Naval Base Kwajalein was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

base built on

Kwajalein Atoll Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese language, Marshallese: ) is part of the Marshall Islands, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking re ...

, in the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

to support the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

efforts in the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

. The base was built after the

Battle of Kwajalein The Battle of Kwajalein was fought as part of the Pacific campaign of World War II. It took place 31 January – 3 February 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Employing the hard-learned lessons of the Battle of Tarawa, the Unite ...

ended 3 February 1944. The US Navy built airfields, a seaport and a craft repair depot on the captured islands. The base was part of the vast

Naval Base Marshall Islands Naval Base Marshall Islands were United States Navy advance bases built on the Marshall Islands during World War II to support the Pacific War efforts. The bases were built by US Navy after the Marshall Islands campaign that captured the island ...

History

The US Armed Forces planned and carried out Operation Flintlock on 31 January 1944 in the

amphibious landing Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted ...

s on Kwajalein. The

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

took Kwajalein by 4 February 1944. On 4 February 1944 the US Navy's

Seabee United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Forces (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Dependi ...

s built Kwajalein into a major base and staging area for future operations. On Kwajalein the Seabee built an airfield, the Kwajalein Airfield. The US Navy and

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

operated out of the airfield. US Navy supported the Marines unit VMB-613 (Marine Bombing Squadron) that operated PBJ, the US Navy's version of the

North American B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allies of World War ...

. Unit VMO-115 (Marine Observation Squadron) operated

Vought F4U Corsair The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Vought, Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production con ...

from the base. Before the US Navy Seabees could start construction all the 121 Seabees had to remove the debris on the island, the remains of the heavy bombing done before the amphibious landing. Naval Base Kwajalein Fleet PO Box was 3233.

Roi Island

On Roi Island, also called Roi-Namur as there was road

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...

between Roi and Namur, the Seabees built a base. Seabees built the Roi-Namur Airfield. (Roi Airfield), later renamed

Dyess Army Airfield Dyess Army Airfield (, also known as Freeflight International Airport) is a military airfield on Roi-Namur, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands. It is owned by the United States Army. Approximately 60 U.S. personnel reside on the base, with an add ...

starting 5 February. The runway was 4,300 feet long and 300 feet wide. On 13 February a new US

fighter plane Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the a ...

squadron arrived. On the same day the new airbase was bombed by Japanese bombers. The bomb dump was hit and caused a large fire. The 109th Seabees Battalion had 102 casualties and lost 75% of its supplies and 35% of it equipment. The 121st Seabees Battalion had 55 casualties. By 15 May over 100 planes were operating from the base. Attacks on Japan's bases at

Wotje Wotje Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 75 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Geography Wotje's land area of is one of the largest in the Marshall Islands, and ...

Jaluit Jaluit Atoll ( Marshallese: , , or , ) is a large coral atoll of 91 islands in the Pacific Ocean and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is , and it encloses a lagoon with a ...

, and Truk were carried out. In the sea off the Island, scrapped planes were dumped in about 30 to 130 feet of water. The site has become an

artificial reef An artificial reef (AR) is a human-created freshwater or marine benthic structure. Typically built in areas with a generally featureless bottom to promote Marine biology#Reefs, marine life, it may be intended to control #Erosion prevention, erosio ...

Namur Island

On Namur the 95th Seabees Battalion built a large supply depot. Some of the supplies were used to support the future

Battle of the Marianas Islands The Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, also known as Campaign Plan Granite II, was an offensive launched by the United States against Imperial Japanese forces in the Pacific between June and November 1944 during the Pacific War. The campaign ...

. On Namur the Seabees built a 4,000 barrel fuel tank farm. To support the troops a 300-bed hospital and

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

were built from Seabees

Quonset hut A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel with a semi-circular cross-section. The design was developed in the United States based on the Nissen hut introduced by the British during World War I. Hund ...

s. To load and unload supplies the Seabees built a pontoon pier. The captured 450 by 33 feet pier was used also. These piers were not in deep water some ships had to unload to small crafts to get supplies to the piers. A small craft repair depot was installed with its own dock. Seabees built craft motor overhaul shop and a 100-ton

marine railway A patent slip or marine railway is an inclined plane extending from shoreline into water, featuring a "cradle" onto which a ship is first floated, and a mechanism to haul the ship, attached to the cradle, out of the water onto a slip. The mar ...

. The marine railway was used

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

: crash boats,

picket boat A picket boat is a type of small naval craft. These are used for harbor patrol and other close inshore work, and have often been carried by larger warships as a ship's boat. They are usually 30 to 55 feet long. Patrol boats, or any craft engaged ...

s, and Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM).

Coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

was

quarried A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

from the atoll lagoon for roads and runways. Seabees built a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

to lumber native woods. Some native labor was hired for clean-up and sanitation work. In June 1944 the construction battalions were replaced by CBMU 590, Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 590.

Ebeye

Kwajalein headquarters was on

Ebeye Island Ebeye ( ; Marshallese: , or in older orthography, ; locally, , , after the English pronunciation) is the most populous island of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, and the second most populated island in the Marshall Islands. It is a cen ...

