 NASA image of Rendova | |
 | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | South Pacific |
| Coordinates | 8°32′00″S157°20′00″E / 8.5333333°S 157.3333333°E |
| Archipelago | New Georgia Islands |
| Area | 411.3 km2 (158.8 sq mi) |
| Length | 40 km (25 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 1,050 m (3440 ft) |
| Administration | |
| Province | Western Province |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 3,679 (1999 estimate) |
Rendova is an island in Western Province, in the independent nation of Solomon Islands, in the South Pacific, east of Papua New Guinea.
Rendova Island is a roughly rectangular island, located in the South Pacific in the New Georgia Islands. The length of the island is about 40 kilometers. To the north is the island of New Georgia and to the east is the island of Vangunu. Rendova is a volcanic island, with a central stratovolcano cone, with a height of 1,050 metres (3,440 ft) which last erupted in the Pleistocene; however, the island is subject to frequent earthquakes. The island is surrounded in some places by a coral reef. The climate on Rendova is wet and tropical, and the island is subject to frequent cyclones.
The black-sand beaches along the southwest coast of Rendova are important nesting grounds for the critically endangered leatherback turtle. [1] Community-based conservation organisation the Tetepare Descendants' Association runs a leatherback conservation program in the villages of Baniata, Havilla and Retavo on this coastline. [1]
In 1999, the population of Rendova was estimated at 3,679 people. There are two indigenous languages spoken on Rendova Island: the Austronesian language Ughele in the north, and the Papuan language Touo in the south.
On March 15, 1893, Rendova was declared part of the British Solomon Islands protectorate. The island was occupied by the Empire of Japan in the early stages of World War II. On June 30, 1943, Allied forces carried out the landings on Rendova which quickly overcame the 300-man Japanese garrison as part of a strategy to ultimately recapture Munda and its airfield on the island of New Georgia. The island was subsequently used as a base by the United States Navy for PT boat operations.
Solomon Islanders Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana paddled their dugout canoe 35 miles (60 km) to reach the base and deliver a message inscribed on a coconut from then-Lieutenant (junior grade) John F. Kennedy after his PT boat, PT 109, was run down by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri and he and his crew were stranded on one of the local islands. [2] [3]
Since 1978, the island has been part of the independent state of the Solomon Islands
Rendova is the setting for the 2002 humorous book Solomon Time by Will Randall, about a British school teacher who moves to a village on Rendova to help organise a community project.
Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea.
PT-109 was an 80-foot Elco PT boat last commanded by Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, future United States president, in the Solomon Islands campaign of the Pacific theater during World War II. Kennedy's actions in saving his surviving crew after PT-109 was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer earned him several commendations and made him a war hero. Back problems stemming from the incident required months of hospitalization at Chelsea Naval Hospital and plagued him the rest of his life. Kennedy's postwar campaigns for elected office referred often to his service on PT-109.
The New Georgia Islands are part of the Western Province of Solomon Islands. They are located to the northwest of Guadalcanal. The larger islands are mountainous and covered in rain forest. The main islands are New Georgia, Vella Lavella, Kolombangara, Ghizo, Vangunu, Rendova and Tetepare. They are surrounded by coral reefs and include the Marovo Lagoon.
New Georgia, with an area of 2,037 km2 (786 sq mi), is the largest of the islands in Western Province, Solomon Islands, and the 224th-largest island in the world. Since July 1978, the island has been part of the independent state of Solomon Islands.
Kolombangara is an island in the New Georgia Islands group of the nation state of Solomon Islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The name is from a local language, a rough translation of its meaning is "Water Lord" with approximately 80 rivers and streams running down its flanks.
PT 109 is a 1963 American Technicolor Panavision biographical war film depicting the actions of John F. Kennedy as an officer of the United States Navy in command of Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 in the Pacific theater of World War II. The film was adapted by Vincent Flaherty and Howard Sheehan from the book PT 109: John F. Kennedy in World War II by Robert J. Donovan, and the screenplay was written by Richard L. Breen. Cliff Robertson stars as Kennedy, and the film features performances by Ty Hardin, James Gregory, Robert Culp and Grant Williams.
The Battle of Blackett Strait was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on 6 March 1943 in the Blackett Strait, between Kolombangara and Arundel Island in the Solomon Islands. The battle was a chance encounter between two Japanese destroyers that had been undertaking a resupply run to Vila and a U.S. Navy force of three light cruisers and three destroyers that had been tasked with bombarding the Japanese shore facilities around Vila. The two forces clashed as the Japanese destroyers were withdrawing through the Kula Gulf. In the short battle that followed the two Japanese destroyers were sunk, after which the U.S. ships completed their bombardment of Vila before returning to their base.
