There are two Christmas Islands in
the Pacific-Far East
area.
Indian Ocean (105.672E 10.425S). This Christmas Island is located in the Indian Ocean south of Java and is an important phosphate island (with production of about 210 tons per year.) It was annexed by Britain in 1888. The Japanese raided the island in March 1942, capturing the phosphate stores and destroying the facilities. During this raid, the American submarine Seawolf, commanded by the legendary Freddy Warder, made numerous attacks on the light cruisers and destroyers escorting the raiding force, severely damaging the light cruiser Naka. The Japanese subsequently withdrew, and the island remained a no man's land for the remainder of the war.
Central Pacific (Kirimati, 157.487W
2.01N).
The second Christmas Island is located near the equator south of Hawaii. It
was discovered by Captain Cook on December 24, 1777, and annexed by Britain in
1888.
Its only product is copra. The
island had a small airstrip that
formed part of the air bridge from the U.S.
West Coast to Australia and the Philippines. The island
was garrisoned by about 2000 U.S. Army troops early in 1942 to help
secure the sea lines of communications to Australia.
Climate Information (Pacific):
Temperatures: Jan 81, Apr 82, Jul 82, Oct 83
Rainfall: Jan 13/10.8, Apr 15/10.5, Jul 14/8.2, Oct 8/3.6 == 99" per annum
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia (c) 2007-2008 by Kent G. Budge. Index