U.S. PACIFIC BASE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 17, 16 February 1942, Page 4

U.S. PACIFIC BASE

HARBOUR OF PAGO PAGO IN SAMOA BEST IN POLYNESIA M REGULAR PORT OF CALL The American naval station at i Pago Pago, in Samoa, which has i been shelled by a Japanese naval • vessel, has a history of nearly 70 i years. The United States in 1872 - obtained from the "king" of this is- - land of Tutila the right to establish - a naval and coaling station there, the lattet purpose being the more important of the two in the days before oil fuel came into use at sea^ By the tripartite treaty of 1900, Britain relinquished political rights in the Sanioan group, which was ' divided between Germany and the United States, the latter annexing Tutuila and five adjacent islands. I • New Zealand occupied Western Sa- ' moa in 1914, and was later granted a mandate. The harbour of Pago Pago is much the best in the group arid one of the finest in Polynesia. It is an old J crater partly breached by the sea, ? and is almost entirely surroundeJ J by precipitous mountain slopes covered with tropical forests The town ' ' and naval station are situated cn i narrow strip of land between the mountainside and the water. The steel towers of the powerful radio > transmitter rise high above the . buildings. ; Before-the entry of Japan into the l war Pago Pago was a regular port , - of call for the liners plying be- : tween San Francisco and Sydney. : The normal steaming time to or from ; Suva was 3734 hours. The harbour • was used by Pan-American Airways ■ in the preliminary stages of its San . Francisco-Auckland service, but ow- : ing to natural disadvantages it was abandoned in favour of the Kingman Reef and later Canton Island." Pago Pago is 1575 miles£ froni Auckland, 2263 miles from H<molulu, 4160 miles from San Francisco, 2354 miles from Sydney and 4200 mile* from Manila. ' The island of Tutuila, which is -40 , square miles in area, and has a population of about 10,000 is administered by the naval commandant under a civil commission as governor. The natives take a large share : in the management of their own affairs and are regarded as a model' community. The principal exports ! Are copra and tropical fruits. The ; naval station, although small, is be- , lieved to have been considerably V 1 enlarged and strengthened in the » last two years. The water at the one i wharf was lately deepened to allow : ocean liners to berth. Before the war - one small patrol vessel, the Ontario. ■ was maintained at the station foe sservice within the group.