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Naval Base Funafuti
Former Naval base of the United States / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Naval Base Funafuti was a naval base built by the United States Navy in 1942 to support the World War II effort. The base was located on the Island of Funafuti of the Ellice Islands in the Western Pacific Ocean. The island is now Tuvalu, an island country in the Polynesian. After the surprise attack on Naval Station Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the US Navy was in need of setting up more advance bases in the Pacific Ocean. At Naval Base Funafuti the Navy built a sea port, a small hospital, PT boat base, a seaplane base and an airbase.[1] The United States Marine Corps landed on Funafuti on 2 October 1942[2] and on Nanumea and Nukufetau in August 1943.[Note 1] The Japanese had already occupied Tarawa and other islands in what is now Kiribati, but were delayed by the losses at the Battle of the Coral Sea.[4][5]
Naval Base Funafuti | |
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US Naval Base | |
![]() Aerial image of Funafuti atoll | |
![]() Map of the atoll and its islands, Funafuti is the eastern most island | |
Coordinates: 08°31′S 179°12′E | |
Naval Base | ![]() 1942-1945 |