfall. Thousands of hermit crabs and rats live on Wake, and in the past, cats were introduced to help control the rat population, which at one time was estimated at 2 million. The Wake Island rail, a small flightless bird, once lived on the atoll but went extinct during World War II. Many seabird species also visit Wake, although the thick vegetation has caused most birds to nest in a designated bird sanctuary on Wilkes Island. The submerged and emergent lands at Wake Island are a unit of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.

Political Status and Life in Isolation

Wake Island is claimed by the Marshall Islands but is administered by the United States as an unorganized and unincorporated territory and is part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands. The island is administered by the Department of the Interior and managed by the United States Air Force. While there are no permanent residents, approximately 300 people are on the island at any given time, primarily military personnel and contractors. The nearest inhabited island is Utirik Atoll in the Marshall Islands, located 592 miles (953 kilometers) to the southeast. In the Marshallese oral tradition, stories tell of Ānen Kio, or 'island of the orange flower,' where men would collect albatross bones for tattooing rituals. Dwight Heine speculated that the Marshall Islanders treated Ānen Kio similarly to a game preserve for hunting and gathering food and that no one permanently lived there, similar to land usage practices on Bokak Atoll and Bikar Atoll. He also speculated that the islanders may have stopped traveling to Wake Atoll in the mid-1800s, around the time the first missionaries arrived in the Marshalls.