PALMYRA BASE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVI, Issue 21379, 23 June 1939, Page 7

PALMYRA BASE

American Scheme Defence In The Pacific Palmyra, that ring of palm-studded islets which lie 960 miles south of Hawaii yet fall within the extensive boundaries of the City and County of Honolulu, is to lose Its distinction as one of the bachelor islands in the archipelago, says the Honolulu correspondent of the “Christian Science Monitor.” By inclusion in the expanding Pacific defence programme of the United States Navy, Palmyra is soon to be wedded to cvilisation. Plans for developing the atoll into a base for naval planes and surface craft are being prepared, according to an announcement by navy officials in Honolulu. Palmyra will thus become one of the outposts on the navy’s new line of observation, west of Hawaii; a series of islands strategically located for use by seaplane bases. This line will begin with Kodiak Island in the Aleutians and will swing west of Hawaii through Midway and Johnston Islands, south through Palmyra and Canton in the Phoenix group to American Samoa. Principal work to be done to fit Palmyra into this semi-circle of "lookout” posts is the blasting of a channel into her spacious lagoon and the further blastng of coral, which now separates the lagoon into three distinct sections. Item in Navy Bill First intimation that the navy intended to move into Palmyra was contained in a small item tucked away in the appropriation Bill which failed to win Congressional approval last year. The item requested appropriation of 25,000 dollars for the purchase of part of Palmyra for navy use. Later reports from Washington indicated the Interior Department was contemplating acquisition of the atoll as a national monument. It was also suggested that the Navy and Interior Departments might work out a cooperative scheme for use of the atoll. Although recognising the value of the island to the navy’s scheme of defence in the Pacific, many residents of Hawaii will be disappointed to see it become another plane base and thus lose its distinction as one of the few unmolested atolls which fit story-book descriptions of a “south sea island." Palmyra is a chain of 52 islets encircling a lagoon . which measures approximately five and two thirds miles east and west by one and one half miles north and south. It is possible to walk from islet to islet by wading through shallow water separating the links in the group as an area of 46 acres; the smallest is less than half an acre. All are low. The highest rises only six feet above the sea. But all are covered by a lush growth of coconut trees, some of which tower to heights of 50 and 60 feet, and are visible to ships 12 to 15 miles at sea. Fishing Parties Privately owner by Mr and Mrs L. Fullard-Leo of Honolulu, the islands have remained uninhabited during recent years except for occasional fishing parties or when they become the temporary haven of some vagabond yacht to or from the South Pacific. During the last three years they have been visited regularly ly Department of Interior expeditions carrying relief personnel and supplies to colonists on Jarvis, Howland, and Baker Islands These exp I tions have called at Palmyra to obtain coconut seedlings for transplanting on the more 1 arren atolls in the south. Although records show the islands were discovered by Captain Sawle of the American ship Palmyra on November 7, 1802, the atoll has been the subject of competitive claims by the United States and Great Britain. Many maps showed the islands as British even aftei they were formally annexed to the United States by Admiral Sutherland, Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet in 1912. When the scramble for trans-Pacific air routes was beginning in 1934, the State Department issued a statement to the effect that Palmyra was a part of the Hawaiian group. Since the new era of BritishAmerican “understanding” in the Pacific evinced by joint British-Ameri-can occupation of Canton Island in the Phoenix Group, and the apparent acceptance by Great Britain of American claims to Jarvis, Howland, and Baker, it is generally assumed that the navy’s occupation of Palmyra will not be challenged. Territorial records show that Palmyra was acquired by Mr and Mrs Fullard-Leo from Henry E. Cooper on August 19, 1922. Since that time the Fullard-Leos have kept up tax payments on the property. The terms of the agreement which they have reached with the navy for use of the islands have not been revealed.