Peleliu Airfield

Coordinates: 06°59′54″N 134°13′58″E / 6.99833°N 134.23278°E / 6.99833; 134.23278
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Peleliu Airfield
AMSL
9 ft / 3 m
Coordinates06°59′54″N 134°13′58″E / 6.99833°N 134.23278°E / 6.99833; 134.23278
Map
Peleliu Airfield is located in Palau
Peleliu Airfield
Peleliu Airfield
Location of the Airport in Palau
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
04/22 6,000 1,828 Gravel

Peleliu Airfield (

airfield on Peleliu, one of the islands of Palau. It also served as an airfield during World War II
.

History

Peleliu Airfield was built by the Japanese in 1944 with a pair of intersecting runways. During the

7th Marines
. This area was hotly contested by the Japanese, who still occupied numerous pillboxes. Temperatures remained around 115 °F (46 °C), and the Marines soon suffered high casualties from heat exhaustion. Further complicating their situation, the Marines' only available water supply was contaminated with oil. Still, by D+8 the 5th and 7th Marines accomplished their objectives, holding the airfield and the southern portion of the island.

Having quickly captured the airfield,

VMF-114 landed on the airstrip. The Corsairs began dive-bombing missions across Peleliu, and also brought two more useful weapons to the fight against Japanese fortifications. Corsairs fired rockets, to blow open cave entrances for the infantrymen, and also delivered napalm attacks—only the second time the weapon had been used in the Pacific. The napalm proved useful, burning away vegetation hiding spider holes
, and killing their occupants.

After liberation, the Seabees further repaired, expanded and upgraded the airfield. The airbase was under the command of Colonel Karl S. Day. In December 1944, the two runways measured 6,000 by 300 feet (1,829 m × 91 m) and 3,900 by 260 feet (1,189 m × 79 m). A PBY that took off from Peleliu on 3 August 1945 was the first to locate survivors of the USS Indianapolis 4 days after it was sunk.

The USAAF

Okinawa
. [2]

After the end of the war, Peleliu and its airfield were abandoned by the Americans. Today the vegetation on the island, which was largely burnt out by the battle, has regrown and has replaced the scars of war. As it had been heavily defended by the Japanese, there are still tanks,

A6M Zero
, canteens, helmets, etc., scattered in the jungle from the war. The airfield still exists, and has limited use with the SW-NE runway still usable, but for light aircraft only.

Map of the battle of Peleliu

Facilities and aircraft

The airport resides at an estimated

mean sea level. It has one runway designated 4/22 with a gravel surface measuring 6,000 by 40 feet (1,828 x 12 m). For the 12-month period ending on 23 May 1987, the airport had 1,500 air taxi aircraft operations, an average of 125 per month.[1]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Belau Air Angaur, Koror
Pacific Mission Aviation
Koror

See also

References

  1. ^
    PDF
    , effective 2 July 2009.
  2. ^ Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
    • Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History.
      ISBN 0-89201-092-4
      .

External links


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