Ponam Island is located off the north coast of Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.[1]

Ponam Island

Location of the Ponam Island among the Admiralty Islands
Ponam Island
Geography
Coordinates	1°54′45″S 146°53′8″E
Archipelago	Admiralty Islands
Length	2.4 km (1.49 mi)
Width	0.365 km (0.2268 mi)
Naval Base Administrative	United States Navy 1944-1947

The Ponam language is spoken on the island.[2]

The Ponam Airfield was built by the US Navy 78th Naval Construction Battalion "Seabees" between June to August 1944.[3] As half of the work area was swamp, coral was blasted and dredged from the ocean bed and used as landfill. During the Admiralty Islands campaign, it was used as a fighter base to provide repair and overhaul facilities for carrier aircraft, as part of Manus Naval Base. The USO entertainer Bob Hope stop at Ponam Airfield in 1944 with an unscheduled show with troops from surrounding bases. [4][5]

Ponam Airfield

• • Based at Ponam Airfield was:
  • 78th Naval Construction Battalion
  • 140th Battalion
  • ACORN 28 - Seabee unit
  • VMF-312 (24 x FG Vought F4U Corsair unit)
  • VP-130 (15 Lockheed Ventura [PV-1] unit)
  • VC-75 (Grumman F4F Wildcat unit)
  • Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 42
  • Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 13
  • Carrier Aircraft Service 587

See also

• Pityilu Island

References

Further reading

• Carrier, James G (1981). "Ownership of productive resources on Ponam Island, Manus Province". Journal de la Société des océanistes. 37 (72–72): 205–217. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
• Carrier, James G., and Achsah H. Carrier (1989). Wage, Trade, and Exchange in Melanesia: A Manus Society in the Modern State. Berkeley: University of California Press.

External links

• Photo of Ponam Island, Panaramio