airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...
located on
Taroa Island
Taroa is an island in the east of Maloelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands. During World War II, it was the site of a major Japanese airfield ( Taroa Airfield). The airfield was destroyed towards the end of World War II, and wreckage and remnants ...
in
Maloelap Atoll
The Maloelap Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) (also spelled Maleolap) is a coral atoll of 71 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its land area is only , but that encloses a lagoon of ...
,
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Inte ...
. This airport is assigned the
location identifier
A location identifier is a symbolic representation for the name and the location of an airport, navigation aid, or weather station, and is used for staffed air traffic control facilities in air traffic control, telecommunications, computer programm ...
IATA
The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tarif ...
.
Facilities
Maloelap Airport is at an
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 § ...
of 4 feet (1.2 m) above
mean sea level
There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value ( magnitude and sign) of a given data set.
For a data set, the '' ...
. The
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 ...
is designated 04/22 with a
turf
Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls.
In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricult ...
surface measuring 3,500 by 150 feet (1,067 x 46 m). There are no aircraft based at Maloelap.
History
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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
,
Taroa Airfield
Taroa Airfield was a major air base approximately three miles long and one mile wide on Taroa Island in the Maloelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The runway, which spanned the length of the island, is still in use today and known as Maloelap Airp ...
was a major
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 ...
airbase approximately three miles long and one mile wide. The airfield was
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 n ...
's easternmost airbase of the War. Heavily bombed during the war, it was a favorite target for bombers from
Makin Airfield
Butaritari Airport is an airport on Butaritari in the Pacific Ocean island nation of Kiribati.
History
Butaritari Atoll Airport was built in Kiribati during World War II by the United States after seizing the island from the Japanese. Constructi ...
,
Tarawa
Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati ''
Abemama
Abemama (Apamama) is an atoll, one of the Gilberts group in Kiribati, and is located southeast of Tarawa and just north of the Equator. Abemama has an area of and a population of 3,299 . The islets surround a deep lagoon. The eastern part o ...
. Remnants of the airbase, defenses, and battles can still be found on the island; about 1,200 feet from the southwest end of the airport lies the wreck of the ''Toreshima Maru'', a Japanese supply ship sunk in December 1943.
Airlines and destinations
See also
*
Taroa Airfield
Taroa Airfield was a major air base approximately three miles long and one mile wide on Taroa Island in the Maloelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The runway, which spanned the length of the island, is still in use today and known as Maloelap Airp ...
Airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...