The Phoenix Islands: An Annotated Chronology. Compiled and published by Ian D Ellis-Jones. First Edition---Pymble, NSW: Ian D Ellis-Jones, 1979. (Held by Mitchell Library, Sydney, NSW.) Revised [second] edition---Turramurra, NSW: Ian D Ellis-Jones, 1990. (Held by Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.) Updated [third] edition---Turramurra, NSW: Ian D Ellis-Jones, 2002. Updated [fourth] edition---Turramurra, NSW: Ian D Ellis-Jones, 2014. Copyright Ian Ellis-Jones 1979, 1990, 2002, 2014. All Rights Reserved.

1. THE PHOENIX ISLANDS
AN ANNOTATED CHRONOLOGY
by
IAN ELLIS-JONES
BA, LLB (Syd), LLM, PhD (UTS), DD, Dip Relig Stud (LCIS)
Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the High Court of Australia
Former Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Technology, Sydney
Lecturer, New South Wales Institute of Psychiatry
IAN ELLIS-JONES
12A NULLA NULLA STREET
TURRAMURRA NSW 2074
AUSTRALIA
2014
Copyright © 2014 Ian Ellis-Jones
Updated Fourth Edition
2014 (Fourth Edition) 2002 (Third Edition)
1990 (Second Edition) 1979 (First Edition)
All Rights Reserved
Email: ian.ellis-jones@hotmail.com
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Dedicated to the legacy of
Edwin Horace Bryan, Jr
(1898-1985)
Explorer ~ Scientist ~ Author
Polymath Extraordinaire

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INTRODUCTION
The Phoenix Islands (now part of the Republic of Kiribati, the largest atoll
state in the world) are a group of 8 small, low-lying, desolate coral islands in
the central Pacific Ocean (Polynesia), scattered (in a more-or-less oval
shape) between 2 30' and 4 30' South Latitude and 170 30' and 174 30'
West Longitude, and situated north of Western Samoa and the Tokelaus,
about midway between Fiji and Hawaii.
The islands, once an important source of guano, have a total land area of
about 29 sq km. All are low atolls enclosing lagoons, or the remnants of
lagoons. The group consists of Kanton1 (formerly Canton, also known as
Abariringa [Aba-Riringa], and known previously as Mary, Mary Balcout,
Babcut, Balcott, and Swallow), Enderbury, Rawaki (Phoenix), Manra
(Sydney), Birnie, McKean (once named Drummond's Island, and later Arthur
Island'), Nikumaroro (Gardner, once named Kimins [or Kemin’s] Islands or
Mary Letitia’s Island) and Orona (Hull).2
Archaeological evidence shows that Manra, Orona and Nikumaroro were
inhabited by humans in pre-European times, both from Eastern Polynesia and
(it would appear) Micronesia, but when the first European whalers visited the
group in about 1820 the islands were uninhabited. The later inhabitants were
not indigenous to those islands.
Kanton Island is the largest atoll in the group (9 sq km) and consists of a
roughly chop-shaped lagoon almost completely ringed by a narrow ribbon of
flat, barren land up to 3.66 m above sea level. On the west, the atoll has an
overall width of 8.05 km. Its length to the south-eastern point is about 16 km.
1
Now with a "K" as there is no "C" in the Kiribati language. In this Chronology, those of the
Phoenix Islands that have "native" names are referred to by those names, since those names
have now largely superseded the names bestowed by the explorers. However, this is not to
suggest that the so-called "historical" names have been rendered obsolete, as many current
maps and gazetteers continue to use them, nor are the "native" names truly indigenous to the
islands in question.
2
Howland and Baker Islands, to the north of the Phoenix group, do not belong to the group
and are US possessions.

6. 6
Kanton’s lagoon (about 11 km long and about 5 km wide) is a beautiful stretch
of glass-smooth, deep-blue water filled with tropical fish; the surrounding rim
is seldom more than 550 m wide. The island carries a little stunted vegetation
(low shrub) and a few coconut palms on the north-western side. By the mid1960s, about 40 per cent of the land area of Kanton had been covered with
man-made structures. An American-built wharf is capable of handling large
freighters. Seagulls, formerly a menace to planes, seek refuge on the island
and tiny insect-eating lizards dart through the ruins and debris of the US base.
Enderbury Island (which lies about 60 km ESE of Kanton) is almost
completely solid land, the lagoon now only a shallow pond dotted with sand
islets. The island is less than 4.83 km long and about 1.61 km wide. Its
elevation around the rim is between 4.57 and 6.7 m. Much of the island's
surface is covered with bunchgrass. The island reeks of guano from
kilometres away on the leeward side. Colonies of seabirds can be found on
the island,3 which is also important for green sea turtle breeding. There is no
anchorage.
Rawaki is roughly pear-shaped (with a shallow ankle deep lagoon), less than
1.2 km long and 0.8 km wide. The island, predominantly coral rubble, is more
bare in terms of vegetation than Enderbury. The highest point on the island is
not quite 6 m. The island was for many decades heavily populated with
rabbits (they were brought to the Phoenix Islands by guano collectors in the
1870s) but, after recent eradication work, a 2009 survey found the presence
of no European rats on the island. There are also many thousands of sea
birds on the island, which is a declared wildlife sanctuary.
Manra4 is roughly triangular, with sides of 2 km in length and base and about
3.22 km in width. It encloses a land-locked lagoon (once open to the sea).
Polynesian ruins have been located on the island which has dense vegetation
on it.
3
4
Some of the birds use the remnants of buildings left by the Phoenix Guano Company.
Named after a legendary ancestral place.

