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Maloelap’s WWII History

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Our first outer atoll in the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI) is Maloelap.  We are so excited to get out Majuro to experience true Marshallese life and culture.  Our passage was relatively easy with very light winds, no swell, and a half moon up at 12:30am. We were able to sail the first 13 hours (66 miles) and then we lost the wind at 2:30am.  We turned on one engine and continued our slow trip for a safe arrival at the pass well after sunrise.  From anchor to anchor it was 106nm and it took 21 hours.

This coral atoll consists of 71 motus or small islands and lies in the Ratak Island Chain.  If you were to add up the total land area you will find that it is only 9.8 square kilometers (3.8 square miles).  However, the enclosed lagoon is 972 square kilometers (375 square miles).  The total population across 5 islands and several villages is said to be just over 400 people.

The main village and the administrative center is located on Taroa Island.  This is where we head to first to pay our respects to the mayor and/or his representative.   You might recall that we had to get permits from each mayor of every atoll we wanted to visit.  We provided our estimated dates, length of stay and reason for visiting.  All but one permit was approved.

We were blessed with a beautiful rainbow as we entered the pass and as soon as we dropped the hook the local policeman, Arry greeted us.  He asked for our permit and then promptly asked if we could help him fix his outboard.

Maloelap’s History

The German Empire claimed Maloelap, along with the rest of RMI in 1885.  However, after WWI, the island came under the South Seas Mandate of the Empire of Japan.

The Japanese first started building on Maloelap around 1935 after her withdrawal from the League of Nations.  They established weather and lookout stations throughout RMI.  Taroa, the main island on Maloelap quickly became the center of the Japanese military.  They built a 4,800′ airstrip (originally called WWII Japanese Runway “A”).  A second 4,100′ airstrip was built on the neighboring motu called Kaven.

Back on Taroa, the Japanese command centers, ammunition depots, hospital, laundry facilities, water and fuel tanks, built bunkers, barracks, hangars, service shops, a large pier with a crane, two small work docks, a channel and anchorage pillars. In addition, they built a large power station on nearby Pigete island which supplied Taroa with power via a 3 mile long underwater submarine cable.

The Americans were surprised by the infrastructure that was secretly built by the Japanese.  It was a full-service Naval air base.

WWI in Maloelap

The U.S. captured and took control of Majuro and Kwajalein (the two main islands in RMI).  Then the war came to Maloelap on the morning of  Feb. 1, 1942 with two raids.

The first air raid totaled five Grumman F4F “Wildcat” aircraft with two 100-pound bombs each. Between Feb. 1942 and Aug. 1945, U.S. aircraft dropped 3543 tons of bombs and U.S. ships shot 453 tons of shells onto Taroa (a very small atoll, yet a fully functioning naval base for the Japanese).

The attacks became more regular and then the supply lines were cut off to Taroa and the Japanese soldiers were left to starve to death.

Only 34% of the garrison survived (1,772 of the 3,097 souls).  The survival rate in Maloelap was the worst of all bases in the Marshall Islands.  Air raids, diseases, accidents, suicides, and starvation killed most of the soldiers and many Marshallese.  

Since the war, many, if not most of the buildings, planes, guns, and still remain on the island.  However, the vegetation has completely taken over and time has had a severe impact on the remains.  

In the photo below you can see how much erosion has occurred on this island.  The entire island of Eoon-epje is now gone or submerged (even during low tide).

The WWII Remnants on the Southern End of Taroa

We start our WWII explorations on the Southern end of Taroa as it is right in front of the boat. Taroa was connected to Eoon-epj island by a 700′ long, 20′ wide causeway which had a narrow gauge railroad track ending at a terminal point.  This terminal point is still visible today by a lone pillar.

We also find (2) railway cars and some random pieces of the railway track.

On one of our adventures I even found an old Japanese glass fishing float.  Sweet As!

