Mokerang Airfield

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Mokerang Airfield
Thirteenth Air Force - Emblem.png
Part of Thirteenth Air Force
Located on Los Negros Island, Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea.
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Mokerang Airfield
Mokerang Airfield, Papua New Guinea
Coordinates 01°58′51.6″S147°22′40.8″E / 1.981000°S 147.378000°E / -1.981000; 147.378000 Coordinates: 01°58′51.6″S147°22′40.8″E / 1.981000°S 147.378000°E / -1.981000; 147.378000
Type Military airfield
Site information
Controlled by United States Army Air Forces
Site history
Built 1944
In use 1944-1945

Mokerang Airfield, was an airfield on the northwest tip of Los Negros Island, 5 miles (8.0 km) NNW of Momote Airfield.

Aerodrome location from which aircraft flight operations take place

An aerodrome or airdrome is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither. Aerodromes include small general aviation airfields, large commercial airports, and military airbases.

Los Negros Island island in Papua New Guinea

Los Negros Island is the third largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is significant because it contains the main airport of Manus Province on its eastern coastline, at Momote. It is connected to Lorengau, the capital of the province, on Manus Island via a highway and bridge across the Lonui Passage, which separates Los Negros from the larger Manus Island.

Momote Airport airport on Los Negros Island, Papua New Guinea

Momote Airport is an airport on Los Negros Island in the Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea. It also serves Manus Island, which is connected to Los Negros by a bridge.

Contents

History

It was built by the Imperial Japanese at Mokerang Plantation shortly after Lorengau Airfield during World War II and liberated during the Battle of Los Negros as part of the Admiralty Islands campaign.

Lorengau Airfield was an airfield located at Lorengau on the north coast of Manus Island.

World War II 1939–1945 global war

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

Admiralty Islands campaign Series of WWII battles

The Admiralty Islands campaign was a series of battles in the New Guinea campaign of World War II in which the United States Army's 1st Cavalry Division occupied the Japanese-held Admiralty Islands.

The 836th Engineer Aviation Battalion constructed two runways 8,000 feet (2,400 m) long × 150 feet (46 m) wide and 500-foot (150 m) overruns at each end, and the 104th Naval Construction Battalion and 46th Naval Construction Battalion built the taxiways and dispersal areas.

The runways had a bearing WNW/ESE 114 degrees/294 degrees magnetic. A storage depot for 30,000 barrels of fuel was stockpiled at Mokerang.

The airfield was abandoned at the end of the war and has been reclaimed by vegetation.

Units based at Mokerang

424th Bombardment Squadron

The 424th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 307th Bombardment Wing at Lincoln Air Force Base, Nebraska, where it was inactivated on 1 January 1962.

371st Bombardment Squadron

The 371st Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 307th Bombardment Wing, based at Lincoln AFB, Nebraska. It was inactivated on 25 March 1965.

419th Night Fighter Squadron

The 419th Night Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Thirteenth Air Force, being inactivated at Floridablanca, Luzon on 20 February 1947.

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