Rendova is an island in Western Province, in the independent nation of

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

, in the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, east of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

Geography

Rendova Island is a roughly rectangular island, located in the

in the New Georgia Islands. The length of the island is about 40 kilometers. To the north is the island of

New Georgia New Georgia, with an area of , is the largest of the islands in Western Province (Solomon Islands), Western Province, Solomon Islands, and the List of islands by area, 203rd-largest island in the world. Since July 1978, the island has been par ...

and to the east is the island of Vangunu. Rendova is a volcanic island, with a central

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

cone, with a height of which last erupted in the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

; however, the island is subject to frequent earthquakes. The island is surrounded in some places by a

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

. The climate on Rendova is wet and tropical, and the island is subject to frequent cyclones.

Flora and fauna

The black-sand beaches along the southwest coast of Rendova are important nesting grounds for the critically endangered leatherback turtle. Community-based conservation organisation the Tetepare Descendants' Association runs a leatherback conservation program in the villages of Baniata, Havilla and Retavo on this coastline.

Population

In 1999, the population of Rendova was estimated at 3,679 people. There are two indigenous languages spoken on Rendova Island: the Austronesian language Ughele in the north, and the Papuan language Touo in the south.

History

American forces landing at Rendova Island

On March 15, 1893, Rendova was declared part of the

British Solomon Islands The British Solomon Islands Protectorate was first established in June 1893, when Captain Herbert Gibson of declared the southern Solomon Islands a British protectorate.''Commonwealth and Colonial Law'' by Kenneth Roberts-Wray, London, S ...

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...

. The island was occupied by the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

in the early stages of

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 ...

. On June 30, 1943, Allied forces carried out the

landings on Rendova The Landings on Rendova were amphibious military assaults by United States Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps and United States Navy, Navy forces on Rendova Island in the Solomon Islands on 30 June 1943. The small Japanese garrison wa ...

which quickly overcame the 300-man Japanese garrison as part of a strategy to ultimately recapture Munda and its airfield on the island of New Georgia. The island was subsequently used as a base by the

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 ...

for

PT boat A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, and it was valued for its maneuverability and speed. However, PT boats were hampe ...

operations. Solomon Islanders

Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana Biuku Gasa (27 July 1923 – 23 November 2005) and Eroni Kumana (c. 1918 – 2 August 2014) were Solomon Islands, Solomon Islanders of Melanesians, Melanesian descent who found John F. Kennedy and his surviving Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109, ''PT-109 ...

paddled their

dugout canoe A dugout canoe or simply dugout is a boat made from a hollowed-out tree. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. ''Monoxylon'' (''μονόξυλον'') (pl: ''monoxyla'') is Greek''mono-'' (single) + '' ξύλον xylon'' (tr ...

35 miles (60 km) to reach the base and deliver a message inscribed on a

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

from then-Lieutenant (junior grade)

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

after his PT boat, PT 109, was run down by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri and he and his crew were stranded on one of the local islands.PT 109, Donovan, R.J., McGraw Hill, c. 1961, 2001, Since 1978, the island has been part of the independent state of the

In popular culture

Rendova is the setting for the 2002 humorous book '' Solomon Time'' by Will Randall, about a British school teacher who moves to a village on Rendova to help organise a community project.

References

External links

http://www.tetepare.org/Global Volcanism ProjectHarold Scheffler Collection
from the Harold Scheffler Papers. MSS 481. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego. {{authority control Islands of the Solomon Islands Western Province (Solomon Islands)