Kingman Reef
Geography | |
---|---|
Location | Oceania |
Coordinates | 6°23′N 162°25′W / 6.383°N 162.417°W |
Area | 0.03[1] km2 (0.012 sq mi) (Land area – not including the lagoon) |
Length | 17 km (10.6 mi) |
Width | 8 km (5 mi) |
Administration | |
United States |
Kingman Reef (
History
Kingman Reef was discovered on June 14, 1798, by the American captain Edmund Fanning, of the ship Betsey. It was first described by Captain W. E. Kingman (whose name the island bears) of the ship Shooting Star on November 29, 1853. It was claimed in 1859 by the United States Guano Company, under the name "Dangers Rock," along with a number of other islands.[6] The claim was made under the U.S. Guano Islands Act of 1856, although there is no evidence that guano existed or was ever mined on Kingman Reef.[7][8] The British steamship Tarta struck the reef in June 1874, and it was later surveyed by HMS Penguin (1876) in 1897, establishing that Kingman Reef was the same hazard previously charted as Caldew Reef and Maria Shoal, among other names.[9]
On May 10, 1922,
Be it known to all people: That on the tenth of May, A.D. 1922, the undersigned agent of the Island of Palmyra Copra Co., Ltd., landed from the motorship Palmyra doth, on this tenth day of May, A.D. 1922, take formal possession of this island, called Kingman Reef, situated in longitude 162 degrees 18' west and 6 degrees 23' north, on behalf of the United States of America and claim the same for said company.
A copy of the declaration, along with a U.S. flag and clippings from The Honolulu Advertiser newspaper, were left on Kingman to document the claim.[7]
On December 29, 1934, the
In 1935,
During the next several months, Pan Am successfully used the lagoon several times as a halfway station for its flying boats (Sikorsky S-42B) when they traveled between those two points.[14] However, a Clipper flight on January 11, 1938, ended in tragedy. Shortly after the early-morning takeoff from Pago Pago, as it was bound for New Zealand, the plane exploded. The right outboard engine had developed an oil leak, and the plane burst into flames while dumping fuel; there were no survivors.[15] As a result of the tragedy, Pan Am ended flights to New Zealand via Kingman Reef and Pago Pago. It established a new route in July 1940 that used Canton Island and New Caledonia as stopovers instead.
On February 14, 1941, President
In 2012, Kingman Reef Atoll Development LLC, which was owned by descendants of the owners of the Palmyra Copra Co., Ltd., sued the U.S. government over its designation as a national wildlife refuge. The plaintiff sought $54.5 million in compensation for the loss of fishing rights, ecotourism, and other economic activity. However, in 2014, the federal court ruled that any such claim had expired by 1950 at the latest.[16]
In 2016, the ARRL Awards Committee of the
Geography
It is the northernmost of the Northern Line Islands and lies 36 nautical miles (67 km) northwest of the next closest island (Palmyra Atoll), and 930 nautical miles (1,720 km) south of Honolulu.[3]
The reef encloses a lagoon up to 53 fathoms (318 ft; 97 m) deep in its eastern part near the northeastern spit of land.[2] The total area within the outer rim of the reef is 20 sq nmi (70 km2).[18] There are two small strips (spits) of dry land composed of coral rubble and giant clamshells on the eastern rim with areas of 2 and 1 acre (0.8 and 0.4 ha)[19][3] having a coastline of 2 miles (3 km), a short spit on the northeast side of the lagoon and a spit twice as long but thinner on its south side.[2]
The highest point on the reef is less than 5 feet (1.5 m) above sea level,[19] which is wet or awash most of the time, making Kingman Reef a maritime hazard. It has no natural resources and supports no economic activity.[3] In the 1930s it was used as stopover along with Palu Palu for flying boats crossing the Pacific, for commercial airline route.
Political status
Kingman Reef has the status of an
The pre-20th century names Danger Rock, Caldew Reef, Maria Shoal and Crane Shoal refer to this atoll, which at the time was entirely submerged at high tide. Thomas Hale Streets described its state in the 1870s, when it had:
... hardly, as yet, assumed the distinctive features of an island. It is entirely under water at high tide, and but a few coral heads project here and there above the surface at low water. In the course of time, however, it will undoubtedly be added to the [northern Line Islands].[21]
Kingman Reef is considered to be a county-equivalent by the
Ecology
Kingman Reef supports a vast variety of
The percentage of the total fish biomass on the reef is made up of 85% apex predators, creating a high level of competition for food and nutrients among local organisms – particularly sharks, jacks, and other carnivores.[24] The threatened green sea turtles that frequent nearby Palmyra Atoll travel to Kingman Reef to forage and bask on the coral rubble spits at low tide.
