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More famously known for its decisive role in World War IIWake Island (also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll having a coastline of 12 miles (19 kilometers) in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu (2,300 statute miles or 3,700 km west) to Guam (1,510 miles or 2,430 km east). It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior. Wake is located to the west of the International Date Line and is one day ahead of the 50 states. Access to the island is restricted, and all current activities on the island are managed by the United States Air Force, the United States Army, and Chugach McKinley, Inc., a civilian base operations and maintenance services company.
Although Wake is officially called an island in the singular form, it is actually an atoll comprising three islands (Wake, Wilkes, and Peale) surrounding a central lagoon. Referring to the atoll as an island is the result of a pre-World War II desire by the United States Navy to distinguish Wake from other atolls, most of which were Japanese territory. The largest island (Wake Island) is the center of activity on the atoll and features a 9,800 foot (3,000 m) runway.
Japanese forces surrendering Wake, 1945On December 7, 1941, the same day as the Attack on Pearl Harbor (Wake being on the opposite side of the International Date Line), sixteen Japanese medium bombers flown from bases on the Marshall Islands attacked Wake Island, destroying eight of the twelve F4F Wildcat fighter aircraft belonging to Marine Corps fighter squadron VMF-211 on the ground. All of the Marine garrison's defensive emplacements were left intact by the raid, which primarily targeted the naval aircraft.
The garrison—supplemented by civilian volunteers—repelled several Japanese landing attempts. After the initial Japanese amphibious assault was beaten back with heavy losses, the American commander was asked by his superiors if he needed anything; the commander was reported (erroneously) as having quipped "Send us more Japs!"
Despite this defiant spirit, the garrison was eventually overwhelmed by the determined and numerically superior Japanese invasion force. American casualties were fifty-two military personnel killed, along with approximately seventy civilians. Japanese losses exceeded 700 killed, with some estimates ranging as high as 900; in addition, the Japanese lost four destroyers and twenty aircraft.
In the aftermath of the battle, some of the captured civilian laborers were pressed into service by the Japanese and tasked with improving the island's defenses. After a successful American air raid on October 5, 1943, the Japanese garrison commander Rear Admiral Shigematsu Sakaibara ordered the execution of the ninety-eight prisoners on the pretext that they were spies. One prisoner escaped the mass execution, but was later personally beheaded by Sakaibara. After the war, Sakaibaira was tried for war crimes, found guilty, and executed; his subordinate was sentenced to life in prison.
Captain Henry T. Elrod, one of the pilots from VMF-211, was awarded the United States Medal of Honor posthumously for shooting down two Japanese Zero fighters, and many of his comrades were also highly decorated for their roles in the fighting. The Wake Island Device was created for American veterans of the battle.
