1.
Pacific Ocean
–
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the Earths oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, the Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres. Both the center of the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean, the oceans current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favourable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means peaceful sea, important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan, trade, and therefore knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. By at least 878 when there was a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims. In 219 BC Xu Fu sailed out into the Pacific searching for the elixir of immortality, from 1404 to 1433 Zheng He led expeditions into the Indian Ocean. The east side of the ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and he named it Mar del Sur because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. Later, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed the Pacific East to West on a Castilian expedition of world circumnavigation starting in 1519, Magellan called the ocean Pacífico because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century, sailing around and east of the Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions discovered the Caroline Islands, the Aru Islands, and Papua New Guinea. In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan, in 1564, five Spanish ships consisting of 379 explorers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi and sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries linking Manila and Acapulco, in one of the longest trade routes in history, Spanish expeditions also discovered Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. In the 16th and 17th century Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a Mare clausum—a sea closed to other naval powers, as the only known entrance from the Atlantic the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western end of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines, Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and settled Polynesia, and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest, one of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by other European powers, and later, Japan, in Oceania, France got a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853 respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro managed to negotiate an incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888, by occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations
2.
Kiribati
–
Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island nation in the central Pacific Ocean. The permanent population is just over 100,000, more than half of live on Tarawa Atoll. The nation comprises 33 atolls and reef islands and one raised coral island and they have a total land area of 800 square kilometres and are dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometers. Their spread straddles the equator and the 180th meridian, although the International Date Line is indented to bring the Line Islands in the day as the Kiribati Islands. The International Date Line circumscribes Kiribati by swinging far to the east, almost reaching the 150°W meridian, Kiribatis easternmost islands, the southern Line Islands south of Hawaii, have the most advanced time on Earth, UTC+14 hours. Kiribati became independent from the United Kingdom in 1979, the capital and now most populated area, South Tarawa, consists of a number of islets, connected by a series of causeways. These comprise about half the area of Tarawa Atoll, Kiribati is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the IMF and the World Bank, and became a full member of the United Nations in 1999. The name Kiribati was adopted at independence and it is local enunciation of Gilberts. This name derives from the archipelago that forms the nation. It was named the Gilbert Islands after the British explorer Thomas Gilbert and he sighted many of the islands in 1788 while mapping out the Outer Passage route from Port Jackson to Canton. The Kiribati archipelago was named Îles Gilbert, in about 1820, by Russian admiral Adam von Krusenstern, both their maps, published in 1820, were written in French. The archipelagos name was incorporated in the entire Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony from 1916, the spelling of Gilberts in the Gilbertese language as Kiribati may be found in books in Gilbertese prepared by missionaries and others. It is often suggested that the name for the Gilbert Islands proper is Tungaru. The pronunciation differs, Kiribas is the pronunciation as ti in Kiribatese makes an s sound. The area now called Kiribati has been inhabited by Micronesians speaking the same Oceanic language since sometime between 3000 BC and AD1300, the area was not isolated, invaders from Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji, later introduced Polynesian and Melanesian cultural aspects, respectively. Intermarriage tended to blur cultural differences and resulted in a significant degree of cultural homogenisation, chance visits by European ships occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries, as these ships attempted circumnavigations of the world or sought sailing routes from the south to north Pacific Ocean. The passing trade gave rise to European, Chinese, Samoan and other residents from the 1830s, they included beachcombers, castaways, traders and missionaries. In 1892 local authorities on each of the Gilbert Islands agreed to Captain Davis RN declaring them part of a British protectorate with the nearby Ellice Islands
3.
