Cabras Island was historically a low-lying finger of land off the coast of

Piti Piti may refer to: * Pīti, a mental factor in Buddhism * PITI, the principal, interest, taxes, and insurance sum of a mortgage payment * Piti (food), a soup dish of Central Asia * Piti (footballer) (born 1981), Spanish footballer * Piti, Guam * Pi ...

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

that formed part of the northern protective arm of Apra Harbor. Shortly after the 1944 Battle of Guam it was connected by a causeway to the mainland and extended by the Glass Breakwater, and is now typically referred to simply as Cabras. Cabras houses both the

Port of Guam The Port of Guam (officially, Jose D. Leon Guerrero Commercial Port) handles over ninety percent of total imports to the United States island territory of Guam. Located in the north of Apra Harbor on Cabras Island, it shares harbor waters with ...

and the primary Guam Power Authority generators supplying Guam. It lends its name to both a small vessel Cabras Marina, near the mainland, and the large vessel Cabras Channel, connecting the port to the deeper waters of the middle harbor.

History

A corruption of the

CHamoru Chamorro (; ch, Finuʼ Chamorro, links=no (CNMI), (Guam)) is an Austronesian language spoken by about 58,000 people (about 25,800 people on Guam and about 32,200 in the rest of the Mariana Islands and elsewhere). It is the native and spoken ...

name for Cabras, ''apapa'', meaning "low", gives Apra Harbor its name. Before the twentieth century, Apra Harbor was protected by the Guam mainland to the east; Cabras Island, Luminao Reef, and Calalan Bank to the north; and

Orote Peninsula The Orote Peninsula is a four kilometer-long peninsula jutting from the west coast of the United States territory of Guam. A major geologic feature of the island, it forms the southern coast of Apra Harbor and the northern coast of Agat Bay. Its t ...

to the south. After Spanish improvements to the harbor in the 1700s,

became the main port, with the only real road connecting Piti to the capital of Hagåtña to the north. The reef separating Cabras Island from the mainland was exposed at low tide and easily crossable by foot. The island was used for a quarantine camp. Among the improvements recommended by a 1930s board headed by Rear Admiral Arthur Japy Hepburn in the run-up to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

was a breakwater upon Luminao Reef to the west of Cabras Island. Construction began in August 1941. Limestone blocks quarried at Cabras Island were skidded along the reef to an improvised

derrick A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be articulated over a load by adjusting its guys. Most derricks have at least two components, either a guyed mast or self-supporting tower, and ...

. By the time of the Japanese invasion in December 1941, one mile of breakwater, 36 feet wide five-feet above sea level had been constructed. The Glass Breakwater, named after the captain who captured Guam in 1898, was extended on Calalan Bank to a width of . The northern arm of Apra Harbor, from the main island through Cabras to the tip of the breakwater at Spanish Rocks measured . In 1964, the

Commander Naval Forces Marianas Commander Naval Forces Marianas, also known as COMNAVMARIANAS, is the Navy force shore commander responsible for United States Navy activities in Guam, Saipan, Tinian and the surrounding islands, and is an Rear Admiral. COMNAVMARIANAS is current ...

proposed that the commercial port be moved out of Inner Apra Harbor on

Naval Base Guam Naval Base Guam is a strategic U.S. naval base located on Apra Harbor and occupying the Orote Peninsula. In 2009, it was combined with Andersen Air Force Base to form Joint Region Marianas, which is a Navy-controlled joint base. The Ship Repa ...

to a new location on Cabras. Much of the funding for the

facility came through the Guam Rehabilitation Act of 1963, passed by Congress to rebuild the island after the devastation of

Typhoon Karen Typhoon Karen was the most powerful tropical cyclone to strike the island of Guam, and has been regarded as one of the most destructive events in the island's history. It was first identified as a tropical disturbance on November 6, 1962, ...

. The new port was completed in June 1969. The breakwater road is sometimes closed for security reasons during visits by ships. The island is also used for snorkeling and watersports.

References

Geography of Guam Islands of Guam Piti, Guam Apra Harbor {{Guam-geo-stub