Johnston Atoll
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Johnston Atoll is a 130 km² atoll in the North Pacific Ocean at [United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges] from The World Factbook, about one-third of the way from Hawai'i to the Marshall Islands. There are four islands located on the coral reef platform, two natural islands, Johnston Island and Sand Island, which have been expanded by coral dredging, as well as North Island (Akau) and East Island (Hikina), artificial islands formed from coral dredging. The four islands comprise a total land mass of 2.6 km². 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 lagoon, with depths ranging from 3-10 m.
Johnston is an unincorporated territory of the United States, part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior] as part of the United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges.
Its climate is tropical but generally dry. Consistent northeast trade winds have 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.
As of July 2006 The atoll is listed http://propertydisposal.gsa.gov/Property/PropforSale/ShowProperty.ASP?PropertyID=1273 as property for auction by the U.S. General Services Administration Office of Property Disposal.
History
The island was named for Captain James Johnston who claimed its official discovery on December 10, 1807. The Johnston Atoll was claimed by both the United States and the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1858. The Atoll's guano deposits, mined by U.S. interests operating under the Guano Islands Act, were worked until depletion at about 1890.On July 29, 1926, President Calvin Coolidge established the Johnston Atoll as a Federal bird refuge and placed it under the control of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. On December 29, 1934 President Franklin D. Roosevelt transferred control of Johnston Atoll to the U.S. Navy to establish an air station and also to the Department of the Interior to administer the bird refuge. In 1936, 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 February 14, 1941.
Johnston Atoll was shelled by Japan in World War II. The area was subsequently a U.S. nuclear weapons test site and later the site of the Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS).
Between 1958 and 1975 several sounding rockets were launched from Johnston Island.[[Citing sources citation needed]] There were also rockets launched for nuclear tests related to a project called Starfish Prime, launch from a launchpad at .[[Citing sources citation needed]] Afterwards, the radioactive debris and soils were placed in a 25 acre landfill on the island.
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 Autodin with standard remote terminal, a digital telephone switch, the Military Affiliated Radio System (MARS station), a UHF/VHF air-ground radio, and a link to the Pacific Consolidated Telecommunications Network (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 25 MW generators supplied by the base's support contractor. The runway facility was also available to commercial airlines for emergency landings (a fairly common event).[[Citing sources citation needed]]
By the end of 2003 the U.S. government transferred jurisdiction of the atoll to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. All structures and facilities, including those used in JACADS, were removed and the runway was marked closed.
References
This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.
External links
- [Johnston Island Memories Site], the personal website of an AFRTS serviceman stationed there in 1975-6
- [Johnston Island], with many photos, from the personal website of a contractor who left in 2004
- redirect
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