The New Georgia campaign was a series of land and naval battles of the Pacific Theater of World War II between Allied forces and the Empire of Japan. It was part of Operation Cartwheel, the Allied strategy in the South Pacific to isolate the Japanese base around Rabaul. The campaign took place in the New Georgia Islands in the central Solomon Islands and followed the Allied capture of the Russell Islands. The main fighting took place on New Georgia itself, although significant actions also took place around the island chain throughout the campaign.
Western Province is the largest of the nine provinces of Solomon Islands. The area is renowned for its beautiful tropical islands, excellent diving and snorkelling, coral reefs and World War II wrecks, ecotourism lodges, and head-hunting shrines. The province contains many small lagoons and most of the country's tourist trade outside Honiara.
Danny Philip is a politician and diplomat from Solomon Islands. He was the prime minister of Solomon Islands from 2010 to 2011. Previously he served as the minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996 and again from July 2000 to June 2001. He was the leader of the People's Progressive Party from 1997 to 2000, then founded the Reform Democratic Party, of which he was the leader when elected Prime Minister.
Tetepare Island is an island in Western Province, in the independent nation of Solomon Islands. It is the largest uninhabited island in the South Pacific, covering approximately 118 square kilometres. Tetepare supports pristine lowland rainforest and a rich inshore marine area. Tetepare Island is identified as an area with high biodiversity and conservation values.
Vangunu is an island, part of the New Georgia Islands in Western Province, in the independent nation of Solomon Islands. It is located between New Georgia and Nggatokae Island. To the north and east of the island is Marovo Lagoon. The island has an area of 509 square kilometres (197 sq mi).
Arthur Reginald Evans, DSC was an Australian coastwatcher in the Pacific Ocean theatre in World War II. He is chiefly remembered for having played a significant part in the rescue of future US President John F. Kennedy and his surviving crew after their motor torpedo boat, PT-109, was sunk by the Japanese in August 1943.
Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana were Solomon Islanders of Melanesian descent who found John F. Kennedy and his surviving PT-109 crew following the boat's collision with the Japanese destroyer Amagiri near Plum Pudding Island on 1 August 1943. They were from the Western Province of the Solomon Islands.
PT-59 / PTGB-1 was an S-Class Patrol Torpedo boat of the United States Navy, built by the Electric Launch Company of Bayonne, New Jersey. The boat was laid down as Motor Boat Submarine Chaser PTC-27, and was reclassified as BPT-11 when assigned to transfer to Britain under Lend-Lease. However, this was cancelled, and she was reclassified as PT-59 prior to launch on 8 October 1941, and was completed on 5 March 1942.
The Landings on Rendova were amphibious military assaults by United States Army, Marine Corps and Navy forces on Rendova Island in the Solomon Islands on 30 June 1943. The small Japanese garrison was quickly overwhelmed by US troops, but the island was subjected to heavy attack by Japanese aircraft over several days. The landings were some of the first Allied landings during the New Georgia campaign of the Pacific War and were successful in securing the island and providing a base from which the Allies could support the subsequent invasion of New Georgia island and the eventual capture of Munda airfield in early August 1943.
The Touo language, also known as Baniata (Mbaniata) or Lokuru, is spoken over the southern part of Rendova Island, located in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands.
The family of Northwest Solomonic languages is a branch of the Oceanic languages. It includes the Austronesian languages of Bougainville and Buka in Papua New Guinea, and of Choiseul, New Georgia, and Santa Isabel in Solomon Islands.
PT 109: An American Epic of War, Survival, and the Destiny of John F. Kennedy is a non-fiction book by best-selling author William Doyle released by Harper-Collins in 2015 that describes the ramming and sinking of future President John F. Kennedy's Patrol Torpedo Boat 109 by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri off the coast of Kolombangara Island in the Solomon Island Chain on August 2, 1943. The book also chronicles the crew's difficult three mile swim to Plum Pudding Island and the subsequent week of living there and on adjacent Olasana Island until Patrol Torpedo Boat PT-157 rescued them on August 8. The novel also discusses the considerable impact the experience had in helping to launch Kennedy's political career, beginning with his election to the House of Representatives in 1946. JFK's aid David Powers has written, "without PT 109, there never would have been a President John F. Kennedy".
Akara is an island of the New Georgia archipelago in the Western Province, Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, east of Papua New Guinea.
