Editing Kingman Reef (section)

==History==
[[File:Reef2322 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library.jpg|thumb|left|[[Scuba diving|Scuba diver]] explores corals at Kingman Reef]]
[[File:Habitats at Kingman Reef - Peerj-81-fig-2E.png|thumb|The shallow reef with wave breaking overhead]]
[[File:Habitats at Kingman Reef - Peerj-81-fig-2F.png|thumb|The edge of reef as a slope down to the depths of 30 to 40 degrees]]
[[File:Shipwreck on Kingman Reef.jpg|thumb|A derelict shipwreck at Kingman Reef]]
Kingman Reef was discovered on June 14, 1798, by the American captain [[Edmund Fanning]] of the ship ''Betsey''. It was first described by Captain W. E. Kingman (whose name the island bears) of the ship ''Shooting Star'' on November 29, 1853. It was claimed in 1859 by the United States Guano Company, under the name "Dangers Rock," along with several other islands.<ref>{{aut|Bryan, E.H. Jr.}} (1941): ''American Polynesia and the Hawaiian Chain'' (1st ed.). Tongg Publishing Co., Honolulu, Hawaii. p.154.</ref> The claim was made under the U.S. [[Guano Islands Act]] of 1856, although there is no evidence that guano existed or was ever mined on Kingman Reef.<ref name="Rogers1933">{{cite report|title=The Sovereignty of Guano Islands in the Pacific Ocean|last=Rogers|first=E.S.|date=January 9, 1933|publisher=Department of State, Office of the Legal Advisor|location=Washington, D.C.|url=https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/b3266546-ba11-41ea-b0ad-df1b40106580/content |pages=43–45}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=GAO/OGC-98-5 – U.S. Insular Areas: Application of the U.S. Constitution |date = November 7, 1997 |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GAOREPORTS-OGC-98-5/content-detail.html |publisher= U.S. Government Printing Office |access-date=March 23, 2013}}</ref> The British steamship ''Tarta'' struck the reef in June 1874, and it was later surveyed by {{HMS|Penguin|1876}} in 1897, establishing that Kingman Reef was the same hazard previously charted as Caldew Reef and Maria Shoal, among other names.<ref>{{cite book |title=Pacific Islands Pilot |volume= 2 (Eastern Groups) |edition=3rd |publisher=U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office |location=Washington, D.C. |year=1926 |series=H.O. No. 166 |author=<!--no byline--> |pages=557–558 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2EUPAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA557 |access-date=2023-05-09 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

On May 10, 1922, [[Lorrin A. Thurston]] became the first person to raise the American flag on the atoll and read an annexation proclamation.<ref name="Isle of Amnesia">Rauzon, Mark J. (2016). ''Isles of Amnesia: The History, Geography, and Restoration of America's Forgotten Pacific Islands''. University of Hawai'i Press, Latitude 20. Page 106. {{ISBN|9780824846794}}.</ref> The Palmyra Copra Co. intended to use Kingman as a fishing base, as demand for [[copra]] had declined after World War I and [[Palmyra Island]] lacked a suitable anchorage.<ref name="Rogers1933"/> Thurston formally claimed Kingman for the United States by reading the following declaration while standing on its shore:
<blockquote>Be it known to all people: That on the tenth of May, A.D. 1922, the undersigned agent of the Island of Palmyra Copra Co., Ltd., landed from the motorship Palmyra doth, on this tenth day of May, A.D. 1922, take formal possession of this island, called Kingman Reef, situated in longitude 162 degrees 18' west and 6 degrees 23' north, on behalf of the United States of America and claim the same for said company.</blockquote> A copy of the declaration, along with a U.S. flag and clippings from ''[[The Honolulu Advertiser]]'' newspaper, were left on Kingman to document the claim.<ref name="Rogers1933"/>

On December 29, 1934, the [[U.S. Navy]] assumed jurisdiction over Kingman Reef.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.doi.gov/oia/islands/kingmanreef |website=doi.gov |publisher=Office of Insular Affairs, Department of the Interior |title=Kingman Reef |date=June 12, 2015 |access-date=August 14, 2017 }}</ref> In 1935, the reef was visited by [[William T. Miller]], representing the U.S. [[Bureau of Air Commerce]].<ref name="Isle of Amnesia" />

