Wake Island, formerly known as Halsian Island or Helsinge Island. An atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, an unincorporated territory of the United States. 3,700 kilometers west of Honolulu. The entire atoll includes three coral islands with a total land area of 6.5 square kilometers. The three islands are connected by a causeway that unfolds in a crescent shape with a lagoon in the middle.
Due to the deep lagoon water of Wake Island, the island reefs on three sides blocked the strong winds and waves of the Pacific Ocean, making the "inland sea" of Wake Island an ideal anchorage for ships, and its unique roundabout structure also makes it an easy A natural sea fortress that is difficult to defend.
The island was discovered as early as 1568, and in 1796 the British captain William Wick named the island after him and officially marked the atoll on the map. However, the island has not attracted the attention of navigators since then. It was not until 1841 that the US Navy noticed this small island in the Pacific Ocean and built some basic port facilities on Wake Island. In 1899, the U.S. government officially occupied the island. In 1935, Wake Island was placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Navy and a commercial seaplane base and hotel were built on the island to provide supply services for Pan Am airliners across the Pacific.
The location of Wake Island is the only way for early transoceanic airliners.
Although Wake Island is small in size, its unique geographical location makes it a very important strategic position. It is located between Guam and Hawaii, and is a transit point for the two sea lines of communication, as well as an outpost of the US Pacific Fleet. Therefore, the U.S. Navy has also built some military facilities on Wake Island: in the center of Wake Island Atoll, airports and barracks with runways of 2000 meters and 1600 meters respectively, and in the lagoon embraced by Crescent Island, the Americans The underwater coral reefs were smashed and chiseled into a submarine base.
Wake Island Marine Corps Artillery Position
Prior to the outbreak of the Pacific War, Wake Island had 447 Marines and 75 Navy communications personnel, commanded by Major James Devereux. In addition, 1,400 civilian engineers are assisting in the construction of facilities on the island. Wake Island's Air Force has a squadron of 12 fighter jets. These F4F Wildcats are all part of the Marine Corps, commanded by Major Paul Putnam.
As some captains may know, the fighter jets on Wake Island were delivered by Vice Admiral Halsey from the USS Enterprise four days before Pearl Harbor. And it was precisely because of this transportation mission that the Enterprise encountered bad weather on its return voyage and did not return to Pearl Harbor on time. It was a blessing in disguise to avoid the Japanese bombing.
The Enterprise was the most fortunate aircraft carrier in World War II.
However, on the second day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Wake Island was also suddenly attacked by the Japanese, and 36 Japanese aircraft took off from Kwajalein Atoll. Wake Island. As a result, 4 US F4Fs were blown up on the runway. Seeing that the sneak attack succeeded again, the Japanese army prepared for another day of bombing preparations on December 10, and prepared to conduct a landing operation to capture Wake Island.
The 211 Squadron of Wake Island was destroyed by the Wildcat fighter
Although the Japanese bombed Wake Island without interruption for 2 days, the marines stationed on the island did not suffer serious losses. Already defeated, when preparing to storm the landing, the U.S. Marines who were guarding the island gave him a loud slap in the face.
In the early morning of December 10, a Japanese fleet consisting of 3 light cruisers, 6 destroyers, 2 patrol boats and 2 transport ships, carrying 450 marines, was led by Rear Admiral Kajioka Sadamichi. Down the mighty to kill Wake Island. The Japanese attempted to take advantage of the pre-dawn darkness to land on Wake Island in one fell swoop. However, before the Japanese approached the shore, the U.S. Marines on the island caught the Japanese by surprise with precise artillery strikes.
Wake Island is equipped with coastal defense artillery converted from an old battleship 5-inch secondary gun The U.S. coastal defense artillery was directly hit by the ammunition depot in the preemptive strike. The violent explosion instantly tore the destroyer into pieces, and none of the officers and soldiers of the ship survived. The Hayate also became the first Japanese destroyer to be sunk in the Pacific War.
