Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Western Pacific Islands

Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields:

Western Pacific Islands

French Frigate Shoals NAF - Guam Northwest AAF / Guam Northwest AFB (revised 8/13/08)

Johnston Atoll Airport (revised 6/17/07) - Midway Eastern Island

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Guam Northwest Army Airfield / Guam Northwest Air Force Base,

Agafo Gumas, Guam

13.62 North / 144.86 West (Southwest of Hawaii)

A circa 1945 aerial view (courtesy of Larry Miller & the 315^th Bomb Wing Page)

looking northwest at a B-29 bomber, tail # 42-63674, of the 315^th Bomb Wing, 501^st Bomb Group

in flight over Guam Northwest Field.

Northwest Field was constructed in 1944-45 near Ritidian Point on the northwest end of the island of Guam.

Construction was accomplished by the Army Air Corp 1865^th Aviation Engineering Battalion

and Navy Construction Battalions (SeaBees).

Deployed ground echelon personnel also assisted in construction, prior to the arrival of their Groups air echelon.

Guam Northwest Field became the home of the 20^th Air Force, 315^th Bomb Wing, equipped with the Boeing B-29 bomber.

The first units to arrive at Northwest Field were personnel of the 315^th Wing HQ, 16^th & 501^st Bomb Groups in April, 1945.

The 331^st & 502^nd Bomb Groups arrived in May, 1945.

The first B-29s arrived there in May of 1945 after undergoing crew training in the states.

The field ultimately had 2 runways, the north & south runways.

The south runway was the 1^st to be completed.

However, when the first 315^th aircraft were deployed to Guam,

the south runway was still under construction & they had to land at nearby North Field

(which eventually became today's Andersen AFB).

When the main air echelons of the 16^th & 501^st Bomb Groups arrived the south runway was complete, but the taxiways were not.

Aircraft had to be towed to their parking spaces over the rough coral.

By the time the air echelons of the 331^st & 502^nd Bomb Groups arrived, both runways were complete.

A 1940s aerial view (courtesy of Larry Miller & the 315^th Bomb Wing Page) looking southeast at Northwest Field.

Note the large number of B-29s parked on the field.

The 331^st Bomb Group used the ramp space in the center of the base,

the 502^nd Bomb Group used the area on the east side,

and the 16^th & 501^st Bomb Groups used ramp space on the west side.

A B-29B of the 501^st Bomb Group taking off from Northwest Field on June 26, 1945 (courtesy of Larry Miller & the 315^th Bomb Wing Page)

for first Empire mission flown by the 16^th & 501^st Bomb Groups.

Note the B-29B's characteristic radar antenna “wing” visible under the fuselage between the main landing gear.

Northwest Field's 315^th Bomb Wing was primarily equipped with the somewhat rare B-29B version of the bomber.

The distinction of the "B"-model was to save weight by removing all of the B-29's guns & sighting equipment except the tail gun.

The weight savings gave the B-29B a slight increase in speed & range.

The 15^th & final mission of the 315^th Bomb Wing & the final mission of the war

was a round trip of over 3,650 miles to the Nippon Oil Company at Tsuchizakiminato

on the north west coast of Honshu, the main island of Japan.

The B-29B also had 2 new radar units installed.

The AN/APQ-7 Eagle Radar was used for bombing & navigation,

and the AN/APG-15 was used for aiming the tail gun.

These 2 radar units gave the B-29B a distinctive shape

as the APQ-7 antenna appeared as a small wing under the fuselage (between the 2 bomb bay doors)

and the APG-15 added a ball-shaped antenna to the tail of the aircraft below the tail guns.

A circa 1945 photo of a B-29B's tail turret at Northwest Field (courtesy of Larry Miller & the 315^th Bomb Wing Page).

Note the B-29B's characteristic spherical tail gun radome,

as well as the central 20mm gun (which was eventually removed, leaving the normal tail gun armament of twin 0.50-caliber guns).

A May-June 1946 photo by Ken Moore of a P-47 being boresighted at Guam Northwest Field (courtesy of Larry Miller & the 315^th Bomb Wing Page).

Ken recalled, “The outfit was the 7^th Fighter Command, 21^st Fighter Group, 46^th Fighter Squadron.

I was with the 46^th Fighter Squadron & was an armorer.

We were the only Fighter Group attached to the 20^th Air Force.”

The earliest aeronautical chart depiction which has been located of Guam Northwest Field

was on a 1958 World Aeronautical Chart.

It depicted “Northwest Guam AFB” as an active airfield.

The last aeronautical chart depiction which has been located of Guam Northwest Field

was on the June 1971 Hawaiian Islands & Marianas Islands Sectional Chart (courtesy of Ron Plante).

It depicted “Northwest AFB” as being open for emergency use only, and having 2 paved runways, with the longest being 8,500'.

John Voss recalled, “When I visited Guam I made an attempt to get on to Northwest Field but was unsuccessful

as the north end of the island fell under the jurisdiction of Anderson AFB as there was a lot of B-52 activity at the time ( i.e. Vietnam War).”

Northwest Field was closed as an airfield at some point between 1958-80,

as the 1980 USGS topo map labeled the runways of “Andersen Air Force Base (Northwest Field)” as an “Abandoned Airfield”.

Note the street grid for the huge ammunition bunker complex to the southeast of the airfield – built during the Vietnam War?

A 1992 aerial view by Ron Plante, looking northeast along the Guam Northwest runways, taken from a flying club Cessna 150.

Note the 2 radomes which were built along the south ramp.

A circa 2006 aerial view of Guam Northwest Field (courtesy of Ron Plante) showed the 2 runways, ramps, and numerous taxiways.

Note the huge ammunition bunker complex to the southeast of the airfield,

and the 2 radomes on the south ramp.

An undated aerial view looking southwest along Guam Northwest Field's runways.

An article in the 7/28/08 issue of Aviation Week magazine (courtesy of Ron Plante)

described how the Air Force was reusing Northwest Field for training purposes:

“Northwest Field, a 2,000-acre base used for World War II B-29 night bombing operations, was long deserted.

But its 8,400' twin runways, made with an extremely strong combination of crushed coral & limestone

with 1.5” of asphalt on top, and a maze of taxiways remain intact.

It’s now the heart of a rehabilitation and construction effort costing more than $200 million to provide barracks, vehicle facilities,

simulators, classrooms, armories, warehousing and training sites for these highly specialized forces.

A total of 89 projects encompass the building of 80+ facilities that include roads,

water tanks, pump houses, utilities as well as an electrical grid and substation.

The winding taxiways that once allowed the dispersal of hundreds of B-29 heavy bombers are now overhung by jungle.

In a clever piece of innovation, they are being used for practicing defense & reaction against convoy ambushes.

Other new construction includes weapons ranges, field exercise areas

and an unused residential area that has been turned into an urban assault course.

The south runway has been opened for helicopter & air-drop operations

and may eventually be used as a C-130 landing site.”

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French Frigate Shoals Naval Air Facility,

Tern Island, French Frigate Shoals

23.87 North / 166.28 West (Northwest of Hawaii)

Aerial view of French Frigate Shoals in 1943. National Archives photo.

This location is one of the most spectacular & distinctive airfields in the world.

It most closely resembles an aircraft carrier,

in that nearly every available acre of land of the island is taken up by its runway.

The French Frigate Shoals consist of a crescent-shaped atoll of small islands, 18 miles in diameter.

They are located 550 miles northwest of Honolulu.

The islands first played a part in WW2 when they were included in Japanese plans

to be used to refuel seaplanes from submarines in the sheltered waters of the atoll,

as part of their campaign to conquer Midway Island.

Such a refueling was successfully carried out in 1942 by two H8K Emily flying boats,

which was refueled by a submarine within the French Frigate Shoals atoll.

The seaplanes then mounted a bombing raid on Pearl Harbor,

although they were thwarted from hitting their targets by inclement weather.

Later in 1942, elements of the 5^th Seabee Battalion arrived on Tern Island to begin construction of an airfield.

The island was only a few hundred feet long, yet was expanded by dredged coral

to create 3,100' x 275' runway & a ramp area sufficient for 24 single engine aircraft.

The expanded island's area encompassed 27 acres, of which 20 were taken up by the airfield.

On the meager remaining land, partially buried Quonset Huts were erected to serve as housing,

painted white to blend in with the surrounding coral.

The typical complement was 118 men, who rotated from Pearl Harbor on a three month tour.

The station was commissioned in 1943 as an auxiliary of NAS Pearl Harbor.

It served as an emergency landing strip & refueling stop for fighter squadrons transiting between Hawaii & Midway,

and provided surveillance of the surrounding area.

It was protected by a variety of anti-aircraft artillery.

After the end of WW2, the island was swept clean by a tidal wave in 1946,

after which point the base was closed by the Navy.

In 1952, the Coast Guard built a LORAN navigation beacon tower on the island,

along with a 20 man supporting facility.