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Birnie Island is the smallest in the group, less than 1.6 km in length and 550 m
at its widest part. It possesses a shallow brackish lagoon. A navigation
beacon was erected on its eastern side.
McKean Island is oval-shaped, 56 ha in area, 0.8 km in length and about 732
m in width. The highest point of land on the island rises to 5.18 m. There is a
fairly recent but very prominent wreck on the island.
Nikumaroro5 consists of a narrow but fertile rim of land (about 6.5 km by 2 km)
around a wedge-shaped lagoon. Most of the rim is covered with forest, 4.6 to
15 m in height. Numerous coconut palms can be found on the island. There is
no effective place to anchor a ship, and the fringing reef can only be
penetrated on the island’s west end where a human-made channel has been
blasted through to the beach. The beach itself is lined with a nearly
impenetrable wall of Scaevola (te mao).
Orona,6 which lies eastward of Nikumaroro, is shaped like a parallelogram
and contains a deep lagoon. It is about 11 km long by 5 km wide. The rim of
land around the lagoon is cut by about 20 channels. Orona is perhaps the
most archaeologically interesting island in the group; at its eastern end have
been found ancient Polynesian graves and a stone marae. The US built a
radar station on the island.
The climate of the Phoenix Islands can be summed up in one word - hot.
Rainfall is generally low, except in the wetter, southern islands of Manra,
Orona and Nikumaroro, but even those islands are subject to severe
droughts. Daytime temperature is between 26.70 and 33.9OC; night time
temperature is seldom below 21.10C. Since the Phoenix Islands are close to
the Equator, the sun's descent is rapid and almost vertical. Consequently,
twilight is very short.
Although the Phoenix Islands are low-lying, they are generally protected from
heavy seas by outlying coral reefs. However, the Pacific Ocean breakers
5
Named after a land, with many buka trees, that supposedly lay in the direction of Samoa,
from which a legendary ancestress had come to the Kiribati home islands.
6
A Polynesian name borrowed from Niue Islanders who had worked coconut plantations.

8. 8
incessantly pound their way on the sea sides of the islands, throwing white
spray high into the air.
The Phoenix Islands, whose colonisation represented “the last expansion of
the British Empire”,7 have been the subject of, and base for, numerous
important archaeological, anthropological, ornithological and scientific studies.
Kanton Island became an important international airport on the trans-Pacific
route and was later an integral part of the United States' defence and space
programs. In more recent years, the island has been a world weather watch
global observing system station, and a part of the Tropical Ocean and Global
Atmosphere (TOGA) program. In 2008 the Phoenix Islands become the
Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA), the world's largest marine protected
area, covering a total area of 410,500 sq km of land and ocean.
Now that the Phoenix Islands, with the exception of Kanton, are once again
deserted, one can only wonder if and when they, like the fabulous Egyptian
bird, will rise again from the ashes in the renewal of youth. The biggest peril
the islands face is climate change. Humans always cause the most damage.
NOTE. Acknowledgments are due to the relevant rights holders whose intellectual property rights are
strictly reserved. There is no intention to infringe copyright in respect of any copyrighted material. If any
person believes there is or may be an infringement of their copyrighted material on any page of this
website please advise me by email and any offending material will be removed immediately.
7
King, Thomas F, “Gallagher of Nikumaroro and the Last Expansion of the British Empire”,
http://www.tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Bulletins/8_02_00bull.html.

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CHRONOLOGY
Pre-European Times
Archaeological evidence indicates that at least some of the Phoenix Islands,
relevantly, Nikumaroro, Manra and Orana, were inhabited by humans
(Polynesians) in pre-European times.
c3500
-2000 BCE
Much of Western Micronesia is settled.
c1500 BCE
Ancestors of present-day Polynesians reach Fiji.
c1200 BCE
Proto-Polynesian
colonising
of
Tonga
takes
place;
subsequent movement into Samoa.
c300-500 CE
Marquesas are colonised; subsequent settlement of Eastern
Pacific, including Hawaii (oldest carbon date, South Point,
Island of Hawaii, 124 CE).
Ancient stone marae on Manra
Photo taken in 1924

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Whaling Days
European whalers visited the Phoenix Islands probably in the early 1820s.
By 1840 American whaling ships were all over the waters of the Pacific.
1794
Captain Henry Barber (Arthur) discovers McKean and names
it “Drummond's Island”.
1820
Several American whalers and British warships have by now
visited Kanton.
1823
Captain James J Coffin, in command of the British whale ship
Transit, reportedly discovers and names Enderbury (as
"Enderby's Island", after a London whaling house named
“Enderby”).
1823
British whaler Captain Emment [query “Emmett” or “Emmert”]
(Sydney Packet or the Sydney) comes across Manra and also
names Birnie (after a well known British shipowner of the
time).

