Chapter I Intro & Objectives - SPREP

PHOENIX ISLANDS PROTECTED AREA MANAGEMENT PLAN
Chapter III. Background, 2. Human Activities
Draft 1 March 2007
A separate fighter plane landing strip was built on Abariringa (Canton) (Bryan 1974; see also
Stack 1982; on the north rim of Abariringa (Canton) according to McIntire 1960). The
fighter plane landing strip was 1.83 km (6,000 ft) (Garnett 1983a). Revetments were built to
protect the fighter aircraft (McIntire 1960).
A road was also built around the island (Bryan 1974). Concrete pillboxes and other
fortifications were built around Abariringa (Canton) (Degener and Gillaspy 1955). These
still dot the landscape.
In March 1941, Navy PBYs visited Abariringa (Canton) and completed assessments of the
island and Pan American Airways’ operations (Oates 2003). Later that month additional
Navy PBY visits were completed.
In November 1941, a Catalina PBY flying boat made a record non-stop flight from
Abariringa (Canton) to Sydney, Australia, a distance of 5,310 km (3,300 miles) (Anon.
1941b). This and other PBYs were purchased by Australia to minimize raiders in the South
Pacific.
In 1942 (McIntire 1960), the President Taylor was wrecked on Abariringa (Canton) when she
sought shelter in the lagoon after a warning that Japanese submarines were near (Clune
1951). According to Walker (1955), the Taylor was surprised by Japanese submarines and in
the attempt to bring her to safe water, she was run aground (two Japanese submarines
according to Degener and Degener 1959). The President Taylor was 159 m (522 ft) and
weighed 9,525 gross tonnes (10,500 gross tons) (McIntire 1960). According to Johnson
(1950), the President Taylor grounded while trying to avoid a reported Japanese submarine as
her escort destroyer moved off to drop depth charge patterns. According to Degener and
Gillaspy (1955), the President Taylor was caught in the channel current while trying to
disembark troops as close to shore as possible due to enemy submarine danger. According to
Murphy et al (1954), the officers of the President Taylor thought that they were being chased
by a submarine. A detailed account of the incident was also provided in Oates (2003).
During the war, there was a parade of visitors to Abariringa (Canton) including Noel Coward
(playwright), Rod Laver (tennis star) and Bobby Riggs (tennis star) (Oates 2003).
In 1942, Abariringa (Canton) was shelled three times by the Japanese (Knudson 1965; see
also Wright 1951; Oates 2003).
In probably late 1942, U.S. fighter aircraft began making regular reconnaissance flights from
Abariringa (Canton) (Knudson 1965). They occasionally would drop tobacco, cloth, soap,
candy, and chewing gum to villages on the various other Phoenix Islands.
In late 1942, a Japanese submarine shelled the President Taylor (Degener and Gillaspy 1955;
April 1942 according to Oates 2003).
In late 1942, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker (the most decorated American aviator in World
War I) was enroute to Abariringa (Canton) from Hawaii, when his B-17 aircraft went down
(Oates 2003; see also Wright 1951). He was eventually rescued and his story made headlines
in the U.S. (a detailed account of this flight was provided by Oates 2003). His story of the
ordeal was published in Life Magazine, including his account of eating sea gulls (Wright
1951). There were no seagulls within 1,000 miles of Abariringa (Canton) (Wright 1951).
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