WWII History

WWII - Operation Flintlock

Kwajalein Atoll and the Marshall Islands have an interesting past. While the islands were first discovered by Micronesian colonists arriving by canoe between three or four thousand years ago, Spanish explorers first came upon the islands in the 1500’s. Originally claimed by the Spanish, the islands were sold to Germany in 1885. During WWI the islands were seized by Japan and post-WWI, in 1922, they were placed under Japanese administration. Prior to and during WWII the islands were fortified militarily and became an important base for the Japanese Imperial Navy.

In 1943 and 1944 the United States forces attacked Kwajalein Atoll. In preparation for the large attack, air raids in December 1943 had already sunk and damaged cargo ships, and light cruisers around both Roi-Namur and Kwajalein Island. Operation Flintlock started January 29th, 1944 and devastated the Japanese Imperial Navy. Islands to the northeast of the atoll were attacked, including Roi-Namur. Smaller islands were captured in the following days. Kwajalein was bombarded at the southern tip of the atoll. The attack came by air and sea, and media reported that more than 1,600 tons of ammunition was expended upon Kwajalein over 24 hours, which equates to at least three shells or bombs hitting the island every second. The islands of Kwajalein and Roi-Namur, as well as others, were leveled to the ground with hardly a tree left standing.

Many ships and planes were sent to the bottom of one of the world’s largest lagoons including more than twelve large ships, several airplanes and much military surplus. Almost 75 years later, those wrecks have been reborn underwater. Today, they are covered in colorful corals and sponges, the bow guns have tiny blue damselfishes living in them, and green sea turtles find refuge on the crossbeams of kingposts. Nutrient rich, warm tropical waters have led to marine life flourishing on these historical wrecks from the past.

The Airplane Graveyard

To the west of Roi-Namur around 150 American WWII warbirds can be found in the lagoon. Spread over a two square mile area, seven types of planes sit on a mostly sand seafloor between 60 and 120ft. They include Douglas SBD Dauntless, Vought F4U Corsair, Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, Curtiss C-46 Commando, Grumman F4F Wildcats, Grumman TBF Avengers, and PBJ-1 Mitchell Medium Bombers.

At the end of WWII the main mission was to get troops back home. With the hopes that there would be no more war, much military surplus was disposed of as it was no longer needed. Most was old technology and the limited space on carriers went to troops returning to the USA. Back home there was a need to stimulate the economy to pay for the war, so bringing back cheap scrap metal would have not helped those endeavors. All of these reason led to the disposal of much military surplus around the Pacific Theater. In the lagoon of Kwajalein Atoll, the surplus was airplanes that were loaded up on barges and dumped into the water. Today divers can visit these very intact aircraft at recreation depths.

Operation Crossroads

Just over two hundred miles northwest of Kwajalein Atoll is Bikini Atoll, known best for the infamous testing of nuclear weapons. The first tests, named Operation Crossroads, tested two test Fat Man Plutonium implosion-type nuclear weapons, like those dropped on Nagasaki (the original plan was to test three, but the last test was cancelled.) Ninety-five ships were set up as a target and one air burst test and another underwater test were carried out. Kwajalein Atoll served as a support site and after the tests several ships were towed or sailed under their own power to Kwajalein Atoll for further testing. One of the ships brought to Kwaj was the Prinz Eugen, an Admiral Hipper-class cruiser served as part of the Admiral Hipper-class cruiser served as part of the Nazi Kriegsmarine during WWII and after WWII was given to the US as a War prize. It did not sink during the testing but later had a leak and sank in Kwajalein Atoll.