| Johnston Island Air Force Base | |
| Iata: | |
| Icao: | |
| Type: | Public |
| Location: | Johnston Atoll |
| Elevation-F: | |
| Elevation-M: | |
| Coordinates: | 16.7286°N -169.5342°W |
| Pushpin Map: | Pacific Ocean |
| Pushpin Label: | PJON |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in the Pacific Ocean |
| R1-Number: | |
| R1-Length-F: | |
| R1-Length-M: | |
| R1-Surface: | |
| Footnotes: | Source:[1] |
Johnston Island Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base on the Johnston Atoll in the United States Minor Outlying Islands, in the Pacific Ocean several hundred kilometers southwest of Hawaii. After its closure, it briefly operated as Johnston Atoll Airport, until that also closed in 2005.
In 1935 personnel from the United States Navy's Patrol Wing Two carried out some minor construction to develop the atoll for seaplane operations. They erected some buildings and a boat landing on Sand Island and blasted coral to clear a 3600feet seaplane landing.[2] In November 1939 further work by civilian contractors commenced on Sand Island to allow the operation of one squadron of patrol planes with seaplane tender support. Part of the lagoon was dredged and the excavated material was used to make a plane parking area connected by a 2000feet causeway to Sand Island. Three seaplane landings were cleared; one of them was 11000feetby1000feetft (byft), and the other two were cross-landings, each 7000feetby800feetft (byft) and dredged to a depth of . On Sand Island, barracks for 400 men, a mess hall, an underground hospital, a radio station, water tanks, and a 100feet steel control tower were built.[2]
In February 1941, the United States designated Johnston Atoll a Naval Defensive Sea Area and Airspace Reservation.
In September 1941, construction of an airfield on Johnston Island commenced. A 4000by runway was built together with two 400-man barracks, two mess halls, a cold-storage building, an underground hospital, a fresh-water plant, shop buildings, and fuel storage facilities. The base was complete by the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.[2]
On 15 December 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine shelled Johnston Atoll from outside the reef, hitting several buildings but injuring no personnel.[2]
In July 1942 the civilian contractors at the atoll were replaced by 500 Seebees from the 5th and 10th Naval Construction Battalions, who expanded the fuel storage and water production at the base and built additional facilities. The 5th Battalion departed in January 1943.[2] In December 1943 the 99th Naval Construction Battalion arrived at the atoll and proceeded to lengthen the runway to 6000feet and add an additional of parking to the seaplane base.[2]
U.S. Navy and United States Marine Corps units based at Johnston Atoll during World War II included:
U.S. Navy and Marine Corps units based at Johnston Atoll after World War II included: