Midway Atoll Photos
Music: Stars & Stripes
Midway Atoll was almost six full days of sailing from LA. According to the Voyage log, it was exactly 3025 nautical miles. The nautical mile is used around the world for maritime and aviation purposes. It is commonly used in international law and treaties, especially regarding the limits of territorial waters. It developed from the geographical mile. The earth is 21,600 nautical miles around. One nautical mile is equal to 1.150779 statute miles.
The ship anchored outside the atoll at the entrance to the islands. The tenders took us on a 20 minute jaunt from the ship, through the atoll entrance into the WWII submarine pens and PBY ramp.
The PBY hangar still stands although the other one was totally destroyed in the Japanese attack on Midway.
During the Battle of Midway, less than six months later, a Japanese pilot dropped a 500-pound bomb, hitting the same side of the hangar. The shrapnel holes in the metal beams stand as evidence of the destruction wrought upon Midway during the shelling of December 7, 1941, and the bombing of June 4, 1942.
Read it and weep; they were indeed heroes of the entire war!
To The Beach...
