World Wars I and II

With the rest of the Marshalls, Enewetak was captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1914, during World War I and mandated to the Empire of Japan by the League of Nations in 1920. The Japanese administered the island under the South Seas Mandate, but mostly left affairs in hands of traditional local leaders until the start of World War II. The atoll, together with other parts of Marshall Islands located to the west of 164°E, was placed under the governance of Pohnpei district during the Japanese administration period, and is different from the rest of the Marshall Islands.^[15]

In November 1942, the Japanese built an airfield on Engebi Island. As they used it only for refueling planes between Truk and islands to the east, no aviation personnel were stationed there and the island had only token defenses. When the Gilberts fell to the United States, the Imperial Japanese Army assigned defense of the atoll to the 1st Amphibious Brigade, formed from the 3rd Independent Garrison, which had previously been stationed in Manchukuo. The 1st Amphibious Brigade arrived on January 4, 1944. Some 2,586 of its 3,940 men were left to defend Eniwetok Atoll, supplemented by aviation personnel, civilian employees, and laborers. However, they were unable to finish the fortifications before the American attack came in February. During the ensuing Battle of Eniwetok, the Americans captured Enewetak in a five-day amphibious operation. Fighting mainly took place on Engebi Islet, site of the most important Japanese installation, although some combat occurred on the main islet of Enewetak itself and on Parry Island, where there was a Japanese seaplane base.

Following its capture, the anchorage at Enewetok became a major US Naval Advance Base with Service Squadron 4 and Service Squadron 10 stationed in the lagoon. The daily average of ships present during the first half of July 1944 was 488; during the second half of July, the daily average number of ships at Enewetak was 283.^[16] Naval Base Eniwetok was part of the vast Naval Base Marshall Islands. US Navy Seabees of the 110th Naval Construction Battalion arrived on February 21 and 27 to begin construction of Stickell Field.^[17] It had two taxiways and a 6,800-by-400-foot (2,070 by 120 m) runway.^[17] In June 1945, the 67th CB arrived to build a 35,000 man recreation center to be turned over to CBMU 608.^[17]

In 1950, John C. Woods, who executed the Nazi war criminals convicted at the Nuremberg Trials, was accidentally electrocuted there.

Nuclear weapons testing

After the end of World War II, Enewetak came under the control of the United States as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, until the independence of the Marshall Islands in 1986. During its tenure, the United States evacuated the local residents many times, often involuntarily.^{[citation needed]} The atoll was used for nuclear testing, as part of the Pacific Proving Grounds. Before testing commenced, the U.S. exhumed the bodies of United States servicemen killed in the Battle of Enewetak and returned them to the United States to be re-buried by their families. 43 nuclear tests were fired at Enewetak from 1948 to 1958.^[18]

The first hydrogen bomb test, code-named Ivy Mike, occurred in late 1952 as part of Operation Ivy; it vaporized the islet of Elugelab. This test included B-17 Flying Fortress drones to fly through the radioactive cloud to test onboard samples. B-17 mother ships controlled the drones while flying within visual distance of them. In all, 16 to 20 B-17s took part in this operation, of which half were controlling aircraft and half were drones. To examine the explosion clouds of the nuclear bombs in 1957/58, several rockets (mostly from rockoons) were launched. One USAF airman Jimmy Robinson was lost at sea during the tests. Robinson's F-84 Thunderjet crashed and sank 3.5 miles (5.6 km) short of the island. Robinson's body was never recovered.^[19][20][21]

Radiological cleanup

A radiological survey of Enewetak was conducted from 1972 to 1973.^[22] In 1977, the United States military began decontamination of Enewetak and other islands. During the three-year, US$100 million cleanup process, the military mixed more than 80,000 cubic meters (100,000 cu yd) of contaminated soil and debris^[23] from the islands with Portland cement and buried it in an atomic blast crater on the northern end of the atoll's Runit Island.^[24][25] The material was placed in the 9.1-meter (30 ft) deep, 110-meter (360 ft) wide crater created by the May 5, 1958, "Cactus" nuclear weapons test. A dome composed of 358 concrete panels, each 46 centimeters (18 in) thick, was constructed over the material. The final cost of the cleanup project was US$239 million.^[23] The United States government declared the southern and western islands in the atoll safe for habitation in 1980,^[26] and residents of Enewetak returned that same year.^[27] The military members who participated in that cleanup mission are suffering from many health issues, but the U.S. Government refused to provide health coverage^[28] until 2022 with the passage of the Honoring our PACT Act.^[29]

The 2000 environmental restoration award included funds for additional cleanup of radioactivity on Enewetak. Rather than scrape the topsoil off, replace it with clean topsoil, and create another radioactive waste repository dome at some site on the atoll (a project estimated to cost US$947 million), most areas still contaminated on Enewetak were treated with potassium.^[30] Soil that could not be effectively treated for human use was removed and used as fill for a causeway connecting the two main islands of the atoll (Enewetak and Parry). The cost of the potassium decontamination project was US$103.3 million.^[31]

A report by the US Congressional Research Service projects that the majority of the atoll will be fit for human habitation by 2026–2027, after nuclear decay, de-contamination and environmental remediation efforts create sufficient dose reductions.^[32] However, in November 2017, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that rising sea levels caused by climate change are seeping inside the dome, causing radioactive material to leak out.^[33]

U.S. relations with Marshall Islands

Section 177 of the 1983 Compact of Free Association between the governments of the United States and the Marshall Islands^[34] establishes a process for Marshallese to make a claim against the United States government as a result of damage and injury caused by nuclear testing. That same year, an agreement was signed to implement Section 177, which established a US$150 million trust fund. The fund was intended to generate US$18 million a year, which would be payable to claimants on an agreed-upon schedule. If the US$18 million a year generated by the fund was not enough to cover claims, the principal of the fund could be used.^[35][31] A Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal was established to adjudicate claims. In 2000, the tribunal made a compensation award to the people of Enewetak consisting of US$107.8 million for environmental restoration; US$244 million in damages to cover economic losses caused by loss of access and use of the atoll; and US$34 million for hardship and suffering.^[31] In addition, as of the end of 2008, another US$96.658 million in individual damage awards were made. Only US$73.526 million of the individual claims award has been paid, however, and no new awards were made between the end of 2008 and May 2010.^[31] Due to stock market losses, payments rates that have outstripped fund income, and other issues, the fund was nearly exhausted, as of May 2010, and unable to make any additional awards or payments.^[31] A lawsuit by Marshallese arguing that "changed circumstances" made Nuclear Claims Tribunal unable to make just compensation was dismissed by the Supreme Court of the United States in April 2010.^[36]

Summary

Operation Sandstone

Operation Greenhouse

Operation Ivy

Operation Castle

Operation Redwing

Operation Hardtack I

Gallery

• Battle of Eniwetok
• B-17 drone at Eniwetok Airfield in 1948 for Operation Sandstone
• Operation Sandstone
• Ivy Mike test, October 31, 1952
• Operation Greenhouse test
• Ivy King test, November 1952
• Test shot Seminole of Operation Redwing, conducted on the coast of the island of Bogon
• Red-wing Seminole test
• Hardtack Umbrella test
• Video clips of three test nuclear explosions in Eniwetok, Marshall Islands
• Test shot Nectar of Operation Castle produced a yield of 1.69 megatons and was detonated just north east of Ivy Mike's Elugelab crater. The Island of Bogon is the spearhead shaped object at the bottom right of the screen, as it was before the Redwing Seminole test was conducted on that island.