Kingman Reef Totally Explained

Everything about Kingman Reef totally explained

Kingman Reef is a largely submerged uninhabited tropical atoll located in the North Pacific Ocean, roughly half way between Hawaiian Islands and American Samoa at . It is the northernmost of the Northern Line Islands and lies NNW of the next closest island (Palmyra Atoll), and about south of Honolulu.
   The reef partly encloses a lagoon up to 73 meters deep, with the greater depths in the western part. At times, its shoreline might reach three kilometers in circumference; the total area within the outer rim of the reef is 76 km². There is just one small strip of dry land on the eastern rim, with an area of less than 0.01 km². The highest point on the reef is about one meter above sea level and wetted or awash most of the time, making Kingman Reef a maritime hazard. It has no natural resources, is uninhabited, and supports no economic activity.
   Kingman Reef has the status of an unincorporated territory of the United States, administered from Washington, DC by the U.S. Navy. The atoll is closed to the public. For statistical purposes, Kingman Reef is grouped as part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands.
   Kingman reef is a separate country among radio amateurs who visit the reef to make contacts. Kingman Reef is one of the most wanted "countries" to contact among radio amateurs.
The pre-20th century names Danger Reef, Caldew Reef, Maria Shoal and Crane Shoal refer to this atoll, which by then was still 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'll undoubtedly be added to the [northernLine Islands]."

History

Kingman Reef was found in 1789 by the American Captain Edmund Fanning of the ship Betsey. Captain W. E. Kingman described it in 1853. It was claimed for the United States under the name "Danger Reef" under the Guano Islands Act of 1856.
It was formally annexed to the United States on May 10, 1922 when Lorrin A. Thurston read this declaration on shore:

"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."

The lagoon was used in 1937 and 1938 as a halfway station between Hawai'i and American Samoa by Pan American Airways flying boats. In 1937, Pan Am had plans to anchor the ship North Wind as a floating tanker at Kingman and use the reef as a stopover for its flying boats on the route to New Zealand. It served as the base for the Sikorsky Clipper and the Samoan Clipper, captained by Edwin C. Musick, who made 5 successful landings in the lagoon in 1937 and 1938. The idea was abandoned as Pan Am found that the costs of supporting a mostly idle tanker ship prohibitive. There were also concerns that comfortable overnight accommodations wouldn't be available in the event of a mechanical breakdown. As a result, Pan Am switched to Canton Island on May 18, 1939 and began service to New Zealand on July 12, 1940. Image:Kingman Reef.png|NASA NLT Landsat 7 true-color photo Image:Kingman_Reef_-_Marplot_Map_(1-75,000).jpg|Map Image:Kingman Reef Oct 2003.jpg|Dry land, October 2003. Note Coconut Palm seedling.

Footnotes

Further Information

Get more info on 'Kingman Reef'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://kingman_reef.totallyexplained.com">Kingman Reef Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.