Attu (Atan[1] in Aleut) is the westernmost and largest island in the Near Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, making it the westernmost point of land relative to Alaska and the United States. Aleut ( Unangam Tunuu) is a language of the Eskimo-Aleut Language family. This is a list of the extreme points of the United States, the points that are farther north south east or west than any other location in the country An island (ˈaɪlənd or isle (/ˈaɪl/ is any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water in two dimensions above high tide and isolated from other significant The Near Islands ( Sasignan tanangin in Aleut) are the smallest and westernmost group of the Aleutian Islands in southwestern Alaska, at about The Aleutian Islands (possibly from Chukchi aliat, " Island " are a chain of more than 300 small volcanic islands forming a Volcanic Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent The United States of America —commonly referred to as the It was the site of the only World War II battle on United States soil (the battle of Attu), and its battlefield area is a US National Historic Landmark. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Battle of Attu took place May 11, 1943 &ndash May 30, 1943 on Attu Island off of Alaska as part of the Aleutian A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the
Attu Station, the only inhabited area on the island, is actually located at 52°51' north latitude, 173°11' east longitude, technically making it one of the easternmost points of Alaska (and the United States). Attu Station is a Census-designated place (CDP located on Attu Island in the Aleutians West Census Area in the U This is about the direction for other uses see North (disambiguation. Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter phi ( Φ) gives the location of a place on Earth (or other planetary body north or south of the The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST internal designation HT-7U is an experimental Superconducting Tokamak Magnetic fusion energy Longitude (ˈlɒndʒɪˌtjuːd or ˈlɒŋgɪˌtjuːd symbolized by the Greek character Lambda (λ is the east-west Geographic coordinate measurement (Looked at this way, neighboring Semisopochnoi Island at 179°46'E is the easternmost location in the United States and North America, as it sits only 14 minutes west of 180°, and so is in the Eastern Hemisphere). Semisopochnoi Island (Семисопочный "having seven hills" Aleut: Unyax) is part of the Rat Islands group in the western Aleutian Eastern Hemisphere, also Eastern hemisphere or eastern hemisphere, is a geographical term for the half of the Earth that is east of the
It is nearly 1,700 km (1,100 miles) from the Alaskan mainland and 1,200 km (750 miles) northeast of the northernmost of the Kurile Islands of the Russian Federation and 7800 km (>4800 miles) to the capital Washington DC. The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States The Kuril Islands (ˈkʊrɪl or /ˈkjuˈriˈl/ Кури́льские острова́ əstrʌˈva ru-Latn ''Kuril'skie ostrova'' or Kurile Islands in Russia Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Attu is about 32 km (20 miles) by 56 km (35 miles) in size with a land area of 892. 795 km² (344. Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of 71 sq mi), making it the 23rd largest island in the United States. The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. This is a list of Islands of the United States, as ordered by area. The population as of the 2000 census was 20 persons, all at the Attu Station.
As of 1982, the only trees on the island were those planted by US soldiers at a chapel constructed after the 1943 battle. A tree is a perennial Woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or A chapel is a holy place or area of Worship for Christians, which may be attached to an institution such as a large church, a College, a [2]
Contents |
History
| Attu Battlefield and U. S. Army and Navy Airfields on Attu | |
|---|---|
| (U.S. National Historic Landmark) | |
  | |
| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Built/Founded: | 1942 |
| Designated as NHL: | February 04, 1985[3] |
| Added to NRHP: | February 04, 1985[4] |
| NRHP Reference#: | 85002729 |
| Governing body: | FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE |
The name Attu is a transliteration of the Aleut name of the island. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the Events 211 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP is the United States government's official list of districts sites buildings structures and objects deemed worthy of Events 211 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) The Aleuts ( self-denomination from Aleut language allíthuh 'community' older or regional self-denomination Unangax̂, Unangan or It was called Saint Theodore by the explorer Aleksei Chirikov in 1742. Aleksei Ilyich Chirikov (Алексей Ильич Чириков (1703 – November 1748 was a Russian Navigator and Captain who charted some of the Aleutian Year 1742 ( MDCCXLII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a
World War II
- See also: Aleutian Islands Campaign
The Aleuts were the primary inhabitants of the island prior to World War II. The Aleutian Islands campaign was a struggle over the Aleutian Islands, part of Alaska, in the Pacific campaign of World War II. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including But, on June 7, 1942, six months into the war, the 301st Independent Infantry Battalion of the Japanese Northern Army invaded the island, a day after invading nearby Kiska. Events 1099 - The First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Kiska ( Qisxa in Aleut) is an Island in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska located at. In response to Japanese aggression in the Aleutians, U. S. authorities conducted a mandatory evacuation of 881 Aleuts from nine Aleutian villages. They were interned in camps in the Alaska Panhandle, where 74 died of various diseases over two years. The Alaska Panhandle, sometimes referred to as Southeast Alaska, is the southeastern portion of the U
However, Attu Village had not yet been evacuated when the Japanese attacked. At the time, Attu’s population consisted of 45 native Aleuts and two Americans, Foster Jones, 60, a schoolteacher, and his wife Etta. The village consisted of several houses around Chichagof Harbor. The 42 Attu inhabitants who survived the Japanese invasion were taken to a prison camp near Otaru, Hokkaidō. is a city and port located in Shiribeshi, Hokkaidō, Japan, northwest of Sapporo. WikipediaWikiProject Japanese prefectures for guidelines --> formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan 's Sixteen of them died while imprisoned.
