WAKE ISLAND
By Lieutenant Commander Sherwood Picking, U.S. Navy
On a recent passage the U.S.S. Beaver passed close aboard Wake Island, and as the sea was smooth, and we were in need of boat drill, it was decided to heave to and send a party ashore for a few hours. Although only a few hours were spent, a considerable amount of information was obtained which may be of interest to the Service.
Wake Island lies about twenty-five miles to the northward of the Great Circle course between Guam and Honolulu, and 1,334 miles to the eastward of Guam. There is no mention of it in the index of the sailing directions and a diligent search was necessary before a brief paragraph was discovered concealed at the end of the Marshall Island Chapter. The only chart of Wake is a plan printed on the sheet with Vatoa and Murea in the Society Islands and in South Latitude, so that this also had to be searched for.
Wake Island was discovered in 1796, and its position was fixed by the U.S. Exploring Expedition, better known as the Wilkes Expedition, in 1841. The chart gives this expedition as its authority but a search of the records shows that only a few hours were spent on shore, so the survey was probably merely a hasty plan drawn from the masthead. The island was taken possession of by the United States on January 17, 1900.
Wake is of interest by reason of its extreme isolation; over 300 miles from the nearest land, and that only another atoll; but especially because of its location on the route between Hawaii and our Asiatic Stations. The longest single leg between the Continental United States and Manila is that between Hawaii and Guam. This stretch of 3,337 miles is without a good harbor and, although well within the radius of capital ships, makes a trying and perhaps impossible voyage for small craft. That the larger submarines can make this non-stop run was shown by the S-boats in November, 1921, but for smaller submarines and especially for anti-submarine and aircraft, it would be a most trying trip. It would be of great advantage could this voyage be broken.
If the passage from Honolulu to Guam be made by way of Midway and Wake Islands, the total distance is increased to 3,517 miles, but is divided into legs of 1,149, 1,034 and 1,334 miles. Midway Island offers considerable advantages as a fueling and resting point for small craft. Any draft can anchor with fair protection in Seward Roads and fifteen feet can be taken into the well protected Welles Harbor, Destroyers have fueled in Seward Roads from deep draft tankers. The channel, although difficult, is well buoyed. As an aircraft station, Midway leaves little to be desired, as the lagoon offers a large area of safe depths for landings and getaways.
Wake Island, although almost directly on the course between Honolulu and Guam is rarely visited and indeed is hardly ever sighted even by the transports which sail this route monthly. It is so low and lies so close to the course that it offers a serious danger to navigation and were it not for the almost constantly prevailing fair weather it would be most expedient to establish a light. From a strategic point of view, Wake Island could not be better located, dividing as it does with Midway, the passage from Honolulu to Guam into almost exact thirds.
Mr. Bywater's book, Sea Power in the Pacific, refers to Wake Island as a possible intermediate base and this book, in connection with problems in logistics where Wake Island would have offered a most acceptable fueling point for sea-weary ships, led the Beaver, homeward bound, on the Great Circle Course, to heave to for a few hours in the lee of the Island and land a small investigating party.
A spot marked "Good landing place" was discovered on the chart and the ship was hove to off this point. Although a considerable surf was running both whaleboats landed their parties without difficulty and were anchored a few feet off the beach.
The boat channel was found to be so choked with coral heads as to be impassable for a whaleboat except at flood tide. However, a pulling dory was towed in and this was pushed into the lagoon. The chart of Wake Island gives no soundings in the lagoon and all hands hoped to find a large area of deep water into which a channel could be blasted. However, we were disappointed in this as the lagoon was found to be very shallow, not over fifteen feet in the parts visited. Several huts were seen across the lagoon and these proved to be deserted shacks which had evidently been used by Japanese who had visited the island for birds, fish or pearls. We found a number of sake jugs, all of which were empty, and a large still which had unfortunately been used only for distilling drinking water.
Wake Island is a typical coral atoll. It is really a group of three Islands enclosing a shallow lagoon. There is no trace of igneous rock, the entire land being sand and coral boulders. There are neither pandanus nor cocoanuts, but all the higher parts are densely wooded with a shrub which grows to a height of fifteen feet or more. Some of the tidal flats are wooded with mangroves, and these with the dry-land shrubs provide a liberal supply of fuel for distilling fresh water. The total land area is about 2,600 acres, much of which lies at ten to fifteen feet above sea level so that the sea can hardly make a clean breach over the island as stated in the Sailing Directions. The group is about four and a half miles long by one and a half miles wide, with its major axis lying Northwest and Southeast, and as the prevailing winds range from East to Northeast, a lee is usually found.
The Island is the nesting place of innumerable birds among which were recognized the Laysan albatross, frigate birds, tern, boatswain or tropic birds, and a few snipe. The birds showed no fear and many were so tame that they could be handled. Nearly all of the shrubs and bushes contained nests. While crossing the lagoon, which is of course of an emerald green color, it was noted that the under parts of the white-breasted birds appeared a vivid green in the reflected light. This was so pronounced that it was hard to believe it was not their real color. It is a pleasure to be able to record that neither the birds nor their nests were interfered with by the Beaver's landing party. Several large rats were seen ashore, probably the survivors of a shipwreck. These must live on eggs and young birds and for the welfare of the colony it is unfortunate that they should have been introduced. A few lizards were seen and these with the rats and birds probably comprise the whole of the land inhabitants of the Island.
"The lagoon is well stocked with fish" say the Sailing Directions for every atoll and it is certainly true of Wake Island. Our time ashore did not permit of fishing by approved methods but a few rifle shots and some lively grabbing netted us a considerable number of excellent fish. Unfortunately the Beaver's crew does not include an Ichthyologist, so their species could not be determined. A number of very large hermit crabs were collected as well as pieces of coral, sponges and shells, all of which were preserved and given to the Bishop Museum upon arrival in Honolulu.
While the landing party was ashore the Beaver remained hove-to off the boat channel. Three independent observers, each taking a number of sights, determined the position of the island, as charted, to be about three and a half miles too far to the westward. Unfortunately the time available did not permit taking double altitudes on shore for longitude, and the limited arc of a sextant precluded an artificial horizon meridian altitude for latitude.
Our four-hour reconnaissance gave us a clear idea of the limitations and advantages of Wake Island. As a base for surface vessels it is out of the question. Small craft such as destroyers and submarines could heave to during daylight to give the crew a few hours of recreation ashore which would be most welcome on the long passage, but so far as fueling is concerned Wake Island is useful only for the sake of the slight lee it affords.
It is as a base for aircraft that Wake Island would become of use. A large area of the lagoon is clear of dangers to a depth of five feet and over, and its smooth water offers excellent opportunities for refueling, repairing and resting the crews. At present it would be difficult to land stores on Wake but a shore party of about twenty men equipped with tools and dynamite could in a week open a channel to the lagoon which would be practicable for loaded motor sailing launches. Such a party could subsist itself indefinitely on Wake Island, especially as supplies could be landed from the transports which pass at least once a month. If the long-heralded trans-Pacific flight ever takes place. Wake Island should certainly be occupied and used as an intermediate resting and fueling port.