14. 14
1823-24
Captain Barney in the Equator possibly “discovers” Kanton.
1824
(January 8) Captain Kemin, of an unnamed ship, discovers
what is possibly Gardner Island and McKean Island, naming
them the "Kemin Islands".
1824
An island named “Mary Island" and "Mary Balcoutts Island", at
similar coordinates to Kanton, exist in reports and charts from
1825.
1825
Captain
Joshua
whaler Ganges),
Gardner
discovers
(reportedly
Nikumaroro
aboard
and
names
the
it
"Gardner's Island"; Gardner’s discovery is reported in
the Nantucket
Enquirer
in
December
1827;
Joshua
Coffin (also reportedly on the Ganges) is also sometimes
credited with the discovery, naming the island after his ship's
owner, Gideon Gardner [see below].
1828 (prob.)
Frenchman Louis Tromelin, aboard the corvette Bayonnaise,
comes across Manra and Rawaki, probably in 1828; some
sources state 1823 and 1826.
1828
Rawaki has by now been discovered by the American ship
Phoenix
(of
Nantucket,
Massachusetts);
Jeremiah
N.
Reynolds' 1828 report to the US Navy describes a "Barney's
Island", roughly at Kanton's position, which was possibly
named and discovered by Captain Joseph Barney (Equator),
who was whaling in the area in 1823-4; a "Phenix" [sic], plus
unnamed islands at similar coordinates, also feature in
Reynold's report.
1828
(or 1825) Captain Joshua Coffin (Ganges) is credited with
discovering Nikumaroro, naming it Gardner (after the ship’s
owner and apparently his father-in-law).

15. 15
1840
(August 19) Lieutenant Charles Wilkes (USS Vincennes), of
the us Exploring Expedition, comes across, maps, and
renames McKean (after a member of his crew) and also
confirms Nikumaroro’s position and name (“Gardner”).
1840
Wilkes, during his American Exploring Expedition, comes
upon Orona; a Frenchman and 10 Tahitians were then living
ashore.
1840-41
Enderbury is surveyed by vessels of the US Exploring
Expedition.
1841
The existence of Orona is confirmed by the US
Exploring
Expedition; the island is found to be inhabited, and is named
“Hull Island” by Charles Wilkes after Commodore Isaac Hull.
1850s
British vessel HMS Curacao, under the command of Captain
Gibson, visits Kanton.
1851
Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick is published; the author places
the final confrontation involving Captain Ahab in the Phoenix
group.
1854
New Bedford whaling vessel Canton is wrecked on Kanton;
the vessel was under the command of Captain Andrew J
Wing.

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Guano and Coconuts
Between 1859 and 1877 Enderbury, McKean and Phoenix Islands were worked
for guano. After the guano deposits were exhausted coconut plantations began
on Orona and Manra. Over the years leases passed from one company
to another (J T Arundel & Co, Pacific Islands Company Ltd, Lever’s
Pacific Plantations Ltd, Samoa Shipping and Trading Co Ltd).
1856
US claims 14 islands in the Line and Phoenix groups under
the Guano Act of 1856.
1856
American guano companies claim Kanton.
1859-77
American companies work the guano deposits on Rawaki,
Enderbury and McKean.
Abandoned guano miners' huts (c1870) on Enderbury Island
(Bottom photo taken in 1938)

17. 17
1859
(December 31) US Secretary of State issues rights to dig
guano on Enderbury to the Phoenix Guano Company.
1860
(April) Phoenix Guano Company commences guano digging
on Enderbury.
1861
The US Guano Company, headed by Alfred G Benson,
unsuccessfully attempts to gain control of Enderbury by force.
1866
(December 11) British bark Golden Sunset, under the
command of E H Tidmarsh, goes ashore on Enderbury; the
20 passengers, captain and crew are later brought safely to
Honolulu on the Hawaiian supply ship Kamehameha V.
1872
(March 27-29) Commander Richard W Meade, of the USS
Narragansett, maps Enderbury.
1872-73
Meade's report describes his visit to Kanton, which (as
“Canton”, the name Meade gives to the island, after the
whaler Canton, which was wrecked there in 1854) becomes
the official name of the island.
1877
(March) Guano operations on Enderbury cease.
1881-91
Kanton is worked for its guano by John T Arundel & Co,
pursuant to a lease from the British Government.
1882
John T Arundel & Co, of London, leases Manra and later uses
Enderbury during the 1880s.
1982-85
Guano is shipped from Manra; coconuts are planted.
1884
Guano vessel Howard E Troup is driven on to the reef at
Kanton.

18. 18
1885-86
Guano is shipped from Kanton.
1887
John T Arundel & Co plant coconuts on Orona and
Nikumararo; they do not thrive because of a drought in the
1890s.
1889-92
Britain annexes the Phoenix Islands.
1989
(June 26) British flag is raised on Manra.
1889
(June 29) Britain annexes Rawaki.
1892
Britain
establishes
a
protectorate over the Gilbert
and Ellice Islands.
1892
(May 28) Captain Gibson
(HMS
Curacao)
annexes
Nikumaroro in the name of
Queen Victoria.
1899
Britain leases Kanton, Enderbury and Birnie to the Pacific
Islands Co.
1900s
Lever Bros maintain coconut plantations on Manra.
1914
(January 1) Phoenix Islands (except McKean and Enderbury)
are leased to the Samoa Shipping and Trading Co for 87
years.
1915
Captain Allen, of the Samoa Shipping and Trading Co, visits
Kanton, erects a beacon and plants hundreds of coconut

19. 19
trees, with the prospect of establishing a copra industry on the
island.
1916
Samoa Shipping and Trading Co establishes camps on Orona
and Manra for copra-cutting.
1919
Captain Allen returns for an inspection of Kanton; most of the
coconut trees have died.
1922
(March) American scientist and explorer Edwin H Bryan Jr
visits and conducts a scientific exploration of Kanton;
recommends Kanton to Charles Kingsford-Smith as a
possible landing spot if needed (see next entry).
1928
Charles Kingsford-Smith chooses Kanton as an emergency
landing place (should it be necessary) on his trans-Pacific
flight in the Southern Cross, via Hawaii and Suva, Fiji.
1928
SS Norwich is beached, with some fatalities, on Nikumaroro
during a storm.
1933
Ancient Polynesian structures are found on Orona.
1935
USA annexes Howland and Baker Islands.
1936
(August 6) British officials from HMS Leith land on Kanton;
British sovereignty is asserted in the name of King Edward
VIII.

