Ulithi Atoll : MICRONESIA, FEDERATED STATES OF
In the Ulithi Atoll, an anchorage lagoon large enough for the whole Pacific fleet, a japanese kaiten hit the ship in the forward aviation fuel tank, which contained 440,000 gallons of fuel. When it blew the heavy oil used to refuel ships started to burn. As a result, the ship sank in only two hours. For many months Ulithi was the keyspot in the Pacific. An atoll some 350 miles southwest of Guam in the Western Caroline Islands. Ulithi probably isn't even on your map of the Pacific---it's that small. It's made up of groups of islands with names like MogMog, Asor, Sorlen, Fassarai and even now it shows no scars of battle. When we took the Marianas and Peleliu, the Japs abandoned Ulithi as worthless and withdrew to Yap. The Japs were convinced that none of the islands could support an airfield. In fact, they were sold on the idea that Ulithi was worthless so we moved in without a struggle. This was the secret Pacific base you occasionally heard discussed...........correspondent on Guam
The first European to find Ulithi was the Portuguese navigator Diego da Rocha, in 1526. Ulithi was a major base for the U.S. Navy in World War II. The Japanese had established a radio and weather station early in the war, and had used the lagoon as an anchorage occasionally, which resulted in strikes from US aircraft carriers early in 1944. However, Ulithi was perfectly positioned to act as a staging area, being nearly equidistant from the Philippines, Formosa, and Okinawa. On September 23, 1944, an army regiment landed unopposed (the Japanese having evacuated the atoll some months earlier), followed a few days later by a battalion of Seabees. The survey ship USS Sumner (AGS-5) surveyed the lagoon and reported it capable of holding 700 vessels.
Indeed just a few months later, 617 ships had gathered there for the Okinawa operation. The Japanese still held Yap and there were occasional attacks. On March 11, 1945 the U.S. carrier Randolph was hit and moderately damaged at Ulithi by a Kamikaze aircraft that had flown all the way from Japan in a mission called Operation Tan No. 2. The airstrip on Falalop was developed during World War II and used by the Americans as an air base during their time on the island. During World War II, the local islanders were evacuated to Fedarai by the Americans. The remaining islands were converted and used as bases to support naval vessels and facilities within the lagoon.