In addition to being heavily shelled by the US shore artillery, the Japanese fleet under cover and landing was also "focused on" by the F4F of the US Marine Corps. The Wildcats wounded the Japanese destroyer Kikutsuki with powerful 12.7mm machine guns, and then an F4F fighter jet piloted by Captain Henry Errod dropped a 100-pound bomb that hit the stern of Kikutsuki. The bomb It smashed through the stern deck and set off a fire that eventually detonated the depth charges carried by Kikutsuki. At 5:42, Ruizuki exploded and sank 30 miles southeast of Wake Island, with no survivors, making it the second destroyer to be sunk by the Japanese on the day the attack began.
The first wave of the Japanese landing offensive did not even touch the side of Wake Island. Instead, the U.S. military sank two destroyers in one fell swoop, and the ship Yubari of Kajioka Sadamichi was also hit by U.S. artillery fire. The Japanese army, which was not looking good, immediately returned to Kwajalein Atoll to rest and wait for reinforcements to arrive.
After hearing about the battle on Wake Island, Yamamoto ordered the aircraft carriers "Soryu" and "Hiryu" of the Second Air Force to come to provide support, and also sent three additional destroyers to cover the landing force. The U.S. TF.14 task force also set off for support after being attacked by the Japanese on Wake Island. It is a pity that TF.14 wasted a day due to a very difficult refueling operation at sea on December 22, so it failed to arrive at Wake Island before the Japanese fleet.
The picture of the refueling operation at that time
On December 23, under the cover of carrier-based aircraft, the Japanese tried to land on Wake Island again. This time, due to the air support of the Japanese army in World War II, the defenders of Wake Island gradually began to lose their positions, but even under such difficult conditions, the US Marine Corps was still desperately resisting, and some civilians on the island also took up arms. Plunge into the fierce battle on the beachhead. However, because the number of American troops was too small to defend all the beaches, the Japanese eventually occupied Wake Island.
Although the war on Wake Island has come to an end, few people mention the heinous atrocities after the Japanese army occupied the island-the surrendered US troops and the people on the island were escorted to labor camps by the Japanese army. About 200 people suffered from malnutrition and Abuse to die. The Japanese army also left 98 American workers who could manipulate machinery to build fortifications for them. In order to strengthen the defense, the Japanese army specially shipped 200mm coastal defense artillery, and forced the American migrant workers who stayed on the island to build shore artillery positions for them.
On October 5, 1943, the aircraft carrier USS Lexington of the US Navy attacked Wake Island. At this time, the US counteroffensive in the Pacific Ocean had begun. Under the high-strength submarines of the US Navy, Wake Island was far away from the mainland. The supply lines were completely cut off, and the Japanese troops trapped on the island even ate all the birds on the island to extinction. Under the constant harassment of the US military, the Japanese army was very afraid of the US military launching a violent offensive to retake Wake Island. Therefore, two days later, the Japanese army, worried about the labor riots caused by the U.S. counterattack, executed all 98 laborers under the order of Shigematsu Sakaihara, the commander of the island. They were escorted to the northern tip of Wake Island in the middle of the night, blindfolded and brutally shot by Japanese machine guns.
Unexpectedly, an unnamed laborer was lucky enough to escape from the Japanese machine gun. In order to expose the atrocities of the Japanese army, he quietly returned to the place where the Japanese army executed the laborers and left on a large coral rock. "98 US PW 5-10-43" (meaning 98 American prisoners of war, October 5, 1943), but the escaped prisoner of war was eventually recaptured and executed by the Japanese.
This stone still exists today.
What is even more disgusting is that after hearing the news of Japan's surrender, the Japanese army on Wake Island hastily dug up the bodies of American prisoners of war and reburied them in the American cemetery on the island. , trying to cover up the massacre. However, in the subsequent interrogation of the US military, some Japanese officers admitted the war crimes committed on Wake Island and identified Shigematsu Sakaihara as the mastermind. After confirming the truth of the confession, the U.S. military sent Sakaihara and his adjutants to a military court, where they were eventually sentenced to hang in Guam, and the remains of all the workers who died were moved back to the Pearl Harbor Memorial Cemetery for burial.
The surrendered Wake Island was stationed by the Japanese army
During World War II, after losing Wake Island, the U.S. military did not land and recapture it, but carried out continuous blockade and bombing, and took over directly after the Japanese army surrendered. However, Wake Island's strategic position remains important to this day, and it remains one of the most important U.S. Navy outposts in the Pacific to this day.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-