20. 20
Annexation, Colonisation and Aviation
The Phoenix islands were included within the boundaries of the Gilbert and Ellice
Islands Colony in 1937. Between 1938 and 1940 Orona, Manra and Nikumaroro are
colonised with people from the overcrowded Gilbert Islands; the scheme is known as
the Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme. During 1938-39 Pan American Airways
develop an airport on Kanton. In 1939 Great Britain and USA agree to jointly
administer and control Kanton and Enderbury.
1937
(May) Burns Philp & Co's Makoa is wrecked on Orona's reef.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, July 6, 1937, p 11
1937
Britain visits every one of the Phoenix Islands to confirm her
sovereignty; she includes all of them (except Kanton and
Enderbury) in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony;
administration officials are stationed on Kanton and Orona.

21. 21
1938
(May) USS Avocet carries the National Geographical Society US Navy eclipse party to Kanton.
1937
(June 3) British officials from HMS Wellington land on Kanton
and confirm British sovereignty in the name of King George
VI; the ship also brings New Zealand scientists to Kanton to
observe the sun's eclipse; a radio network’s transmitter
beams an on-the-spot description of the eclipse to the US.
1937
(July 2) Amelia Earhart's twin-engined Lockheed plane
vanishes, supposedly in the vicinity of Howland Island; the
Phoenix Islands are visited as part of the official search.

22. 22
Fred Noonan and Amelia Earhart in Bandoeng,
Indonesia, about a week before their final flight
Source: George Palmer Putnam Collection of Amelia Earhart Papers
Courtesy Purdue University Libraries, Karnes Archives & Special Collections

23. 23
1937
(June 8) American and New Zealand eclipse expeditions use
Kanton as a spot from which to view the sun's eclipse.
Solar corona, at the total solar eclipse, June 8, 1937, Kanton Island.
Portrait by Irving Gardner (US National Bureau of Standards) on a joint
expedition with the US Naval Observatory and the National Geographic
Society. Towering above the edge of the black moon is an unusual
prominence, shaped like a bird or dinosaur, nicknamed "Heliosaurus".
1937
(August 31) Two British agents land on Kanton from HMS
Leith and proceed to erect a radio station on the island.
1937
(October) British vessel HMCS Nimanoa (with Harry E
Maude, Administrator for the Gilbert and Ellice Islands
Colony, and later officer-in-charge of the Phoenix Islands
Settlement Scheme [PISS]) visits the Phoenix group prior to
the colonisation of Orona, Manra and Nikumaroro.
1938
(January) PAA Clipper Samoan, with the legendary Captain
Edwin C Musick at the controls, explodes in flight while

24. 24
dumping fuel; a light tower (“Musick Light”) is later erected on
Kanton as a memorial to Captain Musick and his crew.
1938
(March 3) US President Franklin D Roosevelt, by an
administrative order, places Kanton and Enderbury under the
jurisdiction of the US Department of the Interior.
1938
(March 6) American party of 7, including Hawaiian colonists,
land from the US Coast Guard Cutter Taney on Enderbury
and establish their camp there.
1938
(March 7) American colonists land on Kanton from Taney.
US Coast Guard Cutter Taney.
The Taney was present at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack.
1938
(July 25-27) E H Bryan Jr revisits Kanton with a scientific
expedition.

25. 25
1939
British and US colonists settle in Kanton.
British and American camps on Kanton Island in 1938
1938-40
Orona, Manra and Nikumaroro are colonised with people from
the overcrowded Gilbert Islands; the scheme is known as the
Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme.
1938
Orona's population numbers 610, following the transfer of
Southern Gilbertese.
1940
Samoa Shipping and Trading Co, controlled by Burns Philp &
Co, sells its lease to the Gilbert and Ellice Government.,
which buys the Phoenix Islands from Burns Philp to re-settle
the Gilbertese.

26. 26
1938-39
Pan American World Airways lay out and develop an
extensive airport on Kanton and deepen and clear its lagoon
(for seaplane runway).
Kanton Island---lagoon---seaplane runway---Pan-Am flying boat
1939
Dr Leonard P Schultz of the Smithsonian Institution
catalogues 221 species of fish in the waters of Kanton and its
neighbours.
1939
(April 6) Agreement is reached, by an official exchange of
notes, between Britain and USA under which both nations will
jointly administer and control Kanton and Enderbury for a
period of 50 years and "thereafter until such time as it may be
modified or terminated by the mutual consent of the two
Governments"; both countries would be entitled to use the two
islands for communications and as airports for international
aviation.

27. 27
1940
(August) Seaplane California Clipper sets out for the first
survey flight over the new trans-Pacific route.
1939
(November) Second survey flight over the trans-Pacific route
takes place.
1940
Co-op store is erected on Nikumaroro.
1941
(Spring) Natives clearing a forest on Nikumaroro find and bury
a human skull; Gerald Gallagher, Administrator of the Phoenix
Islands Settlement Scheme, conjectures that the bones might
be those of Amelia Earhart; a thorough search of the area is
ordered to be carried out.
1940
(July 12) Pan American World Airways American Clipper
takes off from San Francisco Harbor, inaugurating a regular
fortnightly service to New Zealand, via Los Angeles, Honolulu,
Kanton Island and Noumea.

