Tinian Airfields 1945 Looking North To South

Tinian Naval Base and Naval Air Facility Tinian (NAF Tinian) was a major

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

sea and airbase base on

Tinian Tinian ( or ; old Japanese name: 天仁安島, ''Tenian-shima'') is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of th ...

Island, part of the

Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...

on the east side of the

Philippine Sea The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippine archipelago (hence the name), the largest in the world, occupying an estimated surface area of . The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the sea. Its ...

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 ...

. The Base was built 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 ...

to support the many

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

s and

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

fighting and patrolling in the South West Pacific theatre of war as part of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

. A number of naval facilities were built on the entire island of 101.22 km (39 sq miles). The main port was built at the city and port of San Jose, also called Tinian Harbor. All construction was done by the Navy's

Seabee United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Force (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Depending upon ...

s Sixth Construction Brigade with minor help from the 64th Army Engineers, including the main two airports:

West Field Helm Field also called Lemoore Auxiliary Army Airfield A-7 is a former US Army Airfield use for training during World War II. Helm Field was location in the town of Coalinga, California, 70 miles south of Fresno. Helm Field had two 3,000 foot runw ...

and North Field.

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 ...

operated long-range bombers out of the air base built and maintained by the Seabees. USArmy_Tinian_Bay

History

Tinian was taken after the

Battle of Tinian The Battle of Tinian was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Tinian in the Mariana Islands from 24 July until 1 August 1944. The 8,000-man Japanese garrison was eliminated, and the island joined Saipan ...

, against

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

, which began on July 24, 1944, and ended on August 1, 1944. The invasion of Tinian was mostly done from troops from

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

. Seabee construction started during the invasion by the building wooden ramps for the

Landing Vehicle Tracked The Amphibious Vehicle, Tracked (LVT) is an amphibious warfare vehicle and amphibious landing craft, introduced by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. (The USN and USMC use "L" to designate Amphibious vessels, also c ...

, LVT on one small beach, as 90 percent of Tinian coastline is a cliff face. Tinian, the third of the three largest islands of the

Mariana Islands The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...

, is just south of

and is separated by a strait, Saipan Channel, only 3 miles wide.

Naval Advance Base Saipan Naval Base Saipan or Naval Advance Base Saipan or Naval Air Base Saipan was a United States Navy Naval base built during World War II to support Pacific Ocean theater of war and the many warships and troops fighting the war. The base was on th ...

construction started on June 15, 1944. Tinian, north to south, is 12 miles long and east to west 6 miles wide. It has mostly flat terrain, perfect for

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 ...

s. Before the invasion of Tinian, Japan had 8,500 troops and 15,700 Japanese civilians on Tinian. Japan had developed Tinian into a large sugar plantation and sugar refining plant. They had built three small runways on the island. After the Battle of Tinian few Japanese troops and Japanese civilians survived. Seabee first had to remove masive amount of war

debris Debris (, ) is rubble, wreckage, ruins, litter and discarded garbage/refuse/trash, scattered remains of something destroyed, or, as in geology, large rock fragments left by a melting glacier, etc. Depending on context, ''debris'' can refer to ...

, that which was not repairable. Japanese base facilities that were repairable, were quickly repaired. Most of the city of San Jose was destroyed in the battle of Tinian.Prefer, Nathan N. ''The Battle for Tinian: Vital Stepping Stone in America's War Against Japan''. Havertown, PA: Casemate Publishers, 2012. . pp. 155–156. At its peak US 150,000 troops were stationed on the island. The island being 101.22 km2 (39 sq miles) and

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

being 36 km2 (13.9 sq miles), the Seabee laid out the base streets like Manhattan, with Manhattan street names. The small bit of land not built on, was called

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

. The small town of Sunharon was renamed ''The Village'' after

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

. The Tinian Naval hospital was built near Central Park. The main north-south roads were 8th Ave and Broadway. New York streets named had no connection with the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

, unknown to them.

Crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydroponic ...

s and

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

s grew supplemental fresh food on the island. North Field was built on a place Japanese construction had already started. Merchant Navy

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...

s and

Victory ship The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace losses caused by German submarines. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were slight ...

s started to unload supplies at the new harbor on August 2, 1944. Before the new harbor was completed cargo was placed in

Landing craft tank The Landing Craft, Tank (LCT) (or Tank Landing Craft TLC) was an amphibious assault craft for landing tanks on beachheads. They were initially developed by the Royal Navy and later by the United States Navy during World War II in a series of ver ...

or type B barges and unloaded on the beaches.

Aguiguan

Aguiguan Aguiguan (also Aguigan and Aguihan, based on the Spanish rendition of the native name, Aguijan, which is still used) is a small bean-shaped coralline island in the Northern Mariana Islands chain in the Pacific Ocean. It is situated south-west of ...

is a very small island, only 7.01 km2 (2.71 sq mi), just south of Tinian, over the

Tinian Channel The Tinian Channel is an eight kilometre-wide channel in the Northern Mariana Islands. It lies to the south of the island of Tinian(15°00'N., 145°38'E.) is northeast of Aguijan Island, separating it from the island of Aguijan. Together, the two i ...

. Aguiguan had a small group of Japanese troops stationed there. As they were isolated and not hindering Tinian Naval Base, they did not surrender until September 4, 1945, two days after the surrender of Japan. The Aguiguan surrender was hosted by an U.S. Coast Guard Cutter, the '' USCG 83525''. For the surrender

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

Admiral Marshall R. Greer received the agreement from Japanese Second Lieutenant Kinichi Yamada.

Naval Base

After the opening of Tinian Harbor, also called San Jose Harbor, the unloading of the many cargo ships took place. The ships supplied the vast air bases, the sea base and the many Troop passing through the island on the

island hopping campaign Leapfrogging, also known as island hopping, was a military strategy employed by the Allies in the Pacific War against the Empire of Japan during World War II. The key idea is to bypass heavily fortified enemy islands instead of trying to captu ...

. Some of the Troops having come from the

Kwajalein Atoll Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese: ) is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civilia ...

and

Enewetak Atoll Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with it ...

on Navy ships. Tinian Harbor is at .

Submarine Chasers A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War II. ...

, like ''PC-1080'' and ''PCSC-1452'', patrolled the water around Tinian, hunting for Japanese submarine.

Operation Ivory Soap Operation Ivory Soap was a classified United States military project to provide forward theatre support for aircraft repair and maintenance during World War II in the Pacific Theatre of Operations. Six Liberty ships were converted into floating sh ...

was

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

of ships used to provide aircraft repair and maintenance at Tinian and other Pacific Theatre of Operations. Some of the many cargo ships that supplied Tinian: USS Rutilicus,

USS Ara USS ''Ara'' (AK-136) was a commissioned by the US Navy for service in World War II. ''Ara'' is named after the constellation Ara. She was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. Con ...

, USS Grainger, USS Propus, USS Megrez, USS Sagittarius, and USS Alnitah. On July 26, 1945 USS ''Indianapolis'' anchored 1,000 yards off Tinian and unloaded the radioactive parts of the A-bombs. Next the ''Indianapolis'' stopped at

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, then departed for the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, but was hit by two torpedoes by Japanese submarine I58 and sank on July 30, 1945. ''Indianapolis'' survivors were found in the ocean three and a half days later.

NAF Tinian - NAB Tinian

Fleet Air Wing Eighteen, a Navy

Patrol Wing A Patrol Wing (PatWing) was a United States Navy aviation unit with the commander of a Patrol Wing known as the Commodore, the ComPatWing or COMPATWING. From 1 November 1942 to 30 June 1973 Patrol Wings were designated "Fleet Air Wings". On 26 Mar ...

move its headquarters to NAF Tinian on May 25, 1945. Patrol Squadron One (VP-1) began patrols at Tinian on June 21, 1945. On December 1, 1944 VP-111 Patrol Squadron was transferred to Tinian. US Navy Patrol Wings used PB4Y-1, PB4Y-2, P4M-1 and P2V-6/5F/7S/SP-2H to patrol from Tinian airfilds. On April 30, 1947 NAF Tinian was placed on inactive status and on June 1, 1947 disestablished. NAF Tinia was closed, as it was not close enough to mainland

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

to be useful, as

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 ...

is.

