The Hermit Islands are a group of 17The Wuvulu Web Site - Geographical Names in the Western Islands
/ref> islands within the Western Islands of the Bismarck Archipelago,

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. Their coordinates are .

History

The first sighting by Europeans of Hermit islands was by the Spanish navigator Iñigo Órtiz de Retes on 29 July 1545 when on board of the carrack ''San Juan'' tried to return from

Tidore Tidore ( id, Kota Tidore Kepulauan, lit. "City of Tidore Islands") is a city, island, and archipelago in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia, west of the larger island of Halmahera. Part of North Maluku Province, the city includes the island ...

to New Spain. He charted them as ''La Caimana'' (a female

caiman A caiman (also cayman as a variant spelling) is an alligatorid belonging to the subfamily Caimaninae, one of two primary lineages within the Alligatoridae family, the other being alligators. Caimans inhabit Mexico, Central and South America f ...

in Spanish). When passing by, Ortiz de Retes reported that some negroes got near the ship who flung arrows by hand without bows, that were made of flint suitable for striking fire.Sharp, Andrew ''The discovery of the Pacific Islands'' Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1960, p.31. These islands belong to Micronesian outliers.

World War II

On 17 June 1944, after returning from a bombing mission, 11 aircrew were bailed out from the B-24 Liberator ''Dropsnoot'' over the Hermit Islands and landed in rough seas approximately two miles from the southeast of Jalun Island. Four were perished in the drowning, while the other seven were aided by natives for caring until being rescued.

References

Bismarck Archipelago Archipelagoes of Papua New Guinea Manus Province {{ManusProvince-geo-stub