Улити атолдары: Тыныш мұхитының маржаны мен тарихы

Atoll in Yap, Federated States of Micronesia

Ulithi (, Yulthiy, or Wugöy; pronounced roughly as YOU li thee) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap, within Yap State.

Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia. Ulithi's population was 773 in 2000. There are four inhabited islands on Ulithi Atoll. They are Falalop , Asor (Yasor), Mogmog (Mwagmwog), and Fedarai (Fedraey). Falalop is the most accessible with Ulithi Airport, a small resort hotel, store and one of three public high schools in Yap state. Mogmog is the seat of the high chief of Ulithi Atoll though each island has its own chief. Other important islands are Losiap , Sorlen (Sohl'oay), and Potangeras (Potoangroas). The atoll is in the westernmost of the Caroline Islands, 360 mile (579 km) southwest of Guam, 850 mile (1368 km) east of the Philippines and 1300 mile (2092 km) south of Tokyo. It is a typical volcanic atoll, with a coral reef, white sand beaches and palm trees. Ulithi's forty small islands barely rise above the sea, with the largest being only in area. However the reef runs roughly 20 mile (32 km) north and south, by 10 mile (16 km) across, enclosing a vast anchorage with an average depth of .

The Portuguese navigator Diogo da Rocha is credited as the first European to find Ulithi in 1525. The Spanish navigator Álvaro de Saavedra arrived on the ship Florida on 1 January 1528, claiming the islands for KingPhilipII under the name Islands of the Kings (lang es; ) after his patron and the Three Wise Men honored in the approaching Catholic feast of Epiphany. It was later charted by other Spaniards as the Chickpea Islands (lang es). It was also visited by the Spanish expedition of Ruy López de Villalobos on 26 January 1543. It remained isolated until visited and explored in detail by Captain Don Bernardo de Egoy in 1712, and later visited by Spanish Jesuit missionaries led by Juan Antonio Cantova together with a group of 12 Spanish soldiers in 1731. In 1885, Jesuit missionaries encouraged Germany to extend "protection" over the Carolina Islands to protect their profitable trade. However, the Spanish made similar claims and later that year Pope Leo XIII decreed Spain as the ruling power over the islands, granting Germany and the United Kingdom trading rights. In 1889, a significant earthquake hit Yap (and Ulithi), leading the residents to believe that their engagement with outsiders had angered their traditional spirits. Germany purchased the islands from Spain in 1899 for $4,500,000, conscripting residents as laborers and soldiers. By the early 1900s, Germany had established a police force, post offices and hospitals on Yap,

During this time, German Capuchin friars began to replace the Jesuits. The friars struggled to convert the citizens to Catholicism.

The atoll was peacefully occupied in 1914 by Japan at the outset of the First World War. Japan was given a mandate to oversee the territory in 1920 by the League of Nations. Under the Japanese occupation, businessmen and soldiers eroded the traditional political system in Ulithi, with the authority of local chiefs ignored. This began a steady decline in the customs and individual culture of the people of Ulithi. The presence of the Catholic church was reinforced by the Japanese, who allowed the continued efforts of conversion to go on, further eroding the indigenous culture. By 1941, two thousand (out of 3,000) residents had been converted to Christianity.]] Early in the Second World War, the Japanese had established a radio and weather station on Ulithi and had occasionally used the lagoon as an anchorage, but had abandoned it by 1944. As the operations of the United States Navy (USN) moved west across the Pacific, the USN required a more forward base for its operations. Ulithi was ideally positioned to act as a staging area for the USN's western Pacific operations. The anchorage was large and well situated for a base, but there were no port facilities to repair ships or resupply the fleet. The US Navy built the very large Naval Base Ulithi that operated in 1944 and 1945. On 23 September 1944, a regiment of the United States Army's 81st Division landed unopposed, followed a few days later by a battalion of Seabees. The survey ship Sumner examined the lagoon and reported it capable of holding 700 vessels—a capacity greater than either Majuro or Pearl Harbor. On 1 October 1944, the minesweeper USS YMS 385 was sunk by a mine while clearing Zowariau [Zowatabu] Channel. The USN transferred the local islanders to the island of Fedarai for the duration of the hostilities. On 4 October 1944 the vessels of Service Squadron 10 began leaving Eniwetok for Ulithi; Service Squadron 10 was termed by Admiral Nimitz as his "secret weapon". Its commanding officer, Commodore Worrall R. Carter, devised the mobile service force that made it possible for the Navy to convert Ulithi to the secret distant Pacific base used during the major naval operations undertaken late in the war, including Leyte Gulf and the invasion of Okinawa. Service Squadron 10 converted the lagoon into a serviceable naval station, creating repair facilities and re supply facilities thousands of miles away from an actual naval port. Pontoon piers of a new design were built at Ulithi, each consisting of the 4 by 12 pontoon sections, filled with sand and gravel, and then sunk. The pontoons were anchored in place by guy ropes to deadmen on shore, and by iron rods driven into the coral. Connecting tie pieces ran across the tops of the pontoons to hold them together into a pier. Despite extremely heavy weather on several occasions these pontoon piers stood up remarkably well. They gave extensive service, with little requirement for repairs. Piers of this type were also installed by the 51st Battalion to be used as aviation gasoline mooring piers near the main airfield on Falalop. The Japanese had built an airstrip on Falalop. It was expanded and resurfaced, the runway running the full width of the island. The east end of the strip was extended approximately 20 feet (6 m) past the natural shoreline. During the operations, 4,500 sacks of mail, of air freight and 1,200 passengers would utilize this airstrip. A number of small strips for light aircraft were built on several of the smaller islands. The Seabees completed a fleet recreation center at Mog Mog island that could accommodate 8,000 men and 1,000 officers daily. A 1,200 seat theatre, including an stage with a Quonset hut roof was completed in 20 days. At the same time, a 500 seat chapel was built. A number of the larger islands were used both as bases to support naval vessels and facilities within the lagoon. The Japanese still held Yap. Early after the US occupation they mounted a number of attacks but caused no damage to the Seabees working on the islands. On 20 November 1944 the Ulithi harbor was attacked by Japanese kaiten manned torpedoes launched from two nearby submarines. The destroyer Case rammed one in the early morning hours. At 5:47 the fleet oiler Mississinewa, at anchor in the harbor, was struck and sunk. Destroyers began dropping depth charges throughout the anchorage. After the war Japanese naval officers said that two tender submarines, each carrying four manned torpedoes, had been sent to attack the fleet at Ulithi. Three of the kaiten were unable to launch due to mechanical problems and another ran aground on the reef. Two did make it into the lagoon, one of which sank USS Mississinewa. A second kaiten attack in January 1945 was foiled when I 48 was sunk by the destroyer escort Conklin. None of the 122 men aboard the Japanese submarine survived. On 11 March 1945, in a mission known as Operation Tan No. 2, several long range aircraft flying from southern Japan attempted a nighttime kamikaze attack on the naval base. One struck the Randolph, which had left a cargo light on despite the black out. The plane struck over the stern starboard quarter, damaging the flight deck and killing a number of crewmen. Another crashed on Sorlen Island, having perhaps mistaken a signal tower there for the superstructure of an aircraft carrier. By 13 March there were 647 ships at anchor at Ulithi, and with the arrival of amphibious forces staging for the invasion of Okinawa the number of ships at anchor peaked at 722. In late June 1945, the Japanese aircraft launching super submarines I 400 and I 401 were diverted from their planned attack on the Panama Canal to attack Ulithi Atoll. However, their mission was interrupted by the destruction of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, followed by the Japanese surrender. After the Leyte Gulf was secured, the Pacific Fleet moved its forward staging area to Leyte, and Ulithi was all but abandoned. In the end, few US civilians ever heard of Ulithi. By the time naval security cleared release of the name, there were no longer reasons to print stories about it. The war had moved on, but for seven months in late 1944 and early 1945, the large lagoon of the Ulithi atoll was the largest and most active anchorage in the world. A 1956 USCG survey indicated that the station consisted of a BOQ and office, galley and meeting area, laundry building, barracks, signal power building, recreation building and a "jumbo Quonset". All of the buildings, with the exception of the signal power, were Quonset structures. The report discusses the daily life and routine at the station as follows:General life on the station is relaxed and fairly routine. Life here can be boring, or very interesting, depending upon how much the individual desires to do. There are practically unlimited recreational facilities, but it is easy to neglect these and fall into a rather lethargic rut. The working hours are 7AM to 1PM, six days a week. Afternoons and evenings are free Loran watch standers average about four hours on watch, ten off their off watch time is their own, and no daywork is expected from them. The uniform to be worn is chosen for coolness and health with shorts and sandals permissible and the rule rather than the exception. Dress blues are not needed here at all. The Station is completely isolated, and there is no opportunity for liberty or leave. Of course, there is no use for cars here, and dependents are not allowed. All supplies and mail come from Guam flights averaging one every week or ten days. Every three months heavy supplies and fuel are delivered and once a year, makes a stop here. The cost of living for personnel here is very cheap, with little opportunity to spend money. Necessary items such as soap, cigarettes, toothpaste are stocked and beer and soda are on sale during non working hours. Native handicraft is limited to canoe models, small statutes and grass skirts, which seldom run more than five or six dollars. Once a month a shopping list is sent to Guam men can order anything that can be purchased on Guam there is always Sears and Roebuck or Montgomery Ward. Officers are charged for three meals a day, regardless whether they eat them or not about $50.00 a month. As mentioned before, the recreational facilities are numerous and varied, and include: Swimming spear fishing fishing shelling photography leather craft Ham radio volleyball tennis pool horse shoes movies baseball & softball boat trips shooting. In conclusion this station has many advantages and few disadvantages, as compared with other Loran Stations. The weather and climate are close to ideal, the station and equipment are in excellent repair, recreational facilities are many and varied, supplies and mail are better than average, and the natives are interesting, sincere honest people. The only disadvantage is the isolation. All in all, this is a pretty wonderful place. The station remained in operation until 1965, when they were again relocated to Yap. A detailed census in 1949 reported that there were 421 inhabitants, mostly elderly. A follow up census in 1960 showed a rise to 514, with the ratio of men to women having shifted to a small preponderance of males. Occasional diving and adventure tours visit Ulithi from Yap. Given permission from the local community, the atoll offers good diving. Census records can be misleading because population can fluctuate during the year because it is common for Ulithians to leave for work or school abroad and to return. This is particularly true during festive times like the Outer Island High School graduation ceremony, when the population can increase considerably. Additionally, during events like weddings and funerals, community populations may double. In 2009, with funding from the European Union (EU) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) partnership installed 215 solar photovoltaic (PV) system in Ulithi, with a 28 kWp (kilowatt peak) solar plant. Inverters with a capacity of 20 kW supply 240V / 60 Hz AC into an underground, ostensibly typhoon proof grid.

Reef damage from Typhoon Maysak in 2015 is still visible in places, but the reefs have largely recovered. Maysak also caused significant damage to the PV electrical grid system on the atoll.

Since 2018, the Island Conservation group has led an effort with the local community to help stop invasive species from overtaking native green sea turtles and seabirds. One of the non native species they are attempting to eradicate is the monitor lizard, first introduced during the Japanese occupation to rid the islands of rats. In 2019, the US Navy submarine tender Emory S. Land visited the atoll, as part of the research for US plans for establishing a logistics network across the Pacific, with a Naval press release noting Ulithi "could again represent a logistical hub capable of supporting the fleet".

Located on Falalop Island, the Ulithi Civil Airfield (IATA code ULI, FAA Identifier TT02) serves as the main air link with the rest of Federated States of Micronesia. With no regularly scheduled flights, service is provided by Pacific Missionary Aviation. Transport between the smaller closely located islands Ulithi is typically undertaken by motorboat. The ship Halipmohol operates as a Field Trip Ship, transiting on a semi regular basis throughout the Yap outer islands. According to the Pacific Worlds website, it is customary to request permission from the Chief of Ulithi to visit the atoll.

Traditionally, Ulithi culture was based on matriarchal lineages. Each lineage had a male chief by seniority. Each village had a village council to help with everyday issues, as well as questions concerning the entire atoll. Land was owned by the lineages and parceled out for different uses. Women typically handle the agricultural duties, while men fished. Religion was pagan based, spirits and ancestral ghosts. Magic was also incorporated into the everyday life, prevalent in disease/medicine, navigation, weather and fishing. Sociological studies showed that by 1960, after decades of influence by outsiders, the traditional religion had all but vanished, to be replaced by Christianity. This was the first rigorous documentation of the Ulithian language, and copies were provided to educators and students throughout Ulithi and Fais. The authors' stated aim was to create a consistent and intuitive Latin alphabet useful for both native Ulithian and native English speakers.

Ulithi has a tropical rainforest climate (Af) with heavy rainfall year round.