Bomb and Bullet Casings

I was disappointed that we had not found any bomb encasements or shells on our tours around Taroa.  And then we walked the Southern End of the island and hit the motherload!  We found several pieces and a few intact bomb encasements.

We also found a lot of ammunition shells.  These are actually pretty big.  We found tons of fragments and about two dozen empty intact casings on the reef.

This is a sample of my silly husband having fun exploring. Top left he is pretending to be part of the whack-o-mo game.

There is a lot of history, historical artifacts, and places to explore.  We will break up the Maloelap atoll in several different blog posts so stay tuned.

Coming up:  We explore Japanese bunkers, the sunken supply ship Terushima Maru, coastal guns, zero airplanes, pillboxes, water tanks, command center, radio buildings and more.

Interesting websites:

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events. We arrived in Maloelap toward the end of October 2024.  Very cool sunken treasures in Enemonit: DC-3 plane, (2) Huey Helicopters, and a ferry – check out the blog post.

Majuro, the “Big City”

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The capital of the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI) is the big city of Majuro which is located on the Majuro atoll in the Majuro motu.  So, there is no mistaking its name (me smiley face).  We can technically clear into the RMI at either Majuro or Ebeye which is located in Kwajalein (Kwaj).  However, it is far more convenient in Majuro as this is where the majority of the boats handle the formalities.

The anchorage is full of cargo ships, passenger ships and large fishing vessels giving it a very industrial feeling.  There are several private vessels spread across the two anchorages, but of those 3 are derelict, 3 are for sale and 11 permanent residents.

It is definitely a new experience for us.  It is not the ideal picture of paradise, but the water is clear, we are close to town, and we have a few friends in the anchorage.

We are on a mooring because this is a super deep anchorage.  Lucky for us several moorings are owned and maintained. 

Fueling the Boat

How does a super small country in the middle of the Pacific Ocean get fuel?  Twice a month, the fuel barge, Sophia comes for 1-2 days to re-supply the large Mobile fuel tanks with diesel and gasoline.  I am surprised she doesn’t come more frequently as there are a TON of cars on this very tiny atoll.

We used so much diesel to get here that we had to refill our tanks. We have (2) 400 liter tanks and we had used more than half to motor 5.5 days out of the 10 day passage from Vanuatu.  The problem is that there is no place safe to dock the big boat close to shore so we have to do this all by jerry cans.

We have (10) 20 liter jerry cans which means we will have to make multiple runs.  The other problem is that there is no gas station close to the dinghy dock.  Lucky for us, our friends on Uno Mas were able to borrow a truck and they let us tag along on their fuel run.

We go to PII (Pacific International Inc.) to pre-pay for the fuel, then we drive 2 miles down the road to the PII fuel station where they fill our jerry cans.  Any overages are paid in cash.  We then have to haul them back to the dinghy, then transport them up from the dinghy to the boat.  

Matt sets up the filter and pump and he pumps the diesel from each jerry can into the two tanks on the big boat.  Then we take our empty jerry cans and repeat the process.

Provisions

There are several good options for provisioning (shopping to my land-lubber friends).  Payless is the most convenient and closest to the anchorage. Plus the pricing is a little more reasonable.  I say a little more reasonable as prices are similar to Hawaii prices (expensive).  There is K&K Island Pride which offers a great variety, EZ Price Mart offers a lot of American brands and several Chinese stores.  

The problem is you have to watch out for weebles or bugs in your dry goods (flour, sugar, coffee, mixes).  I bought two items, opened the carton to store them and found them infested with weebles.  They both went straight overboard.

You can even find an Office Mart and Copymasters for school and office supplies too.

Around Town

Top left photo is the view from a new restaurant called Tide Table located on the 5th floor of a building.  The top right is a new basketball court built by the Taiwanese, bottom left and right are the public library and museum.

There is a fairly large cemetery, college, and lots of stores along the road. 

Handicrafts

A few of my friends join me for a day of handicraft  admiring and shopping.  There are a lot of woven items including: purses, wallets, floor mats, wall decor, Christmas ornaments, and jewelry.  I am lured toward the hand crafted canoes with woven sails that are simply divine.  However, they were way out of my price range so I just admired them.

In RMI, only Marshallese are allowed to be buried here.  Most locals bury their family members in their front yards.  However, for those who don’t have families or are from the outer atolls they are buried in the cemetery located in the center of town.

The U.S. Embassy

My passport expires in October 2025.  I can try to renew it during the short 2 week period I am in the states, or I can try to renew it from Fiji (but that would force us to go to Suva where the U.S. embassy is located and we don’t like that anchorage), or we can renew it here in the Marshall islands.

I contacted the good folks at the U.S. embassy and they were so responsive and very helpful!  They only have passport appointments two days a month and unfortunately I just missed it.  So, I had to wait almost 3.5 weeks for the next appointment.  But in the meantime, I filled out the application, took my horrible non-smiling passport photo, and got the exact amount of cash.

You cannot go inside the embassy building without an appointment. All very strict and formal.

As you can see, this is not the island paradise we are used to.  However, every country needs the necessities and Majuro provides just that for the many locals who call RMI home.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post occurred in early October 2024.  Our last blog post shared a little history on the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Republic of Marshall Islands

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The Republic of Marshall Islands (also known as RMI) is located in the North Pacific about 800km (500 miles) north of the equator.  It is made up of two parallel island chains.  The Ratak (Sunrise) island chain in the east and Ralik (Sunset) island chain in the west. 

These island chains consist of 29 atolls and 5 islands spread across over 800 miles from the Northwest to the Southeast.  Roughly 97.87% of its territory is water which makes it the largest proportion of water to land of any sovereign state.  The total land mass is just 181 square meters (or the size of Washington, DC).

RMI is located in Micronesia, which literally means “small islands.” It is a group of coral atolls and islands in the North Pacific Ocean about one-half of the way between Hawaii and Papua New Guinea.

Being mostly atolls, the highest elevation is a mere 10 meters (30′).  The total population in 2011 was 53,000 people with over 27,000 living in Majuro and 15,000 living in Ebeye (Kwajalein).  That means that less than 11,000 are spread out over the remaining 27 atolls and 5 islands (of course many of these are uninhabited).

The main economic driver is the production of copra and fisheries.  However, over 60% of the GDP is provided by the U.S. under the Compact of Free Association.  Which basically says that the U.S. can use these islands for military use in exchange for subsidies (lots and lots of subsidies).  The average worker makes $4.00 an hour including government officials, police workers, and sanitation.

The United States, Japan and Taiwan have diplomatic missions in the Marshalls.  So, you will often see signs “donated by” the country who donated the funds.  The problem is the countries donate the funds to build the buildings but not the funds to maintain them. So, often you will find derelict buildings left to rot because there are no funds to maintain them.  They just get more funds to build a new building, rather than maintaining the existing buildings – it makes no sense.

History

Japan occupied the islands at the beginning of WWI in 1914 but then the U.S. kicked Japan out and took over the islands during WWII.  Then between 1946-1958, the U.S. conducted 67 nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll and Enewetak Atoll.  The fallout from the nuclear explosions is immense.  Many displaced Marshallese have severe health issues that have been passed from generation to generation.  The atolls where the tests took place are still uninhabited to this day with contaminated soil and sea life. See this website for more fall out on the nuclear testing.

In 1979, the U.S. gave the Marshall Islands independence and recognized its constitution and president.  The Marshalls are one of only four atoll nations in the world and are also one of the world’s youngest nations, independent since just 1986.

The United States provide defense, subsidies, and access to U.S. based agencies such as the FCC and the USPS.  The American dollar is the main currency and we can receive mail, packages, and deliveries from Amazon!

The U.S. Army occupies Kwajalein (also known as Kwaj) which surrounds the world’s largest lagoon.  They use this as a missile testing range even today.  Our country pays dearly for the right to inhabit this atoll – to the tune of $37 million annually.

The Anchorage in Majuro

We arrive in the Majuro atoll, which is a very industrial lagoon covered with at least 30 large fishing vessels (20-30m long), several cargo ships, and various private yachts.  Not exactly what we imagined. Of the 16 sailboats, only 5 are transient (like us they are “visiting”), 3 are derelict and 3 are for sale.  Many Americans have sailed here and have zero plans leave.

The amazing thing is the water is crystal clear.  We can see our mooring, the fish, and the abundant jelly fish in the water.

Ashore are several grocery stores, a US Post Office, museum, public library, and several restaurants.  We spend a few weeks getting to know the “lay of the land”, doing a little shopping, applying for inter-island permits, opening a PO Box (so we can get mail and parcels), and eating out.

We join the local yacht club, Meico Beach Yacht Club which offers discounts at a few places and free moorings at two of the neighboring motus on the north coast of Majuro.

Majuro, the Atoll

Remember, this is an atoll. An atoll is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There are usually coral islands, motus, or cays on the rim.

You have a small strip of land where everyone lives and on one side you have a lagoon and the other side you have the North Pacific Ocean.  The top image shows the atoll of Majuro and the bottom right shows the island of Majuro which has two towns Uliga and Delap.  Everything is squished onto the motu of Majuro (which is the far right motu of the atoll).

We have walked up and down the streets between the two towns of Uliga and Delap.  It is about 2-2.5 miles one way along the single main road with no side walks.  The cars are fairly polite, but the dogs (sleeping under the cars) will try to bite you.  So, caution must always be taken.  In addition, when it rains, which has rained a lot, the streets flood.  So, the only place to walk is down the center of the road with the cars.  There is good reason why nobody walks in this town. Most people just take a shared taxi for $2/pp.  But we like to walk so endure it all.

Cover Photo:  The cover photo shows Sugar Shack at anchor in front of the town of Uliga.  We have all of our canvas up as we attempt to keep the house cool.  It is a feeble attempt but it does help keep it a few degrees cooler.  Have I mentioned it is super duper hot here!  So very hot with little breeze and we have NO aircon on the boat.  And we can’t jump in the water because it is full of jelly fish.

Permits

In order for us to sail to the outer atolls we have to obtain inter-island permits.   Well, evidently we have to receive permission from the local government of every atoll we want to visit.  We visit the MOCIA (Ministry of Culture and Internal Affairs) office to complete 9 applications each with various associated fees that are paid to the local mayor upon arrival at the atoll.

Typically, we don’t like to have a schedule or a set plan.  However, we are forced to come up with an outline of a schedule and plan in order to get the permits.  We can only get the permits in Majuro and we do not plan to return here until we clear out of the country in March.

So, our “rough plan” is to make a giant circle around the two island chains.  We only have 3.5 months to explore so we have to manage our time at each place.  

The Plan and Schedule

We will spend roughly two weeks at each of these atolls: Maloeap, Wotje, Likeiep, and Ailuk.  This will be a slow northwest journey starting at Majuro and ending at the most NW atolls.

We will then head to Rongerik, Rongelap, and Alinginae where we will spend 1.5-2 months. If we can, we may stop at the famous Bikini Atoll where the U.S. detonated 23 nuclear devices between 1946-1958.  

From here we will search for the elusive weather window back to Majuro.  Evidently, during January-March it is very difficult to sail in this direction.  We may try to go straight to Majuro or we may try to go to Wotho, Kwajalein and Namu (which are south) before heading east to Majuro.  We applied for permits to all of these atolls to keep our options open.

Kwajalein is a military outpost and we have to find a sponsor to be able to visit this unique atoll.  We are searching for one with the hopes of being able to visit.

Best laid plans in sand during low tide….which means it can and probably will all change.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post occurred during the last week of September 2024.  Check out our 1300 mile passage from Vanuatu to the Marshall Islands in our last blog post.