28. 28
Pan American Airways Clipper advertisement, 1940

29. 29
1942
Population of the Phoenix Islands, before the arrival of US
troops after 1941, is approximately 850 (including 260 on
Manra).
1940
Nikumaroro colonisers allegedly find near the southeast end
of the island the partial skeleton of a woman, wearing an
American shoe, as well as the skull of another person; the
bones are also associated with a sextant box, a Benedictine
bottle, and the remains of a fire with bird and turtle bones;
Gallagher thinks they might represent the remains of Earhart;
the bones are shipped to Fiji and are examined by Dr. David
Hoodless, who decides they represent a male of European or
mixed ethnicity; controversy and speculation remain to this
day about the find and its possible significance and relevance
to Earhart’s disappearance.
1943
(January 9) Enderbury is once again surveyed by the US.
1941
(September 27) Gerald B Gallagher, officer-in-charge of the
Phoenix
Islands
Settlement
Scheme
(PISS),
dies
on
Nikumaroro, aged 29 years.
World War II
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the Kanton airport passes into
US military control. During World War II thousands of American
troops are brought to Kanton. The importance of the island to the US
and its allies during the War cannot be overstated.
1941
(December 7) Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Kanton
airport soon thereafter passes into US Naval control, but is
not bombed by the Japanese throughout World War II.

30. 30
1942
American Polynesia and the
Hawaiian Chain, by Edwin H
Bryan
Jr,
is
published
by
Tongg Publishing Company,
Honolulu, Hawaii; the book
contains first-hand descriptions
of each of the Phoenix Islands
as
well
as
situated
in
other
islands
“American
Polynesia”.
1942-43
US Air Force builds a modern airport for landplanes on the
northwest land rim of Kanton; flying boats also visit
Nikumaroro during World War 11; during the late war years a
large four-engined aircraft from Kanton crashes on Manra.
1942
(January) The first landplanes to use the new coral runway on
Kanton fly from Hawaii to Kanton.
1942
(February 14) SS President Taylor, with 1,400 troops aboard,
runs aground on Kanton after being pursued by two Japanese
submarines.
1942-45
Kanton becomes an important US Air Force base in the
Pacific Ocean; 30,000 American troops are brought to Kanton
during World War II, many of them stationed there for months.

31. 31
Palm tree observation point on Kanton Island
Kanton Island military base during World War II

32. 32
Kanton Island port
1944-46
A US Coast Guard Loran station operates on Nikumaroro.
1944
(June) Famed English-born American actor and comedian
Bob Hope visits Kanton on a pacific USO tour and entertains
American troops stationed on the island
After the War
After World War II, Kanton airport becomes an important refuelling stop
on the trans-Pacific airline route between the years 1945 and 1958.
The Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme fails. After 1958 Kanton airport
is used for emergency landings only and as a land port for light aircraft
and a base for the US Air Force and NASA aircraft.
1945
After World War II, Kanton airport becomes an important
refuelling stop on the trans-Pacific airline route; the main
runway is 6,000 feet; there is also an auxiliary runway (former
fighter strip) of 6,800 feet.

33. 33
Pan American's Kanton Island terminal
Photo: Bill Johns
1946
British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines (BCPA), operating
Australian National Airways (ANA) DC-4 Skymasters, open a
service from Australia to North America, via Suva, Kanton
Island and Honolulu; BCPA was liquidated in favour of Qantas
Empire Airways operating the trans-Pacific route on March 31,
1954, and was absorbed by Qantas on April 1, 1954.
1946
(September) Renowned Australian professional tennis player
Rod Laver plays tennis at the ‘Canton [sic] Court’.
1948
US Act of Congress extends the jurisdiction of the District
Court, Hawaii, over Kanton and Enderbury.
1948
(May) SS President Taylor is gutted by fire.
1949
The first civilian commercial airliner, a Qantas L-49 Lockheed
Constellation, lands at Kanton; this flight opens up the Pacific
skies.

34. 34
1949
(July 13) Canadian Pacific Airlines (later CP Air) opens its first
international route across the South Pacific from Vancouver to
Sydney, via San Francisco, Honolulu, Kanton Island and
Nadi.
1949
(October-December) New runway paving and lighting are
installed at Kanton Airport.
1950
Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony decides Manra can no
longer properly support a permanent population and prepares
for a resettlement of the population.
1951
Commercial fishing becomes more important on Kanton.
1952
Ornithologists Alfred M Bailey and Robert Niedrach of the
Denver Museum list a total of 28 bird species and subspecies
at Kanton.
1953
(February) First American child is born on Kanton.
1954
(May 15) Qantas Airways begin trans-Pacific operations to the
US (Sydney, Australia—Nadi, Fiji---Kanton Island---Honolulu-San Francisco), using Lockheed Super Constellations; 3
airlines (Pan American, Canadian Pacific and Qantas) now
route passenger and cargo planes through Kanton.
1954-55
Many attractive, modern houses are built on Kanton, south of
the airport terminal building.
1955
Valuable radio equipment is reported to be rusting on
Nikumaroro.

