Tinian Naval Base
Tinian on an area map, southwest of Saipan
Tinian Naval Base is located in Pacific Ocean
Tinian Naval Base
Tinian Naval Base
Geography
LocationPacific Ocean
Philippine Sea
Coordinates15°00′N 145°38′E / 15.000°N 145.633°E / 15.000; 145.633
ArchipelagoMarianas
Area101.22 km2 (39.08 sq mi)[1]
Length19.32 km (12.005 mi)
Width9.66 km (6.002 mi)
Administration
United States
Administration United States Navy
Largest settlementSan Jose
Demographics
PopulationAt peak 150,000 Troops in 1945
(used 1944-1945)
closed in 1947
Additional information
Also a major United States Army Air Forces Air Base for B-29 bombers
Tinian Island in 1945: the vast North Field airfield is in the foreground with West Field beyond; the rest of the island is filled with barracks, buildings, and hangers
Map of Tinian, at the time of the Battle of Tinian

Tinian Naval Base and Naval Air Facility Tinian (NAF Tinian) was a major United States Navy sea and air 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 built during World War II to support the many bombers and aircraft fighting and patrolling in the South West Pacific theatre of the Pacific War. Numerous 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 Seabees Sixth Construction Brigade with minor help from the 64th Army Engineers, including the main two airports: West Field and North Field. United States Army Air Forces operated long-range bombers out of the air base built and maintained by the Seabees.[2][3][4] The base was decommissioned on 1 June 1947.

Tinian Harbor, built by US Navy Seabees
US Navy Seabee view B-29 Superfortresses arriving at uncompleted North Field, Tinian, 1944
Pontoon pier, used before completion of harbor, for unloading with grounded LVT ships in the background. Close LVT ran aground by sudden strong waves after unloading
USS LST-886 and USS LST-945 unloading fuel at Tinian
Personnel living quarters, West Field, 1945, built by Seabees
First Ordnance Squadron area on Tinian

History

Tinian, the third of the three largest islands of the Mariana Islands, is located south of Saipan across the 3-mile-wide Saipan Channel. Tinian, north to south, is 12 miles long and east to west 6 miles wide. It has mostly flat terrain, perfect for runways. Tinian was taken after the Battle of Tinian, against Empire of Japan, on 1 August 1944. The invasion of Tinian was mostly conducted by troops from Saipan. During the invasion, Seabees constructed wooden ramps for the Landing Vehicle Tracked (LVT) on one small beach, as 90% of Tinian coastline is a cliff face. Naval Advance Base Saipan construction started on 15 June 1944.

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. Seabees first had to remove massive amounts of war debris. Japanese base facilities that were repairable were quickly repaired. Most of the city of San Jose was destroyed in the battle of Tinian.[5]

At its peak 150,000 U.S. troops were stationed on the island. The Seabees laid out the base streets like Manhattan, with Manhattan street names. The small bit of land not built on was called Central Park. The small town of Sunharon was renamed The Village after Greenwich Village. The Tinian Naval hospital was built near Central Park. The main north-south roads were 8th Ave and Broadway. North Field was built on a place Japanese construction had already started. Merchant Navy Liberty ships and Victory ships started to unload supplies at the harbor on 2 August 1944. Before the harbor was completed cargo was placed in Landing craft tank or type B barges and unloaded on the beaches.[6][5][7][3][8][9]

Aguiguan

Aguiguan is a very small island, only 7.01 km2 (2.71 sq mi), just south of Tinian across the Tinian Channel. Aguiguan had a small contingent of Japanese troops stationed there. As they were isolated and not hindering Tinian Naval Base, they did not surrender until 4 September 1945, two days after the surrender of Japan. The Aguiguan surrender was hosted by United States Coast Guard Cutter USCG 83525. For the surrender, U.S. Navy Admiral Marshall R. Greer received the agreement from Japanese Second Lieutenant Kinichi Yamada.[10]

Operations

After the opening of Tinian Harbor, the unloading of the many cargo ships took place. The ships supplied the vast air bases, the sea base and the many troops passing through the island on the island hopping campaign. Some of the troops arrived from the Kwajalein Atoll and Enewetak Atoll on Navy ships. Submarine chasers, like PC-1080 and PCSC-1452, patrolled the water around Tinian, hunting for Japanese submarines. Operation Ivory Soap was a convoy of ships used to provide aircraft repair and maintenance at Tinian and other Pacific Theatre of Operations.

On 26 July 1945 USS Indianapolis anchored 1,000 yards off Tinian and unloaded the radioactive parts of the A-bombs. Next the Indianapolis stopped at Guam, then departed for the Philippines, but was hit by two torpedoes by Japanese submarine I58 and sank on 30 July. Indianapolis survivors were found in the ocean three and a half days later.[11][12][13]

On 1 December 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 airfields. Fleet Air Wing Eighteen, a Navy Patrol Wing moved its headquarters to NAF Tinian on 25 May 1945. Patrol Squadron One (VP-1) began patrols at Tinian on 21 June. On 1 June 1947 NAF Tinian was disestablished. NAF Tinia was closed, as it was not close enough to mainland Asia to be useful, as Okinawa is.[14][15][16]

Airfields

The Navy's Seabees built and maintained the six 8,500-feet runways that made up West Field and North Field. At first, the U.S. Navy patrol planes operated from the North Field runways. On 15 November, with the North 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 storage magazines and an air control tower. At its peak, the two airfields were able to handle 2,500 fighter planes and 597 bombers.[17]

The large air bases were mainly used for Boeing B-29 Superfortress that began long-range bombing on the homeland of Japan, 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's Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay departed North Field on 6 August 1945 with the atomic bomb named Little Boy dropped on Hiroshima. Boeing B-29 Superfortress Bockscar departed North Field on 9 August with the atomic bomb named Fat Man dropped on Nagasaki. The surrender of Japan took place on 15 August, with the formal surrender signed on 2 September 1945, thus ending World War II and avoiding the potentially costly Invasion of Japan. After the war, West Field became Tinian International Airport.

Facilities

Tinian Naval Base, and NAS Tinian Facilities:[3]

  • West Field
  • North Field, the largest 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 for boat repairs
  • Existing roads widened 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 sq ft open storage and 63,000 cubic feet refrigerated storage
  • 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 quarry
  • Large fuel tank farm
  • Crash boat 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 stations

Postwar:

Camp Churo

Camp Churo was founded by the UN Navy as a place for Tinian civilians. Camp Churo civilian internment camp was divided into two camps. One part held 8,278 Japanese and Okinawan civilians whom Japan had brought 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.[18]

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 per day and 35 cents for unskilled workers; each also had an extra meal. The camp had crops and gardens growing fresh food. A 3,000-seat school was opened for the children. A craft shop was opened for handcrafted product making. The Navy operated a movie theater some evenings. The Navy also operated a 100-bed hospital in the camp. In 1946 the civilians were returned to their homeland.[19][20][21][22]

Post World War II

The Seabees battalion on Tinian was decommissioned on 20 June 1945. During the Battle of Tinian five Seabees were killed and 38 received the Purple Heart.[23] Five Seabees were awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism. In 1947 Tinian was transferred from the U.S. Navy to the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, 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. In 1983 a 50-year, 16,100-acre lease agreement was made, the land is called "Military Lease Area (MLA)". The lease gives use of the land to the U.S. Navy. The U.S. Navy used most of the land area for training exercises at Camp Tinian, a small mostly mobile camp. As part of the lease in the 1980s, one runway at North Field was reactivated so U.S. Air Force C-130s could support of United States Marine Corps training exercises.[24] The lease agreement gives the U.S. Department of Defense the option of an added 50 years to the lease. Currently, North Field has only the unused runways remaining. A Voice of America radio relay station was built on Tinian.[25]

Historical markers

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tinian.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Tinian.

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "7 TINIAN" (PDF). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  2. ↑ Island| Atomic Heritage Foundation
  3. 1 2 3 "Building the Navy's Bases, vol. 2 (part III, chapter 26)". public2.nhhcaws.local.
  4. ↑ US Parks, Tinian Landing Beaches, Ushi Point, and North Fields, Tinian Island
  5. 1 2 Prefer, Nathan N. The Battle for Tinian: Vital Stepping Stone in America's War Against Japan. Havertown, PA: Casemate Publishers, 2012. ISBN 978-1-61200-107-4. pp. 155–156.
  6. ↑ Carlson, Jen (29 July 2015). "These NYC Streets Are Located In The Middle Of The Pacific Ocean". Gothamist. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "HyperWar: Building the Navy's Bases in World War II [Chapter 28]". www.ibiblio.org.
  8. ↑ "A CLOSE ENCOUNTER: The Marine Landing on Tinian". www.ibiblio.org.
  9. ↑ "The Naval History and Heritage Command, the 6th" (PDF).
  10. ↑ "September Daily Chronology of Coast Guard History (Entry for September 4)". U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  11. ↑ Marks, R. Adrian (April 1981). "America Was Well Represented".
  12. ↑ "USS Indianapolis CA-35, a War Memorial". www.hmdb.org.
  13. ↑ Clayton Chun (2013). Japan 1945: From Operation Downfall to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 106–. ISBN 978-1472800206.
  14. ↑ Michael D. Roberts. "Appendix 13: Organization and Development of Patrol Wings (Fleet Air Wings) 1918–Present" (PDF). Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons. Vol. 2. Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy.
  15. ↑ Hearings Before the Committee on Naval Affairs of the US House, page 3862, 1946
  16. ↑ THE ARMY’S ROLE IN THE AIR/SEA BATTLE, CONCEPT: A WORLD WAR II PACIFIC THEATER CASE STUDY, by Major John Gervais, U.S. Army, School of Advanced Military Studies,, United States Army Command and General Staff College, 2013
  17. ↑ U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas, “Base Facilities Summary, Advance Bases, Central Pacific Area, 30 June 1945
  18. ↑ Kempner, 1945, pp. 103, 125-127
  19. ↑ Camp Churo
  20. ↑ Groehn, Camp Churo
  21. ↑ ww2online.org Camp Churo School
  22. ↑ 6thbombgroup.com, Camp Churo
  23. ↑ seabeecook.com A Brief History of NMCB 18
  24. ↑ US Navy, U.S. Navy Seabees and U.S. Marines accomplish a wide scope of engineering projects while at Expeditionary Camp Tinian, 19 July 2022, by Petty Officer 2nd Class Brian Underwood
  25. ↑ "Tinian". www.globalsecurity.org.
  26. ↑ "Memorial 107th Seabees - Tinian - TracesOfWar.com". www.tracesofwar.com.
  27. ↑ "B-29 Superfortress / 6th Bomb Group / Tinian Island Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org.
  28. ↑ "Atomic Bomb Pit 1 - Enola Gay Loading Site". wikimapia.org.
  29. ↑ "Atomic Bomb Pit 2 - BocksCar Loading Site". wikimapia.org.
  30. ↑ "313th Bomb Wing (VH), a War Memorial". www.hmdb.org.
  31. ↑ Ushi Point Cross and Memorial
  32. ↑ Suicide Cliff in Tinian
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