X-Nico

2 unusual facts about Wake Island


Great Frigatebird

In the Central and South Pacific, colonies are found on most islands Groups from Wake Island to the Galapagos Islands to New Caledonia with a few pairs nesting on Australian possessions in the Coral Sea.

Typhoon Rusa

The monsoon trough spawned a tropical depression on August 22 north of Bikini Atoll and southwest of Wake Island.


20.3 cm/45 Type 41 naval gun

Many of these ships were disarmed under the conditions of the Washington Naval Treaty or subsequent London Naval Treaty and their guns converted into coastal artillery batteries, including installations at Tokyo Bay, Tarawa and later at Wake Island during World War II.

Medal of Honor Aircraft

Capt. Henry T. Elrod was awarded a posthumous MoH in recognition for his heroism while flying this aircraft, known as Mike Fox 11, over Wake Island in December 1941.

Omelek Island

The Reagan Test Site, which includes rocket launch sites on other islands in the Kwajalein Atoll, on Wake Island, and at Aur Atoll, is the only U.S. government equatorial launch facility.


see also

Asymphorodes dimorpha

It is found in Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, Lanai, Hawaii, Nihoa, Necker Island, Pearl and Hermes Reef, Midway, Kure, Wake island, Canton island, Jarvis island, but is probably much more widely distributed in the Pacific.

Medal of Honor Aircraft

When the National Air and Space Museum restored its FM-1 the only cowling nose ring that could be located was the one taken from the Wake Island memorial.

Wake Island Airfield

Japan Airlines used both Wake Island and Honolulu as stops on its initial Tokyo-San Francisco service using Douglas DC-6s in the mid-1950s.

Another airline that operated into Wake Island was Philippine Airlines with Douglas DC-8 jetliners on a daily westbound service from San Francisco and Honolulu to Manila during the early 1970s.

Wake Island Device

To be awarded the Wake Island Device, a service member must have been awarded either the Navy Expeditionary Medal, or the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal, and must have served on Wake Island between the dates of December 7 and December 22, 1941.