35. 35
1955
(July 11) 300-ton vessel Caronia, moored at Kanton and
being used to salvage the President Taylor, is itself gutted by
fire; salvage operation of the President Taylor ceases.
The President Taylor was the first US shipping casualty of the Pacific
war. The wreck dominated the coralscape of Kanton Island---and in
many ways most of the island---for the next 14 years after
it grounded on the reef in February 1942
1956
Population of the Phoenix Islands numbers 1,257.
1956
Civil Aviation Authority directs the installation of a new
powerful homing device on Kanton to assist pilots.
1957
(January) Last of the "Taylor Salvors" forsakes Kanton.
1957
(March 31) US Coast Guard tows the wreck Caronia from
Kanton lagoon out to sea and sinks her.

36. 36
1958
Long-range aircraft are overflying Kanton and it ceases to be
a stopover station on the trans-Pacific route.
Kanton Island Airport

37. 37

38. 38
Aerial view of Kanton Island
Kanton Island Airport in 1973

39. 39
Kanton Island airstrip (also known as “Topham Field” and “Runway 26”)
Residential accommodation on Kanton Island

40. 40
Kanton Island---former British sector
Enderbury Island

41. 41
Dedication ceremony---July 27, 1938
Kanton Light (aka Musick Light) … then and some 70 years later

42. 42
Masked boobies on Enderbury Island
Enderbury Island lagoon and colony of frigates

43. 43
Northern end of Enderbury Island from the air, 1973
Enderbury Island from the air, July 2011

44. 44
Graves on Orona
Swamp on Orona

45. 45
Aerial view of Nikumaroro
Nikumaroro

46. 46
McKean Island reef
McKean Island

47. 47
Birnie Island lagoon
Day beacon on Birnie Island

48. 48
Scaevola (in Hawaii "beach naupaka") bushes on Manra
Manra lagoon

49. 49
Rawaki
Rawaki

50. 50
1958
Kanton's Pan American World Airways hotel has by now been
abandoned.
1958
Phoenix Islands Co-operative Society continues to work
Manra's coconut plantations.
1958
Manra inhabitants are evacuated to the British Solomon
Islands.
1958-67
Kanton airport is used for emergency landings and as a land
port for light aircraft and a base for the US Air Force and
NASA aircraft; the Federal Aviation Agency administers
Kanton and Enderbury.
Tracking Station
In the early 1960s Kanton Island becomes a satellite tracking station.
In the early 1970s it becomes a tracking station for anti-ballistic missiles.
The other islands in the Phoenix group remain deserted.
1958-62
US
space
research
(Project
Mercury)
results
in
the
establishment on Kanton of a satellite tracking station; NASA
selected the island as a station for its worldwide Mercury
tracking network in September 1959; the station became
operational on April 1, 1961 and supported the first Mercury
space flights, providing, monitoring and recording of telemetry
date and voice communications.
1960
Population of Kanton numbers approximately 320.
1960s
Smithsonian Institute scientists set up camps on Enderbury
during bird-tagging expeditions, as part of their study of
Pacific migratory birds.

51. 51
1961-62
Severe droughts, saline well water and difficulties in
maintaining communications between the islands of Orona,
Manra and Nikumaroro cause the three settlements to fail.
1963
Estimated population of the Phoenix Islands, before the
resettlement program of 1963-64, is 1,019.
1963-64
Entire population of Orona, Manra and Nikumaroro is moved
to the British Solomon Islands; the Phoenix Islands (except
Kanton and Enderbury) now become administered solely from
Tarawa, Gilbert Islands.
1964
A scientific party from the Smithsonian Institution visits
Nikumaroro to study the bird and plant life.
1964
Abandoned dogs on Orona and Nikumaroro are poisoned.
1965
(November) The last Pan Am flight (a DC-7C) returns to
Miami from Kanton after the opening of a new airport in
Auckland, enabling New Zealand to be added to Pan Am's jet
routes; Kanton's airport remains operational, but only as an
emergency landing field.
1966
(December 31) Kanton's population numbers about 132,
including 67 Gilbert and Ellice Islanders.
1967
Kanton's military base is closed down.
1967
(December) Kanton airport's non-directional radio beacon
(generally regarded by pilots as the loudest in the Pacific)
closes down.

52. 52
1967
(December 22) US personnel leave Kanton; all NASA
operations cease on December 31; the American Samoan
Government is authorised to salvage the installations.
1968
(January) Kanton airport officially closes down.
1968
(February 12) Colony personnel leave Kanton; US and British
administrative officers are withdrawn.
1969
Kanton is reinhabited by 200 US Air Force personnel; the
Phoenix Islands (except McKean, Nikumaroro and Rawaki)
are used in the US anti-ballistic missile program.
1970s
Geomarex Corporation surveys the Phoenix group for
exploitable minerals but finds none; the US Air Force also
examines the islands with a view to their possible use as
biological weapons testing sites.
1970
(September 18) Kanton becomes a US tracking station for
anti-ballistic missiles, being serviced by US and American
Samoan personnel; the Space and Missile Test Centre
(SAMTEC) starts its Kanton Island Operating Location with
further bases located on Enderbury and Orona.
1970
A 60 in radio antenna, two 12 in sighting towers and a road
across the island are constructed on Enderbury; a tracking
station beacon is installed on Manra and a radar station is
erected on Orona, by virtue of a lease to end in 1980
1970s
The US Coast Guard maintains buoys and markers for the
Kanton lagoon ship channel for a number of years in the
1970s and beyond.

53. 53
Kanton Island in 1973
Kanton Island in 1973
1974
Panala’au Memoirs, by E H Bryan Jr, is published by the
Pacific Scientific Information Center, Bernice P Bishop
Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii; the book is an intimate story of
events on 5 coral islands (including Kanton and Enderbury)
during the years 1935 to 1941, and of their colonisation.