In 1935, [[Pan American World Airways|Pan American Airways]] wanted to expand its routes to the Pacific and include Australia and New Zealand in its "Clipper" air routes, with a stopover in Pago Pago, American Samoa. However, an additional stopover point was sought. It had been decided that the Kingman Reef lagoon, located {{convert|1600|mi|km}} north of Samoa, would be suitable for overnight stops for planes en route from the U.S. to New Zealand. A supply ship, the ''North Wind,'' was stationed at Kingman Reef to provide fuel, lodging, and meals. On March 23, 1937, the S42B Pan American Clipper II, named ''[[Samoan Clipper]]'' and piloted by Captain [[Ed Musick]], en route from [[Hawaii]] to [[American Samoa]], became the first flight to land in Kingman Reef's lagoon.<ref>Rauzon, Mark J. (2016). Isles of Amnesia: The History, Geography, and Restoration of America's Forgotten Pacific Islands. University of Hawai'i Press, Latitude 20. Page 106. {{ISBN|9780824846794}}.</ref><ref name="PIM37-9">{{cite news| last = | first = | work=Pacific Islands Monthly |volume=VII |issue=9 |pages=5–6 |title= P.-A. Airways Clipper Spans Central Pacific, North to South|date =23 April 1937|url= https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-312663075/view?partId=nla.obj-312676296#page/n6/mode/1up| accessdate=28 September 2021 |via=Trove}}</ref>

During the next several months, Pan Am successfully used the lagoon several times as a halfway station for its [[flying boat]]s ([[Sikorsky S-42]]B) when they traveled between those two points.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.clipperflyingboats.com/transpacific-airline-service |title=Pan Am Clipper Flying Boats |website=clipperflyingboats.com |publisher=HM Magazine |access-date=August 14, 2017 }}</ref> 
However, a Clipper flight on January 11, 1938, ended in tragedy. Shortly after the early-morning takeoff from [[Pago Pago]], as it was bound for [[New Zealand]], the plane exploded. The right outboard engine had developed an oil leak, and the aircraft burst into flames while dumping fuel; there were no survivors.<ref name="PIM38-6">{{cite news| last = | first = | work=Pacific Islands Monthly |volume=VIII |issue=6 |pages=7–8, 11 |title= Air Disaster: P.A.A. Flying-Boat and Crew Lost Near Samoa |date =24 January 1938|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-314365111/view?partId=nla.obj-314382544#page/n8/mode/1up| accessdate=28 September 2021 |via=Trove}}</ref> As a result of the tragedy, Pan Am ended flights to New Zealand via Kingman Reef and Pago Pago. It established a new route in July 1940 that used [[Canton Island]] and [[New Caledonia]] as stopovers instead.

On February 14, 1941, President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] issued [[Executive order (United States)|Executive Order]] 8682 to create naval defense areas in the central Pacific territories. The proclamation established the "Kingman Reef Naval Defensive Sea Area", encompassing the territorial waters between the extreme high-water marks and the three-mile marine boundaries surrounding the atoll. "Kingman Naval Airspace Reservation" was also established to restrict access to the airspace over the naval defense sea area. Only U.S. government ships and aircraft were permitted to enter the naval defense areas at Kingman Reef unless authorized by the [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]].

In 2012, Kingman Reef Atoll Development LLC, owned by descendants of the owners of the Palmyra Copra Co., Ltd., sued the U.S. government for its designation as a national wildlife refuge. The plaintiff sought $54.5 million in compensation for losing fishing rights, ecotourism, and other economic activity. However, in 2014, the federal court ruled that any such claim had expired by 1950 at the latest.<ref>{{cite court|litigants=Kingman Reef Atoll Development LLC v. United States|vol=116|reporter=Fed. Cl.|opinion=708|court=[[United States Court of Federal Claims]]|date=June 30, 2014|url=https://ecf.cofc.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2006cv0828-139-0}}</ref>

In 2016, the ARRL Awards Committee of the [[American Radio Relay League]] removed Kingman Reef from its [[DXCC]] list, with the reef now considered part of the [[Palmyra Island]] / [[Jarvis Island]] DXCC Entity.<ref>{{cite web |title=DXCC Deletion of Kingman Reef |url=https://www.dx-world.net/dxcc-deletion-of-kingman-reef/ |website=DX World |date=March 28, 2016 |publisher=DX-World.net |access-date=2021-10-08}}</ref>
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