. At Ebeye the US Navy had a headquarters and port facilities in support of Naval Base Kwajalein. The US Navy Fleet post office Box was 807. Ebeye is the most populous island of Kwajalein Atoll, no base was built on the island. The island remained for civilian use only. Ebeye was used as a Japanese

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tech ...

base during World War II.

Airfields

* Bucholz Airfield, NAS Kwajalein to the Navy *Roi Airfield, named

Post war

Unlike most US Navy bases built during the World War II, the Kwajalein and Roi-Namur bases became American military bases used as

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

station and

tracking Tracking may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Tracking, in computer graphics, in match moving (insertion of graphics into footage) * Tracking, composing music with music tracker software * Eye tracking, measuring the position of ...

station. Much of the base was abandoned. There are underwater shipwrecks and aircraft that are popular dive sites today. In 1946 the base was used for support of

Operation Crossroads Operation Crossroads was a pair of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. They were the first nuclear weapon tests since Trinity on July 16, 1945, and the first detonations of nuclear devices sinc ...

, the start of a series of

nuclear test Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance of nuclear weapons and the effects of their explosion. Nuclear testing is a sensitive political issue. Governments have often performed tests to signal strength. Bec ...

s at the Marshall island atolls of

Bikini Atoll Bikini Atoll ( or ; Marshallese language, Marshallese: , , ), known as Eschscholtz Atoll between the 19th century and 1946, is a coral reef in the Marshall Islands consisting of 23 islands surrounding a central lagoon. The atoll is at the no ...

and

Enewetak Atoll Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; , , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with its 296 people (as of 2021) forms a leg ...

. At the end of the war, the Marshall Islands came under the control of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as part of the

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1994. The Imperial Japanese South Seas Mandate had been seized by the U.S. during the Pacifi ...

until the independence of the Marshall Islands in 1986. Marshall Islands were given self-government on 1 May 1979.

Compact of Free Association The Compacts of Free Association (COFA) are international agreements establishing and governing the relationships of free association between the United States and the three Pacific Island sovereign states of the Federated States of Micronesia ( ...

was make between the Marshall Islands and United States on 21 October 1986. These close associations United States dollar and English are used in the Marshall Islands. The Compact of Free Association agrees that US is responsible the defense of the Marshall Islands. The compact gives the Marshall Islands Marshallese) the right to

emigrate Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

, without a visa, to the United States . The vast

Kwajalein Missile Range The Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, commonly referred to as the Reagan Test Site (formerly Kwajalein Missile Range), is a missile test range in Marshall Islands (Pacific Ocean). It covers about and includes rocket launch s ...

was built Marshall Islands during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

Gallery

File:B-24 liberators- Kwajalein-June 1944.jpg,

Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

on Kwajalein in June 1944 File:USS LST-29 Kwajalein February 1944.jpg, USS LST-29 at Kwajalein causeway February 1944 File:Kwajalein Invasion, February 1944.jpg, Kwajalein February 1944 File:LST-476 and LST-479 land vehicles and supplies at Roi Island, circa in early February 1944 (80-G-54417).jpg, US Navy ship USS LST-476 and USS LST-479 land vehicles and supplies at Roi Island in February 1944 File:Wyspy Roi-Namur - mapa.PNG, Map of Roi-Namur during World War II. The causeway is roughly centered. File:SBD VB-16 over USS Washington 1943.jpg, An

SBD Dauntless The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-based scout/dive ...

flies patrol over USS ''Washington'' and USS ''Lexington'' during the Marshall islands campaign. File:Tradex.jpg, ALTAIR radar at Roi-Namur today File:Kwajalein Atoll 2003-02-07 - Landsat 7 - 30m.png, File:Kwajalein Atoll in 2003 by

Landsat 7 Landsat 7 is the seventh satellite of the Landsat program. Launched on 15 April 1999, Landsat 7's primary goal is to refresh the global archive of satellite photos, providing up-to-date and cloud-free images. The Landsat program is managed and ...

File:Dyess Army Airfield.png, Dyess Army Airfield File:Delta Mariner at Meck Island orig (2009).jpg,

Meck Island Meck Island (, ) is part of the Kwajalein Atoll in the Ralik Chain in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. Meck is part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, and a launch site for anti-ballis ...

part of

File:Nike Zeus tracking radars on Kwajalein in 1960s.jpg,

Nike Zeus Nike Zeus was an anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system developed by the United States Army during the late 1950s and early 1960s that was designed to destroy incoming Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile warheads before they could hit their ...

tracking radars on Kwajalein in 1960s File:Mt-Olympus Nike Zeus.jpg, Photo of "Mount Olympus", the Nike-Zeus launcher complex on Kwajalein Island. The built-up hill allowed full-sized Zeus silos to be built into land only feet above sea level.

References

{{USWWII Naval Stations of the United States Navy Closed installations of the United States Navy 1944 establishments in Oceania Military installations established in 1944 Kwajalein Atoll