54. 54
The former “British/Pan-Am” south side of Kanton Island at dawn, 1974
1975
Smithsonian naturalists return to Nikumaroro; Birnie is
declared a wildlife sanctuary.
1976
(October) Ellice Islands separate from Gilbert Islands, formally
taking effect from 1 January 1976.
Abandoned cottage on Kanton Island

55. 55
Kanton Island tracking station, 1975
1978
(October 1) Ellice Islands become the independent nation of
Tuvalu.

56. 56
Independence and Beyond
In 1979 the Gilbert Islands become the independent nation of Kiribati.
The US relinquishes its authority over the Phoenix Islands. Oversight of the Phoenix
Islands is maintained by the Kiribati Ministry of Line and Phoenix Groups, Kiritimati
(Christmas) Island. The Intenational Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR),
as part of its “Earhart Project”, explores the Phoenix Islands and concludes that Amelia
Earhart’s aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed into the waters off Nikumaroro. TIGHAR’s
research and investigations continue right up to the present day. Kanton Island is used for
meterological purposes, tropical ocean and atmospheric research, and amateur radio and
fishing expeditions. The island has a small resident population. The other islands remain
unpopulated but are important wildlife sanctuaries In 2008 the Phoenix Islands become the
Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA), the world's largest marine protected area.
1979
(July 12) Gilbert Islands become the independent nation of
Kiribati; (September) the new nation and the US sign a Treaty
of Friendship, the US relinquishing its authority over Kanton
and Enderbury and any other interests it may have in the
Phoenix Islands; by this time the US has closed down all
installations and withdrawn all personnel; the treaty specifies
that the islands will not be used for military purposes by third
parties without consultation.
Flag of the Republic of Kiribati

57. 57
1980
Kanton is peopled by seven I-Kiribati and one Samoan, who
take care of the unused US facilities.
1981
Te Mautari Ltd, fishing company, is established to provide fish
for the local market and for export; Kiribati plans to establish a
long-line fishing fleet in the Line and Phoenix groups, using
Kanton's American-built wharf capable of handling large
freighters.
1982
US Senators oppose ratification of Treaty of Friendship;
Queen Elizabeth 11 visits Kiribati; Kiribati buys Fanning and
Washington atolls back from Burns Philp.
1983
(June 21) US Senate approves recognition of Kiribati's
sovereignty of the Line and Phoenix groups, except Kingman
Reef and Palmyra (still US possessions).
1985
Estimated population of Kanton is 24; the other islands remain
uninhabited.
1985
Kiribati signs a fishing agreement with the USSR.
1985
(July 24) Edwin H Bryan Jr, famed Pacific island explorer and
scientist, and long-time curator of collections at the Bishop
Museum in Honolulu, dies in Honolulu, aged 87.
1986
US Government agrees to a US $60 million aid package,
including licensing fees for US tuna boats to work the
exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of the 16 member states of
the South Pacific Forum (including the Federated States of
Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, and Nauru) for 5 years;
the Soviet-Kiribati fishing agreement is not renewed.

58. 58
1989
Oversight of the Phoenix Islands continues to be maintained
by the Kiribati Ministry of Line and Phoenix Groups, Kiritimati
(Christmas) Island.
1989
The
Intenational Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery
(TIGHAR) explores Nikumaroro and McKean in connection
with the disappearance of Amelia Earhart; the search team
finds an aluminium box on Nikumaroro that the team believes
was used as a navigator’s bookcase aboard Earhart’s plane.
1990
Kiribati signs agreement under which the UN Development
Program (UNDP) will assist in economic advancement of the
Line and Phoenix Islands groups, with the aim of resettling the
islands; in more recent years 5 of the Phoenix Islands have
been earmarked for residential development with a grant of
US$0.4m from the Asian Development Bank; Kanton’s airport
is upgraded to serve as an emergency strip for two engined
jets flying between Kirimati and Tarawa.
1991
TIGHAR finds an aluminium sheet on Nikumaroro believed by
the search team to be part of the fuselage of Earhart’s plane;
the search team also finds other fragments, including aviation
wire and a shoe heel and sole of a size and style similar to
Earhart’s; a sonar scan of the ocean around Nikumaroro by
Oceaneering International fails to find the bulk of the plane.
1992
(March) TIGHAR announces the Earhart mystery has been
solved; other researchers and aviation experts remain
unconvinced.

59. 59
Cartoon---The Detroit News---March 18, 1992
Copyright © 1992 All Rights Reserved
(Note. The present author intends no disrespect to TIGHAR or its dedicated people.)
1996
TIGHAR’s current working hypothesis is that the aircraft
debris found on Nikumaroro originated from 2 distinct aircraft,
one being a B-24 and the other Earhart’s Lockheed.
1997
A re-enactment of Amelia Earhart’s last flight refuels at
Kanton using avgas specially shipped in for the occasion.
1998
(February) TIGHAR team flies to Kanton to investigate the
possibility that an engine reportedly found on the reef of
Nikumaroro and brought to Kanton in 1971 during a US Air
Force missile testing program might be from the missing
Earhart aircraft.
2000
The conservation organisation WWF joins a unique scientific
expedition to investigate the unspoiled marine environment
around the Phoenix Islands.

