China Shocked : Wake Island Has Become a New US Naval Base to Bring US Fleet to Near South China Sea

In the event of a Pacific war, American bombers would have to carry out a high number of sorties against enemy missile and air defense outposts in the Western Pacific. In that conflict, Wake Island would be the last American outpost in the Pacific able to get bombers into the air and keep fighters alongside them fueled up and ready to go.

Wake Island is not particularly impressive. Made of coral, the atoll is a mere twelve feet or so above sea level at its lowest point. It is remote, too. It is twentythree hundred miles or about thirtyseven hundred kilometers west of Honolulu, and about two thousand miles, or thirtytwo hundred kilometers, southeast of Tokyo. Wake Island’s remote location is what makes the speck of rock so important to the United State’s presence in the Pacific Ocean region.

#southchinasea #usnavy #navalbase