Airfields

The Navy's Seabees built and maintained the six 8,500-feet runways that made up

and North Field. At first, the US Navy patrol planes operated from the North Field runways. In November 15, with a West Field runway completed, the Navy moved to West Field. The Navy's West Field had 16,000 feet of taxiway, 70 hardstands, 345 quonset huts, 33 buildings for repair and maintenance facilities, seven

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

storage magazines and an air control tower. At its peak, the two airfields were able to handle 2,500 fighter planes and 597 bombers. After the war, West Field became Tinian airport, named Gurguan Point Airfield, and later renamed

Tinian International Airport Tinian International Airport , also known as West Tinian Airport, is a public airport located on Tinian Island in the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. This airport is owned by Commonwealth Ports Authority. This airport ...

. The large North Field air bases were mainly used for

Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

that began long-range bombing on the homeland of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, 1,500 miles away. By the end of the war 19,000 combat missions were launched against the Japan mainland, through around-the-clock take-offs. The

509th Composite Group The 509th Composite Group (509 CG) was a unit of the United States Army Air Forces created during World War II and tasked with the operational deployment of nuclear weapons. It conducted the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in ...

's Boeing B-29 Superfortress ''

Enola Gay The ''Enola Gay'' () is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August 1945, piloted by Tibbets and Robert A. Lewis during the final stages of World War II, it be ...

'' departed North Field on August 6, 1945, with the

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

named

Little Boy "Little Boy" was the type of atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 during World War II, making it the first nuclear weapon used in warfare. The bomb was dropped by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress ''Enola Gay'' p ...

dropped on the city of

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

, Japan. Boeing B-29 Superfortress ''

Bockscar ''Bockscar'', sometimes called Bock's Car, is the name of the United States Army Air Forces B-29 bomber that dropped a Fat Man nuclear weapon over the Japanese city of Nagasaki during World War II in the secondand most recent nuclear attack in ...

'' departed North Field on August 9, 1945, with the atomic bomb named

Fat Man "Fat Man" (also known as Mark III) is the codename for the type of nuclear bomb the United States detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in warfare, the fir ...

dropped on the city of

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

, Japan. The

Surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

took place on August 15, with the formal signed on September 2, 1945. Thus ending World War II and avoiding the soon-to-be costly

Invasion of Japan Operation Downfall was the proposed Allied plan for the invasion of the Japanese home islands near the end of World War II. The planned operation was canceled when Japan surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ...

. North Field is located at .

Facilities

Tinian Naval Base, and NAS Tinian Facilities: *West Field *North Field, the biggest airport in the world at that time, 20 miles of runways, 425 feet wide. *White Beach, (Unai Chulu Beach) ramp for Landing Vehicle Tracked. *Tinian Breakwater, 4,805 feet long, with cargo ship berthing on the 1,210 feet inner breaker, started November 1944 and completed on March 6, 1945. *Tinian Harbor, also called San Jose Harbor. **Pontoon pier built **Two masonry piers *Two

Marine railway The patent slip or marine railway is an inclined plane extending from shoreline into water, featuring a "cradle" onto which a ship is first floated, and a mechanism to haul the ship, attached to the cradle, out of the water onto a slip. The m ...

for boat repairs *Existing road widen and 34 miles of new roads built *Tents housing and staff Quonset huts housing **Barracks for 12,000 Seabees **Barracks for 13,000 Naval personnel **Barracks for 21,500 Army personnel **Barracks for 50 000 marines **Barracks for temporary Troops *Naval hospital 1,000 beds *Army hospital 600 beds *Camp Churo, Japanese civilians camp, with 100 bed hospital. *Warehouse storage 386,000 square feet, two million sqf open-storage, and 63,000 cf efrigerated storage for:. **Seabees Supply depot **Naval Supply depot *Chapels *Marines Seventh Field Depot *Ammunition storage (separate from other storage) *Bomb storage, 20,000-ton capacity(separate from other storage) *Water supply and purification units (water from wells and Hagoi Lake) *

Coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...