The runway was used for a weekly mail & supply flight.

The Coast Guard installation continued in operation until 1979.

A 1961 NOAA aerial photo of French Frigate Shoals.

French Frigate Shoals Airfield, as depicted on the 1963 Pacific Enroute Chart (courtesy of John Voss).

Tern Island also played an interesting role during the early days of space flight.

During 1961-63, the Pacific Missile Range had a portable tracking station located at one end of the island,

operated by the Bendix Radio company, and staffed with 6-10 people.

PMR tracked not only the USAF Discoverer spacecraft but also the Soviet Union's space efforts,

including their first manned mission.

The PMR personnel lived in the Quonset Hut located about halfway down the runway,

and later, during the Starfish atomic tests, two house trailers were shipped to the island.

An Air Force C-130, conducting a run down the runway at French Frigate Shoals,

during which it performing a mid-air retrieval of a satellite tracking data canister. Undated.

A Coast Guard C-123 landing on French Frigate Shoals in the 1960s.

Aerial view from the 1960s, by Bill Wood.

An unusual shot of a CH-3B Sea King in USAF markings, by Jerry Lentz.

The helicopter visited French Frigate Shoals during the 1960s,

while assigned to a missile tracking ship visiting the island.

The Tern Island runway was used by specially equipped C-130s from Hickam AFB.

The C-130 had a rig hanging out the rear cargo door that was usually used for snagging in mid-air

the parachute of a descending Discoverer satellite capsule.

When the French Frigate Shoals tracking installation obtained data from a particularly important track,

The data tapes would be put in a fiberglass canister,

attached by a nylon rope to a grappling hook at the top of a pole erected on the runway.

This would be snagged by the C-130 in mid-air above the runway.

They would not land on FFS because the coral sand would be ingested in the engines when the props reversed.

After PMR left Tern Island, tracking was conducted on specially outfitted ships such as the USNS Longview.

USAF helicopters assigned to these ships (such as the UH-3 in the above photo)

would occasionally pay a visit to French Frigate Shoals if they were within range.

In recent years, Tern Island became part of the Hawaiian & Pacific Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex.

A ranger station occupies the former Coast Guard buildings,

and is occupied by small groups of researchers.

The runway continues to be used for occasional personnel transfer & supply flights.

See also:

http://www.letarc.net/ffsavion/

http://www.radiojerry.com/frigate/

http://www.letarc.net/ffsavion/

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Henderson Field, Midway Eastern Island

28.2 North / 177.33 West (Northwest of Hawaii)

Aerial view of Eastern Island in 1944, looking north. National Archives photo.

The Midway Islands are best known as the location of the pivotal battle of the Pacific Theatre of WW2.

The Midway coral atoll is approximately five miles in diameter.

The atoll has 2 islands: Sand Island (which has an area of 1,201 acres),

and the smaller Eastern Island (with 334 acres).

Naval Air Station Midway Islands was commissioned in 1941.

It consisted of a seaplane facility on Sand Island & a landplane airfield on Eastern Island.

The Eastern Island airfield initially comprised three runways, 2 hangars & a barracks,

Midway was shelled by a Japanese destroyer on the same day as the Pearl Harbor attack,

and was shelled by a submarine several months later.

During the climatic Battle of Midway in 1942,

the Japanese were so sure of their victory that they deliberately spared the runways of Eastern Island

for their use after the capture of the island.

That didn't happen, due to their overwhelming defeat in the waters surrounding Midway.

Aircraft of the Navy, Marine Corps & Army operated from Eastern Island,

and helped to turn back the Japanese Fleet.

After the Battle of Midway,

the airfield on Eastern Island was named in honor of Major Lofton Henserson, who perished in the battle.

Work also commenced on a larger airfield on Sand Island.

By the end of WW2, Eastern Island's airfield had a total of three asphalt runways:

6/24 (5,300' long), 3/21 (4,500'), and 12/30 (3,250'),

The airfields on the 2 Midway Islands,

as depicted on the 1963 Pacific Enroute Chart (courtesy of John Voss).

The airfield on Eastern Island was abandoned after WW2,

as the longer runways on Sand Island were more suitable for modern aircraft.

Eastern Island has been uninhabited since 1970.

The airfield & port facilities on Sand Island continued in use by the Navy until 1993,

at which point the islands were transferred to the Department of the Interior,

to become part of the Hawaiian & Pacific Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex.

The airfield on Sand Island has remained open as a civil field,

operated by a government contractor.

A recent aerial view looking southeast at Eastern Island, showing the 3 runways which remain intact.