60. 60
2001
About 10 families reside on Kanton, mainly involved in making
weather observations, maintain a customs station, and
maintaining the airstrip with, it is said, an aviation fuel farm in
anticipation of a possible future airline service as well as to
service the needs of occasional visiting aircraft; the 6,000 foot
paved runway (which is an emergency landing strip between
Tarawa and Kiritimati) remains reasonably serviceable and jet
fuel is said to be ordinarily available (although its safety may
at times be questionable); Kanton is also used for tropical
ocean and atmospheric research, and amateur radio and
fishing expeditions.
2001
(July)
TIGHAR
announces
that
satellite
images
of
Nimumaroro appear to show rusting metal under water just
offshore, in an area where native fishermen are said to have
once seen the wreckage of an airplane; later (September
2001) it transpires that the “rusty splotch” is red algae.
2001
(October) Australia and Kiribati investigate the possibility of
converting the former US military base on Kanton into a
refugee processing camp; the island is officially inspected by
an engineer, an Australian Foreign Affairs official and an
Australian police officer; nothing comes of the idea.
2001(2?)
Korean fishing vessel MV Chance is shipwrecked on McKean.

61. 61
MV Chance shipwrecked on McKean Island
2002
(March) Deep-sea searches for Amelia Earhart’s lost airplane
take place in the vicinity of Howland Island.
2002
(May 18 to June 16) Panala’au: “Survivor” Hawaiian Style is
exhibited at the Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii; the inhouse travelling exhibit tells the story of how 60 young
Hawaiian men were sent to occupy the Phoenix Islands and
other equatorial Pacific islands from 1935 to 1942.
2004
The Kanton runway still remains on the north side of the
island, close to the village; the old seaplane landing strip is
still clearly marked in the lagoon with sticks in the water.

62. 62
Hydnophora rigida corals on Kanton,
part of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area
Copyright © Randi Rotjan/New England Aquarium
2004
Quantitative and qualitative surveys reveal near 100 per cent
coral mortality in the lagoon of Kanton and 62 per cent
mortality on the outer leeward reef slopes of the island as well
as elsewhere throughout the Kiribati Phoenix islands; this is
due to a sudden increase in water temperature; the coral
bleaching and destruction is described as being “catastrophic”
and “one of the worst bleaching events ever recorded”.

63. 63
2005
The population of Kanton is 41, down from 61 in 2000.
2007
The Phoenix Islands are submitted as a UNESCO World
Heritage site.
2008
The Phoenix Islands become the Phoenix Islands Protected
Area (PIPA), the world's largest marine protected area,
covering a total area of 410,500 sq km of land and ocean.
2009
(November/December) A survey of selected atolls of the
Phoenix Islands group is undertaken; the main aims are to
check on rabbit and rat eradication work undertaken in 2008
and to help plan for the restoration of additional priority
islands in the group; the work is funded by the Critical
Ecosystems Partnership Fund (administered by Conservation
International) and NZAID (the latter facilitated by the NZ
Department of Conservation).
2010
A survey of the Kanton reef reveals that the coral bleaching
has killed all the coral on the lagoon floor, but almost half
appears to be growing back thanks to the presence of
abundant fish which eat the algae, thus keeping it from
smothering the coral.

64. 64
The reefs of the Phoenix Islands bounce back … but will it last?
Photo: National Geographic Society
2010
(May) The population of Kanton is reportedly 24, with 14
adults and 10 children; the island's sole village is called
Tebaronga; most of the island’s inhabitants live in abandoned
structures from the US/UK occupation (1936–1976).
2010
(June) TIGHAR makes its 10th expedition to Nikumaroro in its
search for the remains of Amelia Earhart’s airplane.
2012 (July 2) TIGHAR launches its 9th expedition
to Nikumaroro, on the 75th anniversary of Earhart’s
disappearance; forensic imaging specialists, using
sonar, find what looks like a wheel and other landing
gear off Nikumaroro’s coast, right where TIGHAR
thinks Earhart's plane went down; the objects, in a
debris field, are said to be related to the so-called
“Bevington Object” seen at the reef edge in some
1937 photos [see below] taken by a British Colonial

65. 65
Service officer; TIGHAR is currently raising money to return to
the site to confirm what they believe to be the most groundbreaking
evidence
behind
Earhart’s
disappearance;
TIGHAR’s thesis is by no means universally accepted. [Photo
(previous page): Lagoon fish---Nikumaroro]
2012
There are now some 23 people (including about 10
schoolchildren) on Kanton, being transient caretakers from
Kiribati; they rotate in 2-5 years shifts, use some of the
remaining structures on the island, and rely upon a
government ship for re-supply (2 visits a year, at the most);
TIGHAR states that an Australian team recently undertook a
hazmat cleanup of debris left by the US Air Force in the
1970s.
The so-called “Bevington Object” at Nikumaroro reef edge in 1937

66. 66
Map of Kanton Island at the airport terminal
British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines (BCPA) Douglas DC-6 VH-BPH
Discovery arriving at Kanton Island, early 1950s (pre-1954)
Photo: Pekka Kauppi Collection

67. 67
Qantas Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation
refuelling on Kanton Island, c1958
Royal Australian Air Force C-130A A97-210
Lockheed Hercules at Kanton Island, 1963
Photo: Wynnum Graham

68. 68
The eastern windward coast of Kanton Island
The south side of Kanton Island

69. 69
Kanton lagoon
The less-than-pristine marker left by the National Geographical
Society to commemorate their 1937 “solar eclipse” visit to Kanton Island

70. 70
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71. 71
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