Islet
–
An islet is a very small island. As suggested by its origin as islette, an Old French diminutive of isle, use of the term implies small size, but little attention is given to drawing an upper limit on its applicability. Cay or Key – an islet formed by the accumulation of sand deposits atop a reef Motu – A reef islet formed by broken coral and sand. River island – A small islet within the current of a river, rock – A rock, in the sense of a type of islet, is an uninhabited landform composed of rock, lying offshore, and having at most minimal vegetation. Sandbar – An exposed sandbar is another type of islet, Sea stack – A thin, vertical landform jutting out of a body of water. Skerry – A small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation, subsidiary islets – A more technical application is to small land features, isolated by water, lying off the shore of a larger island. Likewise, any emergent land in an atoll is called an islet. Tidal island – Often small islands lie off the mainland of an area, being connected to it in low tide. In the Caribbean and West Atlantic, islets are often called cays or keys, rum Cay in the Bahamas and the Florida Keys off Florida are examples of islets. In the Channel Islands, they are identified by the suffix -hou from the Norse -holm. In Scotland and Ireland, they are often called inches, from the Gaelic innis, which originally meant island, in Ireland they are often termed skerries. In and around Polynesia, islets are widely known by the term motu, in and around the River Thames in England, small islands are known as aits or eyots. One long-term dispute over the status of such an islet was that of Snake Island, there are thousands of islets on Earth, approximately 24,000 islands and islets in the Stockholm archipelago alone. The following is a list of example islets from around the world, Islands or Rocks, Is that the Real Question. The Treatment of Islands in the Delimitation of Maritime Boundaries, in Myron H. Nordquist, John Norton Moore, Alfred H. A. The Law of the Sea Convention, US Accession and Globalization
4.
Robert Louis Stevenson
–
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. His most famous works are Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, a literary celebrity during his lifetime, Stevenson now ranks as the 26th most translated author in the world. M. Barrie, and G. K. Chesterton, who said of him that he seemed to pick the word up on the point of his pen. Stevenson was born at 8 Howard Place, Edinburgh, Scotland, on 13 November 1850, to Thomas Stevenson, a lighthouse engineer. He was christened Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson, at about age 18, Stevenson was to change the spelling of Lewis to Louis, and in 1873, he dropped Balfour. Lighthouse design was the profession, Thomass father was the famous Robert Stevenson. Indeed, even Thomass maternal grandfather, Thomas Smith, had been in the same profession, however, Roberts mothers family were not of the same profession. Margarets natal family, the Balfours, were gentry, tracing their lineage back to a certain Alexander Balfour who had held the lands of Inchyra in Fife in the fifteenth century. Margarets father, Lewis Balfour, was a minister of the Church of Scotland at nearby Colinton, and her siblings included the physician George William Balfour, Stevenson spent the greater part of his boyhood holidays in his maternal grandfathers house. Now I often wonder, wrote Stevenson, what I inherited from this old minister, I must suppose, indeed, that he was fond of preaching sermons, and so am I, though I never heard it maintained that either of us loved to hear them. Lewis Balfour and his daughter both had weak chests, so they often needed to stay in warmer climates for their health, Stevenson inherited a tendency to coughs and fevers, exacerbated when the family moved to a damp, chilly house at 1 Inverleith Terrace in 1851. The family moved again to the sunnier 17 Heriot Row when Stevenson was six years old, illness would be a recurrent feature of his adult life and left him extraordinarily thin. Contemporary views were that he had tuberculosis, but more recent views are that it was bronchiectasis or even sarcoidosis, Stevensons parents were both devout and serious Presbyterians, but the household was not strict in its adherence to Calvinist principles. His nurse, Alison Cunningham, was fervently religious. Her Calvinism and folk beliefs were a source of nightmares for the child. But she also cared for him tenderly in illness, reading to him from Bunyan, Stevenson recalled this time of sickness in The Land of Counterpane in A Childs Garden of Verses, dedicating the book to his nurse. In any case, his frequent illnesses often kept him away from his first school and he was a late reader, first learning at age seven or eight, but even before this he dictated stories to his mother and nurse. He compulsively wrote stories throughout his childhood and his father was proud of this interest, he had also written stories in his spare time until his own father found them and told him to give up such nonsense and mind your business
5.
