Majuro Airfield: Difference between revisions
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===Postwar=== |
===Postwar=== |
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In the postwar period the airfield continued to serve as the airport for Majuro, however by the mid-1960s the runway surface was deteriorating and it was becoming unsuitable for use by modern aircraft, so it was decided to relocate the airport to its [[Marshall Islands International Airport|current location]] west of [[Rairok]], and to utilize the area on Delap for industrial, commercial and residential development.<ref>{[cite web|url=http://marshall.csu.edu.au/Marshalls/html/typhoon/typhoon.html|title= Non-traditional settlement patterns and typhoon hazard on contemporary Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands|publisher=Digital Micronesia|accessdate=2 June 2013}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Revision as of 12:27, 2 June 2013
| Majuro Airfield | |
|---|---|
| Delap, Marshall Islands | |
 | |
| Coordinates | 7°05′25″N 171°22′53″E / 7.09028°N 171.38139°E |
| Typ | Military Airfield |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | United States Navy |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1942 |
| Built by | Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service/Seebees |
| In use | 1942-45 |
| Materials | Coral |
Majuro Airfield or NAB Majuro is a former World War II airfield on the island of Delap in the Marshall Islands.
History
World War II
Majuro Airfield was originally established by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in 1942 . The island was captured on 31 January 1944 during Battle of Kwajalein by the V Amphibious Corps Marine Reconnaissance Company and the 2nd Battalion, 106th Infantry Regiment who found it to be unoccuppied. The 100th Naval Construction Battalion began to improve the airfield creating a coral-surfaced 5,800ft by 445ft runway covering most of Delap Island. By mid-March the airfield was in limited operation and by 15 April the airfield, taxiways, aprons, housing, shops, and piers were fully operational. The Seebees also constructed roads and causeways linking Delap to the adjacent islands[1]
Fourth Marine Air Wing headquarters and Marine Air Group 13 (MAG-13) relocated to Majuro Atoll in mid-March 1944. Units stationed at Majuro included VF-39 operating the F6F Hellcat, VMF-155 and VMF-224 operating F4UsF4Us and VMSB-231 operating SBDs.
B-25s of the 41st Bombardment Group operating out of Bairiki (Mullinix) Airfield, Tarawa, staged through Majuro for bombing raids on Maloelap, Wotje Mili Atill and Jaluit during March and April 1944.
Postwar
In the postwar period the airfield continued to serve as the airport for Majuro, however by the mid-1960s the runway surface was deteriorating and it was becoming unsuitable for use by modern aircraft, so it was decided to relocate the airport to its current location west of Rairok, and to utilize the area on Delap for industrial, commercial and residential development.[2]
See also
References
- ^ Building the Navy's Bases in World War II History of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and the Civil Engineer Corps 1940-1946. US Governement Printing Office. 1947. p. 318-320.
- ^ {[cite web|url=http://marshall.csu.edu.au/Marshalls/html/typhoon/typhoon.html%7Ctitle= Non-traditional settlement patterns and typhoon hazard on contemporary Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands|publisher=Digital Micronesia|accessdate=2 June 2013}}