*Large fuel tank farm *

Crash boat Crash Rescue Boat is a name used in the United States to describe military high-speed offshore rescue boats, similar in size and performance to motor torpedo boats, used to rescue pilots and aircrews of crashed aircraft. During World War II th ...

base *Aviation Overhaul shop *Motor pool *Quartermaster Laundry *Navy Bank *Fleet Post Office FPO# 3247 SF Tinian Island, Marianas Islands *Mess halls *Navy Communication Center *

Power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

s
Postwar: *

International Broadcasting Bureau The International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) is the technical support outlet within the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) (former Broadcasting Board of Governors, BBG), which is a U.S. independent agency. The IBB supports the day-to- ...

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

broadcast site. * Navy Training Camp, ''Camp Tinian'' with Seabees and United States Marine Corps

Camp Churo

Camp Churo was founded by the UN Navy as a place for the post battle of Tinian civilians. Camp Churo civilian internment camp was divided into two camps. One part held 8,278 Japanese and Okinawan civilians, Japan had brought them to the island to work the sugarcane fields. The other part had the 2,357 Koreans that Japan had forced to work the sugarcane fields. At its peak 11,479 were living at Camp Churo, the increase mostly from births. The site was picked as it had a freshwater well. The camp residents were given two meals a day and the offer to work for pay and extra food. Pay for skilled workers was 50 cents a day and 35 cents for unskilled workers, each also had an extra meal. Some typical work offered was landscaping, sweeping, laundry and camp food preparation. The camp had crops and gardens growing extra fresh food. A 3,000-seat school was opened for the children, with Naval officer Lieutenant (j.g.) H. Terjen Mook as head teacher. A craft shop was opened for handcrafted product making. The Navy operated a movie theater some evening. The Navy also operated a 100-bed hospital in the camp. In 1946 the civilians were returned to their homeland.

Post World War II

The Seabees battalion on Tinian was decommissioned on June 20, 1945. During the battle of Tinian five Seabees were killed and 38 received the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

. Five Seabees were awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism. In 1947 Tinian was transferred from the US Navy to the

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1994. History Spain initially claimed the islands that later composed the territory of the Trus ...

, a territory controlled by the United States. While most of the major bases on the island changed to inactive, the United States military was still on the island. In 1962 Tinian transferred to the administration of Saipan as a sub-district. In 1978, Tinian became a municipality in the

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonwea ...

. In 1983 a 50-year 16,100-acre lease agreement was made, the land is called "Military Lease Area (MLA)". The Lease gives used of the land to the US Navy. US Navy used most of the land area for training exercises in what is called Camp Tinian, a small mostly mobile camp. As part of the lease in the 1980s, one runway at North Field was reactivated so

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

C-130s C13 or C-13 may be: * French Defence, Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings code * C13 White Lead (Painting) Convention, 1921 * C13 grenade, the Canadian Forces designation for a M67 grenade * Autovia C-13, a highway in Catalonia in Spain * Caterpillar C1 ...

could support of

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

training exercises on the leased land. The lease agreement gives the

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...

the option of an added 50 year to the lease. Currently, North Field has only the unused runways remaining. A new

(VOA) radio relay station was built on Tinian.

Historical markers

*U.S. 107th Seabees Monument, a SeaBee Memorial, is on Tinian at 8 Ave and 86th street at , the site of the Seabees camp. *At

Grand Island, Nebraska Grand Island is a city in and the county seat of Hall County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 53,131 at the 2020 census. Grand Island is the principal city of the Grand Island metropolitan area, which consists of Hall, Merrick, ...

is a Tinian Island Historical marker. Grand Island is where the Sixth Bomb Group trained before being deployed to Tinian Island in December 1944. Historical marker is titled: ''B-29 Superfortress / 6th Bomb Group / Tinian Island'' at at the

Central Nebraska Regional Airport Central Nebraska Regional Airport is three miles northeast of Grand Island, in Hall County, Nebraska. It is owned by the Hall County Airport Authority. The airport sees two airlines, Allegiant Air which flies independently and American Eagle wh ...