Ted Brattstrom reported in 2008, “The runways are there - but the there are no buildings left on Eastern Island.

Some revetments are still present, and one of the runways had lights

and was a backup / emergency strip in the late 1990s when Midway Phoenix was running tourists to the island.

I would not have wanted to land there, as they were not cutting the weeds on the runway... it would have been a little too exciting.”

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Johnston Atoll Airport (PJON), Johnston Atol

16.73 North / 169.54 West (Southwest of Hawaii)

Johnston Island AFB, as depicted on the 1956 Johnston Island World Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

A 1956 photo by Richard Potter of a C-124 Globemaster at Johnston.

A circa 1956 postcard of the facilities at Johnston,

taken from the control tower looking south (courtesy of Richard Potter).

A 1956 photo by Richard Potter of the fire trucks of the Johnston Island Fire Department.

Located 717 nautical miles southwest of Oahu, Johnston Atoll is one of the most isolated atolls in the world.

Johnston Atoll is a broad shallow platform of approximately 50 square miles

with a marginal reef emergent only on the northwest.

The atoll consists of four coral islands: Johnston Island, Sand Island, North Island, and East Island.

At just over 625 acres, Johnston Island is the largest island

and the base for all operations & management activities, including all personnel & community support functions.

Johnston Atoll was accidentally discovered in 1796 by Captain Joseph Pierpont of the American Brig Sally.

He published a notice of his ship's grounding in several American newspapers in 1797,

giving an accurate position & noting the 2 original islands (Johnston & Sand) and the incomplete marginal reef.

Lt. William Smith of HMS Cornwallis named the larger island for his ship's captain, Charles Johnston,

after sighting it briefly in 1807.

During the late 1800s, the Atoll was claimed by both the Kingdom of Hawaii & the US.

This claim was settled when Hawaii became a US Territory.

In 1934 Franklin Roosevelt placed the atoll under the control of the Navy.

Navy development began in earnest in 1936 with reef blasting,

dredging, landfilling & grading & construction on the islands.

The atoll was briefly shelled by Japanese naval units shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack but combat soon shifted west

and the island's role changed from an outpost to an aircraft & submarine stopover & refueling base.

Johnston was transferred again in 1948 to the Air Force.

Chuck Salge recalled, "In 1953, my mother & I departed Parks AFB, CA on a flight to Guam.

On that flight, our plane developed engine trouble & made an emergency landing at Johnston Island.

We spent the night & awoke to 'water in every direction'"!

Dick Potter recalled, "I was stationed at Johnston Island AFB from Jan 1956 to Dec 1956 in the Fire Dept.

When I first arrived, there were some civilians & dependents on the island along with about 300 Air Force personnel.

The dependents & most of the active duty personnel left in May (I think)

and the base was pretty much closed down except for emergency landings.

We got 2 'turnarounds' a week.

At first they were C-97s, then we started getting C-121s (or R7Vs when the Navy came down).

I was 18 years old at the time I was there,

and thought that year would never end.

However I do have some fond memories & am still in touch with an old pal that was there at the same time."

Johnston Island AFB was depicted on the 1956 Johnston Island World Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)

as having a 5,900' runway.

In the late 50's & early 60's a series of high altitude nuclear tests brought new activity & attention to Johnston Atoll.

A series of dredge & fill projects completed in 1964 brought the size of Johnston Island up to 625 acres from its original 46,

increased Sand Island from 10 to 22 acres, and added 2 manmade islands, North (Akau) and East (Hikina) of 25 & 18 acres.

The atoll became contaminated with plutonium through 2 aborted missile launches

during high altitude nuclear weapons testing conducted in 1962.

Johnston Island AFB, as depicted on the 1963 Pacific Enroute Chart (courtesy of John Voss).

The base post office & control tower at Johnston Atoll, 1964, with a C-54 departing in the background (photo by George Miller).

Beginning in 1964 a series of large open-air biological weapon tests was conducted downwind of Johnston Atoll.

The American strategic bioweapon tests involved a number of ships positioned around Johnston Atoll,

upwind from a number of barges loaded with rhesus monkey test subjects

which were exposed to agents dispensed from aircraft.

The Air Force retained operational control of Johnston Atoll until 1962,

with the exception of 4 months in 1958 when Joint Task Force 7 held operational control.

From 1962-63, Joint Task Force 8 & the Atomic Energy Commission jointly held operational control of Johnston Atoll

for the purpose of conducting high-altitude atmospheric nuclear testing operations.

