Nimitz Hill is a hill in

Asan-Maina, Guam Asan-Maina () is a Villages of Guam, village located on the western shore of the United States territory of Guam. The municipality combines the names of the coastal community of Asan, Guam, Asan with Maina, Guam, Maina, a community along the slopes ...

. It lies within the

Nimitz Hill Annex Nimitz Hill Annex is a community and census-designated place (CDP) in Asan-Maina, Guam. It contains the geographic feature of Nimitz Hill, and is located immediately northeast of the Nimitz Hill CDP in Piti. In normal conversation, the Nimitz Hil ...

CDP (

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

). The US Navy headquarters for Guam (

Joint Region Marianas Joint Region Marianas' mission is to provide installation management support to all Department of Defense components and tenants through assigned regional installations on Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands in support of training in the Marian ...

and

Commander Naval Forces Marianas The 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 curr ...

) lie near the crest of the hill. The hill is named after American admiral

Chester W. Nimitz Chester William Nimitz (; 24 February 1885 – 20 February 1966) was a fleet admiral in the United States Navy. He played a major role in the naval history of World War II as Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet, and Commander in Chief, ...

who was Commander in Chief of the

Pacific Ocean Areas Pacific Ocean Areas (POA) was a major Allied military command in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands during the Pacific War and one of three United States commands in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. ...

during

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 ...

with his headquarters in

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

. The hill is capped with

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

belonging to the Alifan limestone formation (

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

). The limestone is up to 150 feet thick with the base of the bed between 300 and 600 feet altitude. There is a limestone quarry on the hill. There are many caves on Nimitz Hill, some of them large, formed through

fractures Fracture is the appearance of a crack or complete separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress (mechanics), stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacemen ...

and

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...

s. On 6 August 1997

Korean Air Flight 801 Korean Air Flight 801 (KE801, KAL801) was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Korean Air, from Gimpo International Airport, Seoul to Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport, Guam. On August 6, 1997, the Boeing 747-300 operatin ...

crashed south of Nimitz Hill killing 228 people out of the 254 on board. The crash was blamed on pilot error exacerbated by the FAA switching off the

MSAW Minimum safe altitude warning (MSAW) is an automated warning system for air traffic controllers (ATCO). It is a ground-based safety net intended to warn the controller about increased risk of controlled flight into terrain accidents by generating, ...

within of landing.''Aircraft Accident Report: Controlled Flight Into Terrain, Korean Air Flight 801, Boeing 747-300, HL7468, Nimitz Hill, Guam, August 6, 1997''
pp. xi, 28, National Transportation Safety Board, 13 January 2000. While the crash was nearly on the top of the NIMITZ VOR navigation beacon, the NIMITZ VOR is located on Bijia Peak, separated from Nimitz Hill by the

Fonte River The Fonte River is a river in the United States territory of Guam. The NRHP-listed Fonte River Dam is located in its upper reaches, south of Nimitz Hill Annex. See also *List of rivers of Guam This is a list of rivers in Guam, a (U.S. territory ...

valley. However, Nimitz Hill Annex was the closest community to the crash site.

References

{{reflist Asan-Maina, Guam Hills of Oceania