Naval Base Okinawa

Naval Base Okinawa
Naval Facility Okinawa
Okinawa Island in 2015
Naval Base Okinawa Naval Facility Okinawa is located in Ryukyu Islands
Naval Base Okinawa Naval Facility Okinawa
Naval Base Okinawa
Naval Facility Okinawa
Naval Base Okinawa Naval Facility Okinawa is located in Asia
Naval Base Okinawa Naval Facility Okinawa
Naval Base Okinawa
Naval Facility Okinawa
Geography
LocationPacific Ocean
Coordinates26°28′46″N 127°55′40″E / 26.47944°N 127.92778°E / 26.47944; 127.92778
ArchipelagoRyukyu Islands
Area1,199[1] km2 (463 sq mi)
as of 1 October 2018[2]
Length106.6 km (66.24 mi)
Width11.3 km (7.02 mi)
Highest elevation503 m (1650 ft)
Highest pointMount Yonaha
Administration
LocationOkinawa Island
Naval Base Administrative United States Navy 1945–present
(USMGR 1945–1950, USCAR 1950–1972)
Founded afterBattle of Okinawa
Demographics
PopulationPeak of over 545,000 US Troops in 1945
(12,000 killed)

Naval Base Okinawa, now Naval Facility Okinawa, is a number of bases built after the Battle of Okinawa by United States Navy on Okinawa Island, Japan. The naval bases were built to support the landings on Okinawa on April 1, 1945, and the troops fighting on Okinawa. The Navy repaired and did expansion of the airfields on Okinawa. United States Navy Seabees built or repaired the facilities on the island. The bases on Okinawa put the United States Armed Forces only 350 miles from Japan's home islands. Most facilities closed after the war, but some are still in use today by all branches of the United States Armed Forces.[3][4]

58th Seabees building Katchin Hanto Seaplane Base. Seabees are installing Marston Mat for the Seaplane ramp
Katchin Hanto Peninsula in 1945. Looking west, with the Seabee construction advance base depot, supply depot and camp in the foreground
One of many pontoon causeways built by Navy Seabees at Okinawa in 1945 to get cargo to shores over coral reefs on the Okinawa Island
One of many road improvement projects by Seabees. Native roads were not wide enough or strong enough for the supply demands. New roads and highways were also built.
Pontoon causeway built by 21st Seabees to unload LSTs (Landing Ship, Tank)
  1. ^ "Okinawa | Facts, History, & Points of Interest". Archived from the original on 2020-04-04. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  2. ^
    "Statistical reports on the land area by prefectures and municipalities in Japan as of 2018" (PDF) (in Japanese). Geospatial Information Authority of Japan. 1 October 2018. p. 103. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  3. ^ "HyperWar: Building the Navy's Bases in World War II [Chapter 30]". www.ibiblio.org.
  4. ^ "Pacific Wrecks - Map of American airfields on Okinawa Island and Ie Shima in Okinawa Prefecture in Japan". pacificwrecks.com.