. *At North Field is the "Marker "No. 1 Bomb Loading Pit" where ''Little Boy'' was loaded into ''Enola Gay'' at . *At North Field is the Marker "No. 2 Bomb Loading Pit" where ''Fat Man'' was loaded into ''Bockscar'' at *313th Bomb Wing (VH), Twentieth Air Force marker at

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Uni ...

, Colorado. *Ushi Point Cross and Memorial at . *Suicide Cliff in Tinian, is the spot where hundreds of Japanese citizens and troops jumped to their death, rather than surrender in 1944, due to Japanese propaganda and brainwashing. Many Japanese residents on Tinian, men, women and children jumped to the coastal rocks and waves below at .Suicide Cliff in Tinian
/ref>

Gallery

File:Map of the Battle of Tinian (1944).svg, Map of the Battle of Tinian from 1944 File:313th Bombardment Wing HQ 1945.jpg, 313th Bombardment Wing Tinian HQ in 1945 File:Assembly building.jpg, Assembly Building where A-bombs were assembled on Tinian File:Tinian-scrapped B-29s - 1946.jpg, B-29 Superfortress graveyard, North Field, Tinian, 1946. During the war, bulldozers were always waiting at the ends of the runways. Any problem with takeoff or landing and the B-29's were bulldozed off the runway to keep the flow moving. File:No. 1 Atomic Bomb loading pit, North Field (Tinian), 27 August 2008.jpg, ''No. 1 Bomb Loading Pit'' Historical marker at North Field File:West Field - B-29s on parking ramp.jpg, B-29s on West Field parking ramp File:B-29 Enola Gay w Crews.jpg, ''Enola Gay'', pilot

Paul Tibbets Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. (23 February 1915 – 1 November 2007) was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force. He is best known as the aircraft captain who flew the B-29 Superfortress known as the '' Enola Gay'' (named after his mot ...

and members of the ground crew File:Bocks-Car-enlisted-flight-crew.png, Flight crew of the ''Bockscar'' File:Northfield-tinian-1945-2.jpg, North Field on Tinian File:Westfield-tinian-8jul1945.jpg, West Field on Tinian File:40bg-42-42795-landingattinian-1945.jpg, 40th Bombardment Group B-29 landing on Tinian in 1945 File:Agnew HiroshimaAircraft.jpg, Left to right: '' Big Stink'', ''

The Great Artiste ''The Great Artiste'' was a U.S. Army Air Forces Silverplate B-29 bomber (B-29-40-MO 44-27353, Victor number 89), assigned to the 393d Bomb Squadron, 509th Composite Group. The aircraft was named for its bombardier, Captain Kermit Beahan ...

'', and ''

'' parked next to a North runway File:B-29s of the 462d Bomb Group West Field Tinian Mariana Islands 1945.jpg, B-29s of the 462d Bombardment Group on Tinian in 1945 File:SB2C CVG-4 Tinian NAN9-47.jpg, US Navy VFA-14's

Curtiss SB2C Helldiver The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver is a dive bomber developed by Curtiss-Wright during World War II. As a carrier-based bomber with the United States Navy (USN), in Pacific theaters, it supplemented and replaced the Douglas SBD Dauntless. A few survi ...

over Tinian in 1947, before base closure File:USMC-M-Tinian-p141internment camp.jpg, A US Marine gives candy to Japanese child at Tinian internment camp

External links

youtube.com, Tinian Island and the Atomic Bomb - Wrecks of Saipan youtube.com, Battle of Tinian 1944 / Part 1 - The Perfect Amphibious OperationB 29s on Tinian by Irv Winkler (R9)youtube "They Came To An Island" U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps Wwii Seabees Construction Battalions 29564

References

{{Authority control Airfields of the United States Navy Military installations closed in the 1940s Closed installations of the United States Navy

Tinian Naval Base Tinian Naval Base and Naval Air Facility Tinian (NAF Tinian) was a major United States Navy sea and airbase base on Tinian Island, part of the Northern Mariana Islands on the east side of the Philippine Sea in the Pacific Ocean. The Base was b ...

Islands of the Northern Mariana Islands Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

History

Aguiguan

Naval Base

NAF Tinian - NAB Tinian

Airfields

Facilities

Camp Churo

Post World War II

Historical markers

Gallery

See also

External links

References