Angaur Airstrip (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: アンガウル飛行場, Hepburn: Angauru hikōjō, ) is a small

airstrip An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

Angaur , or in Palauan, is an island and state in the island nation of Palau. History Angaur was traditionally divided among some eight clans. Traditional features within clan areas represent important symbols giving identity to families, clans an ...

, one of the islands of

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

. It also served as an airfield during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

History

World War II

The day the island was declared secured on September 20, 1944, construction of the airfield began on the eastern edge of the island. As there was no existing airfield to build on, two Army engineering battalions had to clear jungle and level the terrain to create the airfield. On 19 October 1944 the airfield with its runway aligned NE/SW together with taxiways and hardstands for 120 aircraft were ready for use. The 494th Bombardment Group operating B-24J Liberator bombers arrived at Angaur on 16 October and commenced operations on 3 November. The Wing remained at Angaur until June 1945 when it moved to

Yontan Airfield Yontan Airfield (also known as Yomitan Auxiliary Airfield) is a former military airfield located near Yomitan Village on the west coast of Okinawa. It was closed in July 1996 and turned over to the Japanese government in December 2006. Today it i ...

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. The

22nd Bombardment Group The 22nd Operations Group is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force 22nd Air Refueling Wing. It is stationed at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, and is part of Air Mobility Command (AMC)'s Eighteenth Air Force. The ...

operating B-24s was based at Angaur from November 1944 until January 1945 when it moved to

Guiuan Airfield Guiuan ( �giˌwan; war, Bungto han Guiuan, fil, Bayan ng Guiuan), officially the Municipality of Guiuan, is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Eastern Samar, Philippines. It constitutes the southeastern extremity of Samar Island and ...

in the Philippines.

Postwar

In April 2010 the Palau Senate passed a resolution asking the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

to offer Angaur airstrip as a site for the

relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma Over the last five decades there have been various plans for the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, a United States Marine Corps base located within the urban area of Ginowan City (pop. 93,661) in Okinawa, Japan. Local opposition w ...

on Okinawa. In 2020 a joint U.S. civil/military team carried out the Angaur Airfield Joint Improvement Project to improve the runway with the work completed by 27 August. The runway improvements give Palau a secondary airfield capable of handling cargo aircraft to back up to

Roman Tmetuchl International Airport Roman Tmetuchl International Airport , also known as Palau International Airport is the main airport of Palau. It is located near the former capital Koror, just north of Ngetkib, Airai on Babeldaob island. The airport is 4 miles (6 km) from ...

Facilities and aircraft

The airport resides at an estimated

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

of above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...

. It has one

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

designated 5/23 with a

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

surface measuring by . For the 12-month period ending May 23, 1987, the airport had 1,500

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) an ...

aircraft operations, an average of 125 per month.

Airlines and destinations

References

External links

www.pacificwrecks.com
*
{{authority control Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II Airports in Palau Angaur Airports established in 1944