USS Nautilus (SS-168)
–
USS Nautilus, a Narwhal-class submarine and one of the V-boats, was the third ship of the United States Navy to bear the name. She was originally named and designated V-6, but was redesignated and her keel was laid on 10 May 1927 by the Mare Island Naval Shipyard of Vallejo, California. She was launched on 15 March 1930 sponsored by Miss Joan Keesling, the configuration of V-4, V-5, and V-6 resulted from an evolving strategic concept that increasingly emphasized the possibility of a naval war with Japan in the far western Pacific. The design was influenced by the German U-cruisers of the Type U-139 and Type U-151 U-boat classes, although V-4, V-5. A raised gun platform was provided around the tower, and deck stowage for spare torpedoes was included under the platform. Unfortunately, the engines failed to produce their design power. The engineering plant was replaced in 1941-42, the auxiliary engines were for charging batteries or for increased surface speed via a diesel-electric system providing power to the main electric motors. V-6 operated out of New London, conducting special submergence tests and she was renamed Nautilus on 19 February and given hull number SS-168 on 1 July. She proceeded to Pearl Harbor where she became flagship of Submarine Division 12, in July 1941, she entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for modernization – radio equipment, external torpedo tubes, re-engining, and air conditioning – until the following spring. She departed San Francisco, California, on 21 April 1942, on 24 May, Nautilus got underway for her first war patrol, to Midway Island to help repel the expected attack by the Japanese fleet. At 07,55,4 June, while approaching the boundary of her patrol area near Midway Island. Japanese planes sighted the submarine at the time and began strafing. After diving to 100 feet, she continued observation, at 08,00, a formation of four enemy ships was sighted, the battleship Kirishima, the cruiser Nagara, and two destroyers in company. Within minutes the submarine was sighted from the air and was bombed. Two of the cruisers closed for a kill and nine charges were dropped at a distance of about 1,000 yards. When the attack ceased, Nautilus rose to periscope depth, sighting on Kirishima, she fired two bow tubes, one misfired, one missed. At 08,30, a destroyer immediately headed for the boat, at 08,46, periscope depth was again ordered. The cruiser and two of the destroyers were now out of range, echo ranging by the third appeared too accurate for comfort, at 09,00, the periscope was raised again and an aircraft carrier was sighted
6.
United States Marine Corps
–
The U. S. Marine Corps is one of the four armed service branches in the U. S. Department of Defense and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military officer in the U. S. Armed Forces, is a Marine Corps general, the Marine Corps has been a component of the U. S. Department of the Navy since 30 June 1834, working closely with naval forces for training, transportation, and logistics. The USMC operates posts on land and aboard sea-going amphibious warfare ships around the world, two battalions of Continental Marines were formed on 10 November 1775 in Philadelphia as a service branch of infantry troops capable of fighting for independence both at sea and on shore. The role of the Corps has since grown and evolved, expanding to aerial warfare and earning popular titles such as, Americas third air force, and, second land army. By the mid-20th century, the U. S. Marine Corps had become a major theorist of and its ability to rapidly respond on short notice to expeditionary crises gives it a strong role in the implementation and execution of American foreign policy. As of 2016, the USMC has around 182,000 active duty members and it is the smallest of the U. S. The USMC serves as an expeditionary force-in-readiness and this last clause, while seemingly redundant given the Presidents position as Commander-in-chief, is a codification of the expeditionary responsibilities of the Marine Corps. It derives from similar language in the Congressional acts For the Better Organization of the Marine Corps of 1834, in 1951, the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee called the clause one of the most important statutory – and traditional – functions of the Marine Corps. In addition to its duties, the Marine Corps conducts Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure operations, as well as missions in direct support of the White House. The Marine Band, dubbed the Presidents Own by Thomas Jefferson, Marines from Ceremonial Companies A & B, quartered in Marine Barracks, Washington, D. C. The Executive Flight Detachment also provides transport to Cabinet members. The relationship between the Department of State and the U. S. Marine Corps is nearly as old as the corps itself, for over 200 years, Marines have served at the request of various Secretaries of State. After World War II, an alert, disciplined force was needed to protect American embassies, consulates, in 1947, a proposal was made that the Department of War furnish Marine Corps personnel for Foreign Service guard duty under the provisions of the Foreign Service Act of 1946. A formal Memorandum of Agreement was signed between the Department of State and the Secretary of the Navy on December 15,1948, during the first year of the MSG program,36 detachments were deployed worldwide. Continental Marines manned raiding parties, both at sea and ashore, the Advanced Base Doctrine of the early 20th century codified their combat duties ashore, outlining the use of Marines in the seizure of bases and other duties on land to support naval campaigns. Throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries, Marine detachments served aboard Navy cruisers, battleships, Marine detachments served in their traditional duties as a ships landing force, manning the ships weapons and providing shipboard security. Marines would develop tactics and techniques of amphibious assault on defended coastlines in time for use in World War II, during World War II, Marines continued to serve on capital ships
7.
