Butaritari Airport is an airport on
Butaritari in the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
island nation of
Kiribati
Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),[Kiribati]
''The Wor ...
.
History
Butaritari Atoll Airport was built in Kiribati 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 ...
by the United States after seizing the island from the Japanese. Construction lasted approximately one month, from November 20 to mid-December, of 1943. During the war, the airport was known as ''Makin Airfield'', ''Butaritari Airfield'', ''Antakana Airfield'', or ''Starmann Field''.
The airfield was the base of operations for the
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
Seventh Air Force 41st Bombardment Group which flew four squadrons of
B-25 Mitchell
The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...
medium bombers. Missions from the airfield were flown against Japanese shipping, bypassing islands in the
Marshalls and
Caroline Islands. In addition to the 41st, the 43d Fighter Squadron (
15th Fighter Group
15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 and preceding 16.
Mathematics
15 is:
* A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and .
* A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky number, a pernicious nu ...
) flew
P-39 Airacobra
The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by the ...
s and the 531st Bomb Squadron (
380th Bombardment Group
38 may refer to:
*38 (number), the natural number following 37 and preceding 39
*one of the years 38 BC, AD 38, 1938, 2038
*.38, a caliber of firearms and cartridges
**.38 Special, a revolver cartridge
*'' Thirty-Eight: The Hurricane That Transfo ...
) flew
A-24 Dauntless
The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-based scout/d ...
light attack aircraft from the airfield in late 1943 and early 1944.
The Americans pulled out at the end of 1944, abandoning the airfield. After the war, the airfield was turned into a commercial airport.
Airlines and destinations
See also
*
USAAF in the Central Pacific
*
Naval Base Gilbert Islands
References
* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .
*
External links
Airports in Kiribati
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II
{{oceania-airport-stub