Talk:Wake Island

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[edit] Easternmost

Apparently Wake is the closest US territory to the International Date Line on the East side. Since Alaska straddles 180°, it's actually the furthest East and West. Bollar 03:45, Nov 29, 2004 (UTC)

There is no East Pole. Furthermore, why would you pick "lowest" East latitude in one arbitrary (even if none of the older, once-common alternatives are used much any more) coordinate system rather than 180° E as "easternmost"? Furthermore, I don't think Wake is either highest or lowest East latitude on a Greenwich base in U.S. including possessions. I'm taking this nonsense out.
"Easternmost" is a point which can be reached in a shorter distance from anywhere else in the U.S. by traveling in an easterly direction rather than in a westerly direction. Gene Nygaard 14:27, 21 Dec 2004 (UTC)
What's more, a zig-zag "East Edge of the Earth" is even sillier than basing it on Greenwich coordinates. Just how many ships have fallen off as they traveled on to the east of Wake Island? Gene Nygaard 14:40, 21 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Fixed "population"

What the article previously said was that there were 200 contractors present as of October 2001 in a July 2004 estimate. Now, I rather doubt that there was an attempt made in July 2004 to have estimated how many contractors were present in 2001, but rather that was the incorporation in to the article of a more-current estimate without removing the old language. My edit makes the logical assumption that the estimate as of 2004 was of the number of people present in 2004. If someone knows this to be wrong, please revert it. I also know from my own experience how nebulous such a number can be; at any one moment, just who is "permanently" there, who is "TDY", and who is "in transit" can be confusing and sometimes even somewhat subjective; but the 200 number of "permanent" contractors sounds reasonable based on other sources. Rlquall 20:46, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

See the anonymous comment at the beginning of the article as you edit it (something that would have been better put here in Talk), which claims that this is an unattributed plagiarism of the CIA Fact Book. That might mean that the CIA published those figures in 2004, identifying them "as of October 2001" because that was the latest statistics they had available. Gene Nygaard 14:47, 21 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] pronounciation

is it pronounced wae k (as in "wake up") or wah ke (as in "wah-wah pedal" and "Kenny")? Just wondering... WB 07:55, May 21, 2005 (UTC)

I took it for granted it was the former... Since the article says name is English, after "Captain William Wake", not Polynesian, that seems a safe assumption. But this William Wake is probably not the Archbishop William Wake the link takes you to...
—wwoods 08:27, 21 May 2005 (UTC)


I've always heard it pronounced with a long a, as waek, like the English word, I'm sure it's the way to do it, given the above. Wyss 03:26, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] relief force

The article says the Saratoga relief force never made contact with enemy forces, and that they turned back. My sources at the History Channel say it was the decision of Admiral Pie? (Not sure on name) to order the task force to turn back when the message "issue in doubt" was radioed from Wake.

The relief force turned back for fear of loss of the precious carriers, on orders from CinCPac, Adm William S. Pye. (I AM sure of the name...) It was not in response to "issue in doubt"; Pye waffled and had as much as decided before this was recieved. Also, though, the names of the Japanese and American commanders would be appreciated. (I want to say the U.S. was Col Cunningham, but I haven't read Wake Island recently...) --squadfifteen

[edit] Battle Info

The battle section is getting too long again - this is the reason I created the Battle of Wake Island article. One day, the battle info will make this article too long, and it also demans the subject by treating it as just an interesting part of Wake Island history instead of an important World War II battle which deserves separate treatment. Please, please stop putting stuff here when you see an interesting tidbit on the History Channel, and put it in the battle article instead. This article should only contain a brief summary of the battle. --Jpbrenna 10:29, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Typhoon/Hurricane Ioke

Should we add info about Typhoon/Hurricane Ioke? It has it's crosshairs to Wake. And around 200 of it's residents were planned to be evacuated. --IrfanFaiz 11:49, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Wouldn't those kind of updates be more appropriate for wikinews:main page? — MrDolomite | Talk 15:38, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
It is over Wake right now, just add that it struck Wake. --IrfanFaiz 12:36, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Commander?

It's been a while for me but I thought I recalled that a Major P. S. Devereaux, USMC, also had been in command of Wake. Struck me as odd because Winfield Scott Cunningham was also a "Three Name Person". I'll dig more, maybe they were in command at different times. — MrDolomite | Talk 15:43, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Apparently Major James P.S. Devereaux was the commander of the Marine battalion. [1]
—wwoods 17:57, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
Aha, he was a "Four Name Person", I was googling him incorrectly. Thx for the info. Now we just have to decide what, if anything, to do with it. :) — MrDolomite | Talk 23:43, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Orothographic Projection

The projection is on American Samoa and not on Wake Island. Therefore, I shall delete it.

[edit] PC game appearence

Should it be mentioned that Wake makes an appearence in the game, Battlefield 2? I didn't know that Wake was an actual island and just assumed it was a fictional location until I saw a program on the History Channel. And, more importantly, BF2 is where I first heard of Wake Island.PowderedToastMan 20:35, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

I have added some video game information into the article. HonJarder 05:08, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
I removed this information. This is not notable. --Indolences 16:53, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Locator map

This article needs a locator showing the position of the territory in the world. -- Beland 01:06, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

But it needs one that's correct, not the old orthographic one pointing to American Samoa. Deleted again; leave it out this time, or get the right one. Note that Wake is north of the equator! KarlM 08:56, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
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