9? 8'y«*» 
MAfiJ 
The writer was a member of a scientific party, representing the U, S. 
Biological Survey and B. P. Bishop Museum, which visited Johnston 
Island July 10 to 20, 1923, on the U.S.S. Whippoorwill and U.S.S. Ta- 
nager. In the party were also Commander John Rodgers (famous for 
seaplane flight from California to Hawaii) and two other aviators, who 
made a pioneer flight over Johnston, photographing it from the air. 
Tents were pitched on the southwest beach of fine white sand, and a 
rather thorough biological survey was made of the island. Hundreds of 
sea birds, of a dozen kinds, were the principal inhabitants, together with 
lizards, insects, and hermit crabs. The reefs and shallow water abounded 
with fish and other marine life. Accounts of what was found appear in 
Bishop Museum publications. 
The maps here presented are drawn from the survey made at that 
time. The shore is alternately white sand and rough, jagged coral reef, 
as indicated. 
By Executive Order, June 29, 1926, President Calvin Coolidge placed 
Johnston Island under the Department of Agriculture as a “refuge and 
breeding ground for native birds.” 
But the Department of Agriculture had no ships, and the Navy was 
also interested for strategic reasons, so another Executive Order, De¬ 
cember 29, 1934, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, placed the islands 
under the “control and jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy for ad¬ 
ministrative purposes,” but subject to use as.a refuge and breeding 
ground for native birds, under the Department of Agriculture. The 14th 
Naval District, Pearl Harbor, has immediate charge. 
Several seaplanes have made flights from Hawaii to Johnston, such 
as that of a squadron of six planes in November, 1935. One of the most 
spectacular of these was on April 8, 1937, when two VP-6’s made the 
round trip in ten and a half hours, to bring back a sick seaman. 
Now the island is undergoing a profound change. A large appropria¬ 
tion has been made for the development of the spot as a seaplane base, 
and work there is underway. 
37 
CHAPTER 12 
Howland Island 
23 L~ 
n&*3S‘ 
0*4S 
fcX fathoms 
'Reg! 
$ton« 
Beacon* 
^founds 
A 
ROWLAND ISLAND 
; d onH.0.Chartm 
Position cf Flag Stalf :• 
Lat. 0*48'Of N. 
Long.W 38'IZ‘W. 
3 Sand beach. 
Coral rubble. 
& 
\ \ 
\ \ 
V 1 
Landing- 
\fclusoatown 
rt<£i9ht ^ ‘ 
"Kamaksi-wi_ 
- — — ^ 
/ ''Field 
/ / 
/ f 
' f ... 
old 
Stone pat 
cm 
l i .. r _ 
' “ ““ TT -i AsO CPA miles to the southwest oi Honolulu, 
Howland Island l.es 1650 sea milt* to i about 
38 