In 1963, the Congressionally mandated Safeguard C provision to the Limited Test Ban Treaty

(and subsequent Nuclear Testing Treaties) formed the basis for maintaining Johnston Atoll as a readiness-to-test site

should the resumption of atmospheric nuclear testing be deemed essential to our national security.

Joint Task Force 8 retained operational control of Johnston Atoll from 1963-70

as the Limited Test Ban Treaty came into force identifying Johnston Atoll as the principal overseas readiness-to-test base.

In 1970, Johnston Atoll was again transferred to the Air Force.

Chemical weapons have been stored on Johnston Island since 1971.

A 1981 Defense Nuclear Agency Master Plan for Johnston Atoll (courtesy of Eric Patrick).

In 1993, Congress zero-funded the Johnston Atoll Safeguard C mission

and defined the military mission as storage & destruction of chemical weapons.

A 1990 NOAA nautical chart of Johnston Atoll.

An undated but recent aerial view of Johnston Atoll.

Since 1990, an extensive operation on Johnston Island has performed the deactivation & destruction

of 400,000 rockets, bombs, projectiles, mortars, and mines containing chemical weapons.

The last of the chemical stockpile was destroyed in 2000.

The chemical weapon destruction facilities were being closed down in 2002,

with the island to revert to being a US Wildlife Refuge in 2008.

Despite the extraordinary security on the island & unknown to most travelers heading to Hawaii,

Johnston was the designated alternative landing site for long-range twin-engine aircraft.

Greg Zieber recalled, "I lived & worked on Johnston Island for 6.5 years, 1994 to mid 2000.

There were several times that the runway was used for emergency landings.

Small civil aviation type aircraft (Cessna for example), large commercial jet aircraft including a Quantas 747,

and various military aircraft also used the airfield for bona fide declared emergencies.

Some examples were low on fuel due to high headwinds, loss of cabin pressure,

passengers in need of medical attention, bird strikes etc.

Aloha Airlines also made weekly scheduled flights to the island carrying civilian & military personnel,

and also for refueling before continuing down range to the Marshall Islands.

In the 1990's there were flights almost daily, and some days saw up to 3 aircraft."

The US Army, which operated the chemical weapons destruction facility,

said in 2001 that they planned to begin to decommissioning the runway in 2002.

That would make it fail to qualify under the "extended-range twin-engine operations" (ETOPS) rules

which apply to twin engine airliners such as the 737, 757, 767, 777, MD80/90, A300/310, A319/320/321, and A330.

The problem for airline operators from Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand & Fiji

heading toward Hawaii is that Johnston cannot be easily replaced.

Air New Zealand spokesman David Beatson said in 2002

that Johnston will be their designated alternative "while it is available."

He said his firm was considering using Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands,

1,420 miles southwest of Johnston.

The only other possible alternative is the bleak Kiribati atoll of Kanton, 1,300 miles to the south of Johnston.

Only a handful of people live there.

"At this point, we are not considering using Kanton, as it currently does not meet ETOPS standards,

and that is a fundamental requirement from our perspective," Beatson said.

ETOPS requires twin-engine aircraft to operate for up to 180 minutes from an "en route" alternative airport.

Boeing 767s are the most widely used aircraft for ETOPS.

Most flights from Asia to the mainland US will not be affected by the loss of Johnston

as they fly a circular route to the north & alternative airports are available across the Aleutians, Russia & Alaska.

Mid-Pacific operators also have alternatives at Midway Island, Saipan in the Northern Marianas & Wake Island.

Continental Air Micronesia served the island commercially, touching down between Honolulu & Majuro.

When the aircraft landed it was surrounded by armed soldiers & passengers were not allowed to leave the aircraft.

With a bleak look to it, fierce heat & wind & the knowledge of what was on the island,

there was seldom any incentive to get off.

As of 2003, the airfield at Johnston Atoll consisted of a single 9,000' asphalt/concrete Runway 5/23,

a parallel taxiway, and a large paved ramp along the southeast side of the runway.

A recent (undated, but submitted in 2004) photo of the runway at Johnston, marked as closed (courtesy of Ron Plante).

A recent photo (undated, but submitted in 2004 by Ron Plante) of the former housing area at Johnston,

showing that all of the buildings have been removed.

The runway is visible at top-left.

This photo depicts the same area as that shown in the 1956 photo several paragraphs below.

A circa 2000-2006 photo (courtesy of Ron Plante) looking northeast along Johnston's abandoned runway.

Thanks to John Voss for information about Johnston Atoll Airport.