According to General Hideichiro Higuda, Commander of the Japanese Northern Army, the invasion of Kiska and Attu was part of a threefold objective:[5]
- To break up any offensives against Japan by way of the Aleutians
- To place a barrier between the US and Russia in case Russia decided to join the war against Japan
- To make preparation for airbases for future offensive action
In late September, 1942, the garrison on Attu was transferred to Kiska and the island was essentially left unoccupied, but American forces made no attempt to occupy the island during this time. Kiska ( Qisxa in Aleut) is an Island in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska located at. On October 29, 1942 the Japanese reestablished a base on Attu at Holtz Bay under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Hiroshi Yanekawa. Events 437 - Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor, marries Licinia Eudoxia, daughter of his cousin Theodosius II Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Lieutenant Colonel ( Lieutenant-Colonel in English from the French grade 's spelling is a rank of Commissioned officer in the armies Initially the garrison was about 500 strong but through reinforcements it reached about 2,300 by March 10, 1943. Events 241 BC - First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates Islands - The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing Year 1943 ( MCMXLIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. No more reinforcements arrived after that time, owing mainly to the efforts of a naval force under Rear Admiral Charles McMorris. Rear admiral is a Naval Commissioned officer rank above that of a Commodore and Captain, and below that of a Vice Admiral. Charles "Soc" Horatio McMorris ( August 31, 1890 -1954 was an American rear admiral during World War II, most notably commanding forces at the He was assigned to interdict the Japanese supply convoys. After the Battle of the Komandorski Islands, Japan abandoned its attempts to resupply its Aleutian garrisons by the surface. The Battle of the Komandorski Islands was one of the most unusual engagements of World War II. From then on, only submarines were used for the resupply runs. A submarine is a Watercraft that can operate independently below water as distinct from a Submersible that has only limited underwater capability [5]
On May 11, 1943, the operation to recapture Attu began. Events 330 - Byzantium is renamed ''Nova Roma'' during a dedication ceremony but is more popularly referred to as Constantinople Year 1943 ( MCMXLIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A shortage of landing craft, unsuitable beaches, and equipment that failed to operate in the appalling weather caused great difficulties in projecting any force against the Japanese. Many soldiers suffered from frostbite because essential supplies could not be landed, or having been landed, could not be moved to where they were needed, because vehicles would not work on the tundra. The Japanese defenders under Colonel Yamasaki did not contest the landings but rather dug in on high ground away from the shore. Colonel Yasuyo Yamasaki (often spelled as Yamazaki)(山崎保代 ( October 17, 1891 - May 29, 1943) commanded the Japanese This caused bloody fighting: there were 3,929 U. S. casualties: 580 were killed, 1148 were injured, 1200 had severe cold injuries, 614 succumbed to disease, and 318 died of miscellaneous causes, largely Japanese booby traps and friendly fire. The Japanese were defeated in Massacre Valley with a backfire led by Sergeant Morgan Sinclair. The death count for the Japanese was 2035. The Americans then built Navy Town near Massacre Bay.
On May 29, the last of the Japanese forces suddenly attacked near Massacre Bay in one of the largest banzai charges of the Pacific campaign. A was a name applied during World War II to Human wave -style attacks mounted by infantry forces of the Imperial Japanese Army. The charge, led by Colonel Yamasaki, penetrated U. S. lines far enough to encounter shocked rear-echelon units of the American force. After furious, brutal, close-quarter, and often hand-to-hand combat the Japanese force was killed almost to the last man: only 28 prisoners were taken, none of them officers. Hand-to-hand combat (sometimes abbreviated as HTH or H2H is a generic term for Close quarters fighting, particularly when the outcome is potentially fatal as in Melee U. S. burial teams counted 2,351 Japanese dead, but it was presumed that hundreds more had been buried by bombardments over the course of the battle.
The Japanese forces, after realizing their position was now vulnerable, evacuated Kiska three months later.