However, above sea level, the reef is usually barren of macroorganisms. Mainly constructed of dead and dried coral skeletons, providing only
National Wildlife Refuge
On September 1, 2000, the Navy relinquished its control over Kingman Reef to the
Amateur radio expeditions
Since the early 1940s, Kingman Reef has had very little human contact, though
More recently, a group of 15 amateur radio operators from the Palmyra DX Group visited the reef in October 2000. Using the FCC-issued special event callsign K5K, the group made more than 80,000 individual contacts with amateurs around the world over a period of 10 days.[27]
Between November 15, 1945, and March 28, 2016, Kingman Reef was considered a discrete entity for the purpose of earning awards such as the
On March 28, 2016, the
See also
References
- ^ a b Britannica.com. Kingman Reef. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
- ^ a b c NOAA, Kingman Reef nautical chart
- ^ a b c d United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges – CIA World Factbook Last updated April 7, 2010.
- ^ Coordinates are near the dry land spits.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-557-44505-9.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Bryan, E.H. Jr. (1941): American Polynesia and the Hawaiian Chain (1st ed.). Tongg Puplishing Co., Honolulu, Hawaii. p.154.
- ^ a b c Rogers, E.S. (January 9, 1933). The Sovereignty of Guano Islands in the Pacific Ocean (Report). Washington, D.C.: Department of State, Office of the Legal Advisor. pp. 43–45.
- ^ "GAO/OGC-98-5 – U.S. Insular Areas: Application of the U.S. Constitution". U.S. Government Printing Office. November 7, 1997. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
- ^ Pacific Islands Pilot. H.O. No. 166. Vol. 2 (Eastern Groups) (3rd ed.). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office. 1926. pp. 557–558. Retrieved May 9, 2023 – via Google Books.
- ^ ISBN 9780824846794.
- ^ "Kingman Reef". doi.gov. Office of Insular Affairs, Department of the Interior. June 12, 2015. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
- ISBN 9780824846794.
- ^ "P.-A. Airways Clipper Spans Central Pacific, North to South". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. VII, no. 9. April 23, 1937. pp. 5–6. Retrieved September 28, 2021 – via Trove.
- ^ "Pan Am Clipper Flying Boats". clipperflyingboats.com. HM Magazine. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
- ^ "Air Disaster: P.A.A. Flying-Boat and Crew Lost Near Samoa". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. VIII, no. 6. January 24, 1938. pp. 7–8, 11. Retrieved September 28, 2021 – via Trove.
- ^ Kingman Reef Atoll Development LLC v. United States, 116 Fed. Cl. 708 (United States Court of Federal Claims June 30, 2014).
- ^ "DXCC Deletion of Kingman Reef". DX World. DX-World.net. March 28, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
- ^ Because the reef is a triangle, its area is 1/2(base)(height) = 1/2(9.0 nmi)(4.5 nmi) ≈ 20 nmi2.
- ^ a b "Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge". U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. March 28, 2016. Archived from the original on July 25, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
- ^ CIA World Factbook. Kingman Reef. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
- American Naturalist11(2): 65–72. p.65.
- ^ Census Bureau Code Lists. American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Codes for States. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
- S2CID 12343048.
- ISSN 0171-8630.
- ^ White, Susan (March 30, 2011). "Welcome to Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Archived from the original on July 25, 2013. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
- ^ Bush, George W. (January 6, 2009). "Establishment of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument: A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America". White House. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
- ^ N1DG (March 11, 2001). "The Kingman Reef/Palmyra DX Group proudly presents Kingman Reef 2000". qsl.net. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Hotzfeld, Valerie NV9L (February 7, 2016). "K5P Jet Footage". Retrieved August 14, 2017.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Amateur Radio Relay League. March 28, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
External links
Wikimedia Atlas of Kingman Reef
- Kingman Reef history by Jane Resture
- Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge
- K5K Amateur Radio Expedition to Kingman Reef
- Kennedy Warne: "An Uneasy Eden" — National Geographic Magazine, July 2008