Kanton Island
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Kanton Island (also known as Canton Island or Abariringa Island), alternatively Mary Island, Mary Balcout Island or Swallow Island, is the largest, most northern, and, as of 2005, the sole inhabited island of the Phoenix Islands, Republic of Kiribati. It is an atoll located in the South Pacific Ocean roughly halfway between Hawaii and Fiji at . The island has a length of 33 km and the southeastern point is Pyramid Point. The uninhabited island of Enderbury lies a distance of 63 km over sea. The capital of Kiribati, South Tarawa is 1,765 km. At the year 2005 census, the population was 41, down from 61 in 2000.[1] The village is called Tebaronga.
Kanton Island was discovered on August 5, 1824 by two London whaling ships: the 'Phoenix', Capt. John Palmer and the 'Mary', Capt. Edward Reed. The atoll was named 'Mary Ballcotts (recte Boulcott's) Island' after the shipowner's wife.
The British also laid claim to the island during the 1850s. Kanton got its name from the whale ship Canton, which ran aground on March 4, 1854.
The official British claim commenced on August 6, 1936 and they made several visits a year to the island culminating in the placement of two radio operators on the island on August 31, 1937.
On July 8, 1937, Kanton was the site of a total solar eclipse and the island was occupied briefly by American and New Zealand scientists, members of an expedition organized by the National Geographic Society and led by the astronomer Samuel Alfred Mitchell.
Despite the British claim, seven Americans landed on the island on March 7, 1938. Both parties continued to occupy the island until April 1939, when Washington and London agreed to hold the island under joint control for the next fifty years as the Canton and Enderbury Islands condominium.
Pan American World Airways arrived on the island on May 18, 1939 to build facilities for their planned New Zealand flying boat service. Service commenced on July 12, 1940 with the Boeing 314 Clipper. On December 4, 1941, the Pacific Clipper departed Kanton for New Caledonia with the final civilian flight before the war.
During World War II the United States Navy built a 6000 foot airstrip and Kanton became a stopover point for the Navy Air Transport Service flights to Australia and New Zealand as well as a staging point for attacks on the Gilbert Islands, held by Japan.
Post-war, November 1946, Pan Am resumed service to Australia and New Zealand via Kanton with Douglas DC-4 aircraft. Qantas followed shortly thereafter. This service continued through 1958, when the DC-4 was replaced with the Douglas DC-7C.
In 1960 a tracking station for the Mercury program was built. It was used though November 1965. NASA's abandonment of the island effectively made it a ghost town, leaving only a caretaker so that the airfield could be used in emergencies. 1968 marked the complete end of American presence; the airfield was abandoned and the caretaker was removed. The British also closed their post office, ending their presence as well.
The post office was opened again by the Kiribati government, after independence and recognition of Kiribati sovereignty, with the reinstallation of a few people from the more crowded atolls of Gilbert Islands.
[edit] References
- Dalton, William: The Dalton journal : two whaling voyages to the South seas, 1823 - 1829 / ed. by Niel Gunson; [Sydney] : National Library of Australia, 1990 ISBN 0-642-10505-7
