On 5 October 1943 the Japanese massacred 98 American civilians there. In 1941 at the same time as the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the Wake Island atoll and the American marines there were attacked, invaded, and captured by the Japanese. The atoll has a total area of 1,949 km 2, of which 3.9 km 2 is land and 1,946 km 2 is water. In 1935 Pan America Airlines built an air station on Wake Island, the first permanant settlement. Wake Island has been sparsely inhabited, or often uninhabited. The battle was for a small island in Central Pacific with the Marines and civilians of the island defending against invaders from Japan. The surrender was of American troops to those of Japan. It is also considered an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States. Battle Of Wake Island summary: The Attack of Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Wake Island were simultaneous and Wake Island finished on December 23, 1941.

Some Marshallese consider Wake Island part of the Marshall Islands. Wake is a part of the Micronesia island area of the Pacific. Wake Island is a coral atoll in the North Pacific Ocean about two thirds of the way from Hawaii to Guam. W hen the nearest disposal facility is located 2,200-nmi across the ocean, solid waste management on Wake Island is hardly a curbside pickup operation. Yet Wake Island is 22 hours ahead of Hawai‘i and the sinkings at 06 were in real-time terms before the generally accredited first sinking of a Japanese warship, the damaged submarine I-70 bombed in the afternoon of December 10th, northeast of Oahu by a Dauntless dive-bomber flown by Lt (jg) Clarence E. Marines and civilian defenders fought elements of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which ultimately seized the island but at great cost. There was no permanent indigenous settlement on the Wake Island atoll, although oral traditions show it was visited by Marshall Islanders. Battle of Wake Island, (December 823, 1941), during World War II, battle for Wake Island, an atoll consisting of three coral islets (Wilkes, Peale, and Wake) in the central Pacific Ocean. The support center currently operates an active airfield on Wake Island proper that provides support of contingency operations, emergency and planned diverts, and other missions as necessary for Department of Defense operations in the Pacific and beyond. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge. Photo: Wake Atoll with Pan Am Boeing 314 NC18609, May 25, 1941. Wake Island is managed by the Pacific Air Forces Regional Support Center, in partnership with the U.S. Its also one of the many sightseeings on the island, as you can exhibit a large number of Second World. Chronicling Wake Island - A Brief History.

However, as of 2017, there are about 100 Air Force personnel and American and Thai contractor residents at any given time. The Drifters Reef is the only bar on Wake Island. Wake Atoll is under the control of the US Air Force and is an active military base.

Wake Island has no permanent inhabitants and access is restricted.

Wake atoll