South Tarawa
–
South Tarawa is the capital and hub of the Republic of Kiribati and home to approximately half of Kiribatis total population. The South Tarawa population centre consists of all the islets from Betio in the West to Bonriki in the East, connected by the South Tarawa main road. The Roman Catholic diocese is based in Teaorereke, the Kiribati Protestant Church in Antebuka, at the local government level, South Tarawa has two administrative subdivisions, Betio Town Council, on Betio, Teinainano Urban Council, from Bairiki to Tanaea. South Tarawa is a string of islets between the Tarawa Lagoon to the north, with a depth of 25 metres. The island has been built from sediments from the lagoon, the process of soil accumulation is driven by the dominant easterly trade winds, and can be reversed during extended periods of westerly winds during El Niño–Southern Oscillations. All of these islets are now joined by causeways, forming one long islet on the reef along the side of the Tarawa Lagoon. Most of South Tarawa is less than 3 metres above sea level with a width of only 450 metres. At the time of the 1978 Census, South Tarawa had a population of 17,921 with most residents living in the population centres of Betio, Bairiki. Since Kiribati became independent in 1979, the population of South Tarawa has almost tripled, all of South Tarawa is now urbanised, and is effectively one continuous settlement from the Northeastern end of the island, Tanaea, to its Southwestern end at Betio. Buota in North Tarawa is also connected to the South Tarawa main road and is growing rapidly. Betio was the location of the Battle of Tarawa, the highest point on South Tarawa is only a few meters above sea level, making the island extremely vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters. Already the effects of rising sea-levels and associated soil salination are starting to threaten limited fresh water supplies, the weather in South Tarawa is warm and humid all year round and average rainfalls are relatively high. However rainfall is unpredictable, varying with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation. South Tarawa has very limited resources for its rapidly growing population. During the frequent droughts, the source of water is the shallow freshwater lens which permeates the coral rock of the atoll. The water lenses at Bonriki and Buota have been declared as water reserves, other previously declared water reserves have been relinquished for urbanisation, or abandoned due to over-pumping and pollution from human settlement. Most schools and community buildings have no water supply at all, because of the shortage of fresh water, sanitation systems must use saltwater for flushing. The current sanitation network on South Tarawa is performing poorly
8.
Bonriki International Airport
–
Bonriki International Airport is an international airport in Kiribati, serving as the main gateway to the country. It is located in its capital, South Tarawa, which a group of islets in the atoll of Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. Fijis national carrier, Fiji Airways, and Kiribatis state-owned airline, Air Kiribati, Nauru Airlines provided a service to Nauru International Airport, via Honiara, the capital of Solomon Islands, and further to Brisbane, Australia. This service was suspended from July 2008 to November 2009, Air Kiribati and Coral Sun Airways both serve all 16 other airports in the Gilbert Islands, but not all these destinations are flown directly from Tarawa. The longer runway at Mullinix became the base for the VII Bomber Command Headquarters, in addition, the USAAF stationed the B-24 Liberator-equipped 11th Bombardment Group and B-25 Mitchell-equipped 41st Bombardment Group at the airfield. In April 1944, the units moved forward to Kwajalein Airfield in the Marshall Islands. By the end of the war, the Americans abandoned the facilities, the airport resides at an elevation of 9 feet above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 09/27 with a surface measuring 2,011 by 41 metres. USAAF in the Central Pacific Arrivals and Departures for Bonriki Airport Current weather for Tarawa, Kiribati at NOAA/NWS Accident history for TRW / NGTA at Aviation Safety Network
9.
Abaiang
–
Abaiang, also known as Apaiang, Apia, and in the past, Charlotte Island, in the Northern Gilbert Islands, is a coral atoll of Kiribati, located in the west-central Pacific Ocean. Abaiang was the home of the first missionary to arrive in Kiribati, Abaiang has a population of 5,502. Abaiang Atoll is in the northern Gilberts, located not very far to the north of Tarawa, Abaiang is the fourth most northerly in the Gilberts chain of atolls, with a total land area of 4,102.8 acres. The atoll has a lagoon 16 by 5 miles that provides sheltered anchorage, the main island of Abaiang, Teiro has a total land area of 3,552.6 acres extends from the northern village of Takarano to the southern village of Tabontebike. It contains 16 of the 18 villages of the atoll, two other islets, Riboono 219.3 acres and Nuotaea 330.9 acres are also inhabited. The remaining islets of Abaiang, with an area of 215.5 acres are uninhabited, with lack of water. They however are used for fishing, copra cutting and campsites, the islets of Ouba and Teirio have had small motels built on them, with staff travelling from the mainland of Abaiang and from Tarawa when guests are expected. In the southwest of Abaiang there is a channel, the Bingham Channel, the channel is between the biggest island of Abaiang and a very little island in the southwest of Abaiang called Teirio. Global warming has created a problem for Abaiang and Kiribarti, among other island groups, houses in Tebunginako village have been abandoned. As storm surges becoming more frequent and spring tides more forceful, the remains of about 100 thatched homes and a maneabe are now up to 30 metres offshore. The villagers relocated themselves further inland, with the new village retaining the same name, in the 2010 Census the total population of 5,502 was spread among 18 villages, with the largest villages being Nuotaea and Tuarabu. Relative to other islands of Kiribati, Abaiang has some important economic advantages and its large lagoon supports a striking diversity of coral and fish species, providing plentiful seafood to the local population and attracting tourists to the island from nearby South Tarawa. While the island is prone to drought, in years the rainfall is sufficient to support breadfruit, banana. The closeness of Abaiang to Tarawa also facilitates a significant, though largely informal, however like all outer islands of Kiribati, Abaiang is basically a subsistence economy, with a small number of jobs, mainly working for the Government or Island Council. Other sources of income are copra production, and remittances from relatives working in South Tarawa, as crew on international vessels, climate change has forced a change, as milkfish are not as common and plant life is dying off to the increased salt in the water table. There are ten primary schools on Abaiang, with a roll of 985 students in 2011. At the secondary level, in 2011 there were 212 students at the Ministry of Education school, Ueen Abaiang. A further 135 students are enrolled at St Joseph’s College in Tabwiroa and 23 students at Steven Whitmee High School in Morikao, the two high schools at Morikao and Tabuiroa accommodate students from all over Kiribati who have passed the entrance examinations to get into the schools
10.
Butaritari
–
Butaritari is an atoll in the Pacific Ocean island nation of Kiribati. The south and southeast portion of the atoll comprises a nearly continuous islet, the atoll reef is continuous but almost without islets along the north side. Bikati and Bikatieta islets occupy a corner of the reef at the extreme northwest tip of the atoll, small islets are found on reef sections between channels on the west side. The lagoon of Butaritari is deep and can accommodate large ships and it is the most fertile of the Gilbert Islands, with relatively good soils and high rainfall. Butaritari atoll has an area of 13.49 km2. During World War II, Butaritari was known by US forces as Makin Atoll, locally, Makin is the name of a separate atoll three kilometers to the northeast of Butaritari. Butaritari is the second most northerly of the Gilbert Islands, three kilometers to the northeast is Makin, Butaritari was called Makin Atoll by the U. S. military, and present-day Makin was then known as Makin Meang or Little Makin to distinguish it. Now that Butaritari has become the name for the larger atoll. Butaritari has also previously known as Pitt Island, Taritari Island. The atoll is roughly four-sided and nearly 30 km across in the east-west direction, the reef is more submerged and broken into several broad channels along the west side. Small islets are found on reef sections between these channels, the atoll reef is continuous but almost without islets along the north side. In the northeast corner, the reef is some 1.75 km across, thus, the lagoon of Butaritari is very open to exchange with the ocean. The lagoon is deep and can accommodate ships, though the entrance passages are relatively narrow. The south and southeast portion of the atoll comprises a nearly continuous islet, broken only by a single and these islets are mostly between 0.2 km and 0.5 km across, but widen in the areas where the reef changes directions. Mangrove swamps appear well developed in these areas as well as all along the southern lagoon shore. Narrow islets are somewhat characteristic of Kiribati atolls running east-west, bikati and Bikatieta islets occupy a corner of the reef at the extreme northwest tip of the atoll, bordering what may be a second small lagoon to the north of the main lagoon. Seepage of saltwater into the pits in which babai is grown is the concern of islanders. The erosion problems are identified as being linked to mining, land reclamation
Media related to