Wake Island

Wake Island atoll with three islets (Wake, Wilkes, and Peale), 3 sq mi (7.8 sq km), central Pacific, between Hawaii and Guam. It is a U.S. military base and scientific research center under the jurisdiction of the Dept. of the Interior and the U.S. Air Force. There is no indigenous population. Wake Island was discovered by the Spanish in 1568, visited by the British in 1796 and named after Capt. William Wake, and annexed by the United States in 1898. The island became (1935) a commercial air base on the route to Asia and later served as a U.S. military base. In Dec., 1941, Wake Island was seized by the Japanese. U.S. forces bombed the island from 1942 until Japan's surrender in 1945. The atoll is also claimed by the Marshall Islands.

Wake Island Largest of three small coral islands, known collectively as Wake Island, enclosing a lagoon in the w Pacific Ocean. The Spanish discovered the island in 1568, and the British named it in 1796. Annexed by the USA in 1898, Wake Island became a US naval base. It was captured by the Japanese in 1941, and recaptured by the USA in 1945.

Wake Island an island in the western Pacific that was claimed by the United States in 1899 and thereafter developed as an airbase. It was invaded by the Japanese in December 1941 and shortly afterwards surrendered to them, not being sufficiently manned for effective defense. The Japanese executed about 100 U.S. POWs on the island in October, 1943. They did not surrender the island until September, 4, 1945.