The U. S. built a larger airfield, and used that on July 10, 1943 as the base for an air attack on Japan's Kurile Islands, the first air attack on Japan since the 1942 Doolittle Raid. Events 48 BC - Battle of Dyrrhachium, Julius Caesar barely avoids a catastrophic defeat to Pompey in Macedonia. Year 1943 ( MCMXLIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Doolittle Raid, 18 April 1942, was the first air raid by the United States to strike the Japanese home island of Honshū Other attacks followed. [2]
Postwar
After the war, the survivors of the Otaru prison camp were repatriated to other Aleutian islands or to the mainland of Alaska, and the United States government decided to construct a LORAN station on the southern tip of Attu, at Theodore Point. LORAN ( LO ng R ange A id to N avigation is a terrestrial Radio navigation system using Low frequency Radio transmitters This installation is currently manned by the United States Coast Guard. The equipment to build the station came out of Holtz Bay and was ferried on barges and landing craft to Baxter Cove, about one mile east of the station. Bulldozers were used to cut a road from Baxter Cove to Theodore Point.
In 1960, the station was moved to Casco Cove, near the former Navy Base at Massacre Bay. Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Later it was moved to Massacre Bay.
The battlefield area and subsequent military sites were declared a National Historic Landmark in 1985. A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the [3][2]
In 1987, with the approval of the U. S. Department of the Interior, the government of Japan placed a monument on Engineer Hill, site of the hand-to-hand finale of the battle against the Japanese. An inscription, in Japanese and English, reads: "In memory of all those who sacrificed their lives in the islands and seas of the North Pacific during World War II and in dedication to world peace. " In February 2008, a group of American veterans led by John E. Jonas TSGT USAF (Ret. ) began a petition to have the Japanese memorial removed or relocated from the island and replaced with two U. S. funded markers: one to the Japanese soldiers who died on the island and one to the Americans. Jones and others were upset to find out that the Japanese memorial on Attu was erected on or near the site of a massacre of wounded American soldiers by the Japanese on the battle's final day. [6]
Jones, along with fellow Attu survivor Andy Petrus, were featured in the 2006 documentary film Red White Black & Blue. It is directed by Tom Putnam, and debuted at the 2006 Locarno International Film Festival in Locarno, Switzerland on August 4, 2006. Events 70 - The Destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
There is currently a search being conducted to find the remains of Japanese soldiers. [7][8]
Weather
The weather on Attu is typical Aleutian weather: cloudy, rainy, and foggy. High winds occur occasionally. Five or six days a week are likely to be rainy, and there are only about eight or ten clear days a year. The rest of the time, even if rain is not falling, fog of varying density is the rule rather than the exception. There are 1000-1250 mm (forty to fifty inches) of annual rainfall, with the heaviest rains in autumn and early winter. Autumn (also known as fall in North American English) is one of the four Temperate Seasons Autumn marks the transition from Summer Winter is one of the four Seasons of Temperate zones Calculated astronomically, it begins on the Solstice and ends on the Equinox
See also
Notes
- ^ Bergsland, K Aleut Dictionary Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center, 1994
- ^ a b c Author unavailable (Date unavailable), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Attu Battlefield and U.S. Army and Navy Airfields on Attu (partial scanned copy)PDF (600 KiB), National Park Service and Accompanying photos from 1943, 1982, and 1983.PDF (1. The Aleutian Islands campaign was a struggle over the Aleutian Islands, part of Alaska, in the Pacific campaign of World War II. Kiska ( Qisxa in Aleut) is an Island in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska located at. A kibibyte (a contraction of ki lo bi nary byte) is a unit of Information or Computer storage, established by the International 47 MiB)
- ^ a b Attu Battlefield and U.S. Army and Navy Airfields on Attu. A mebibyte (a contraction of me ga bi nary byte) is a unit of Information or Computer storage, abbreviated MiB. National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2008-01-08. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 871 - Battle of Ashdown - Ethelred of Wessex defeats a Danish invasion army
- ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23). Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 393 - Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his nine year old son Honorius co-emperor
- ^ a b Mitchell, Lt. Robert J. ; Sewell T. Tyng, Capt. Nelson L. Drummond Jr. , Gregory J. W. Urwin (April, 2000). The Capture of Attu: A World War II Battle As Told by the Men Who Fought There. University of Nebraska Press, pp. 2-3. ISBN 080329557X.
- ^ Monumental concerns for World War II veterans, Anchorage Daily News, March 18th, 2008
- ^ Japan seeks WWII soldiers' remains on U.S. soil
- ^ U.S. helps search for Japanese dead on Attu
References
- Attu Island: Blocks 1150 thru 1153 and 1155 thru 1170, Census Tract 1, Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska United States Census Bureau.
External links
- Attu Homepage
- Red White Black & Blue - feature documentary about The Battle of Attu
- Soldiers of the 184th Infantry, 7th ID in the Pacific, 1943-1945
- Suicidal Banzai charge in Attu : The 1st Gyokusai ordered (Japanese) Suicide for the Emperor?
- Japanese Army doctor's diary
- ”Attu: North American Battleground of World War II”, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan
- Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic