Editing Midway Atoll (section)

==History==
{{US Census population
|1900=21
|1910=35
|1920=31
|1930=36
|1940=437
|1950=416
|1960=2356
|1970=2220
|1980=453
|1990=13
|2000=4
|2010=0
|estyear=2014
|estimate=40
|estref=<ref>{{cite web |title=Australia-Oceania :: MIDWAY ISLANDS |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/print_mq.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428153746/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/print_mq.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 April 2016 |website=CIA World Factbook |publisher=CIA |access-date=6 April 2018}}</ref>
}}
Midway has no indigenous inhabitants and was uninhabited until the 19th century.

===19th century===
The atoll was sighted on July 5, 1859, by Captain N.C. Brooks, of the [[seal hunting|sealing]] ship ''Gambia''.<ref name="fws_chronology">{{cite web |last1=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |title=Chronology of Events |url=https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/Chronology_of_Events.html |website=Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial |publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |access-date=21 April 2020 |archive-date=April 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210402232419/https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/Chronology_of_Events.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Hawaii. Dept. of the Attorney General |title=Opinions of the Attorney General of Hawaii |publisher=Paradise of the Pacific Press |date=1925 |page=244 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0kwwAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA244 |access-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505093003/https://books.google.com/books?id=0kwwAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA244 |url-status=live }}</ref> The islands were named the "Middlebrook Islands".<ref name="fws_chronology"/> Brooks claimed Midway for the United States under the [[Guano Islands Act]] of 1856, which authorized Americans to occupy uninhabited islands temporarily to obtain [[guano]]. There is no record of any attempt to mine guano on the island.<ref>{{Citation |last=Hanlon |first=David |title=The USA and the Pacific since 1800: Manifestly Facing West |date=2023 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-the-pacific-ocean/usa-and-the-pacific-since-1800/D5E8018A44798B6FC4F139705A8DAAA8 |work=The Cambridge History of the Pacific Ocean |pages=563–587 |editor-last=Hattori |editor-first=Anne Perez |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781108226875.030 |isbn=978-1-316-51040-7 |editor2-last=Samson |editor2-first=Jane}}</ref> On August{{nbsp}}28, 1867, [[Captain (United States Navy)|Captain]] [[William Reynolds (naval officer)|William Reynolds]] of {{USS|Lackawanna|1862|6}} formally took possession of the atoll for the United States;<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 |archive-date=September 27, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927192012/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GAOREPORTS-OGC-98-5/content-detail.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the name changed to "Midway" some time after this. The atoll was the first Pacific island annexed by the United States as the Unincorporated Territory of Midway Island and was administered by the [[United States Navy]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=US Department of Commerce |first=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |title=Exploring the Sunken Heritage of Midway Atoll: Honoring the Legacy of the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Midway: Background: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research |url=https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/17midway/background/welcome.html |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=oceanexplorer.noaa.gov |language=EN-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument |url=https://www.papahanaumokuakea.gov/maritime/midway.html |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=www.papahanaumokuakea.gov}}</ref>
[[File:Starr 080531-4733 Midway Island Cable station building (nb 643) in May 2008 with cocos nucifera.jpg|thumb|left|The buildings of the [[Commercial Pacific Cable Company]] date back to 1903 (2008).]]

The first attempt at settlement was in 1870 when the [[Pacific Mail Steamship Company]] started a project of blasting and [[dredging]] a ship channel through the reef to the lagoon using money put up by the [[United States Congress]]. The purpose was to establish a mid-ocean [[coaling station]] to avoid the high taxes imposed at ports controlled by the [[Kingdom of Hawai'i]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tempest |first=Mark |title=Midway Island Claimed for U.S. in 1867 |url=https://www.eaglespeak.us/2007/08/midway-island-claimed-for-us-in-1867.html |access-date=2025-03-29 |language=en}}</ref> The project was a failure, and the {{USS|Saginaw|1859|6}} evacuated the channel project's workforce in October 1870. The ship ran aground on 21 October at [[Kure Atoll]], stranding 93 men. On 18 November, five men set out in a small boat to seek help. On 19 December, four of the men perished when the boat was upset in the breakers off of [[Kauai]]. The survivor reached the U.S. Consulate in [[Honolulu]] on [[Christmas Eve]]. Relief ships were despatched and reached Kure Atoll on 4 January 1871. The survivors of the Saginaw wreck reached Honolulu on 14 January 1871.<ref>The Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 28 January 1871</ref>

===Early 20th century===
[[File:Aerial view of Midway Atoll on 24 November 1941 (80-G-451086).jpg|thumb|Midway Atoll in November 1941, looking west]]

In 1903, workers for the [[Commercial Pacific Cable Company]] took up residence on the island as part of the effort to lay a trans-Pacific [[electric telegraph|telegraph]] cable. To make the island more verdant, these workers introduced many non-native species to the island, including the [[Domestic Canary|canary]], [[Cycas|cycad]], [[Araucaria heterophylla|Norfolk Island pine]], [[Casuarina|she-oak/Ironwood]], [[coconut]], and various [[deciduous]] trees; along with some {{convert|9000|ST|t}} of soil from Oahu and Guam. Ants, cockroaches, termites, centipedes, and countless other organisms were unintentionally introduced to Midway and the soil.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Preserving the Past: Cable Company |url=https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/Cable_Company.html |date=2016-11-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001011508/https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/Cable_Company.html |archive-date=2017-10-01 |url-status=dead |website=Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial |publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service}}</ref>

On January 20, 1903, the United States Navy opened a radio station in response to complaints from cable company workers about [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] [[squatting|squatters]] and [[Poaching|poachers]]. Between 1904 and 1908, President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] stationed 21 [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]] on the island to end wanton destruction of bird life and keep Midway safe as a [[United States territory|U.S. possession]], protecting the cable station.<ref>The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Midway Islands." ''Encyclopedia Britannica'', December 6, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/place/Midway-Islands</ref>

In 1935, operations began for the [[Martin M-130]] [[flying boat]]s operated by [[Pan American Airlines]]. The M-130s island-hopped from [[San Francisco]] to the [[Republic of China (1912-1949)|Republic of China]], providing the fastest and most luxurious route to the [[Far East]] and bringing tourists to Midway until 1941.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-24 |title=Pan Am Era |url=https://www.midway-island.com/history/pan-american-airlines/ |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=Midway Island |language=en}}</ref> Only the wealthy could afford the trip, which in the 1930s cost more than three times the annual salary of an average American. With Midway on the route between [[Honolulu]] and [[Wake Island]], the flying boats landed in the atoll and pulled up to a float offshore in the lagoon.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pan American Airlines |url=https://www.treasureislandmuseum.org/youarehere/pan-american-airlines |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=timuseum |language=en}}</ref> Tourists transferred to the Pan Am Hotel or the "Gooneyville Lodge", named after the ubiquitous "Gooney birds" ([[albatross]]es), in this case [[Laysan albatross|Laysan Albatross]] and [[Black-footed Albatross]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pan American Airways on the Home Front in the Pacific (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/pan-american-airways-on-the-wwii-home-front-in-the-pacific.htm |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref>

===World War II===
{{Main|Battle of Midway}}
{{Infobox NRHP
|name=[[World War II Facilities at Midway]]
|nrhp_type=nhld
|nocat=yes
|image=Battle of Midway (Japanese air raid).jpg
|image_size=263px
|caption=Burning oil tanks during the [[Battle of Midway]]
|location=Sand Island, [[Midway Islands]], [[United States Minor Outlying Islands]]
|locmapin=
|area=
|built=1941
|architect=[[United States Navy]]
|architecture=
|designated_nrhp_type=May 28, 1987<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/database-research.htm#table |title=National Register Database and Research (search term: Midway) |access-date=April 4, 2022 |work=National Register of Historic Places |publisher=National Park Service |archive-date=August 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828223402/https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/database-research.htm#table |url-status=live }}</ref>
|added=May 28, 1987<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2008a|dateform=mdy}}</ref>
<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalhistoriclandmarks/list-of-nhls-by-state.htm#onthisPage-54 |title=List of NHLs by state |access-date=April 4, 2022 |work=National Historic Landmarks |publisher=National Park Service |archive-date=October 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023014928/https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalhistoriclandmarks/list-of-nhls-by-state.htm#onthisPage-54 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|refnum=87001302
}}
The military importance of the location of Midway in the Pacific included its use as a convenient refueling stop on transpacific flights and for Navy ships. Beginning in 1940, as tensions with the Japanese rose, Midway was deemed second only to [[Pearl Harbor]] in importance to the protection of the [[West Coast of the United States|U.S. West Coast]]. Airstrips, gun emplacements, and a seaplane base quickly materialized on the tiny atoll.<ref name="preparing">[http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/Preparing_for_War.html Preparing for War] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520232543/http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/Preparing_for_War.html |date=May 20, 2015 }} Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial.</ref> The channel was widened, and [[Naval Air Station Midway]] was completed. Midway was also an important submarine base.<ref name="preparing"/>

On February 14, 1941, President [[Franklin Roosevelt]] issued [[Executive Order (United States)|Executive Order]] 8682 to create naval defense areas in the central Pacific territories. The proclamation established the "Midway Island Naval Defensive Sea Area", which encompassed the territorial waters between the extreme high-water marks and the {{cvt|3|mi|km|adj=on|spell=in}} marine boundaries surrounding Midway. "Midway Island 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 Midway Atoll unless authorized by the [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]].

Midway's importance to the U.S. was brought into focus on December{{nbsp}}7, 1941, when the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked Pearl Harbor]]. Two destroyers bombarded Midway on the same day; this was the [[first Bombardment of Midway]].<ref name="preparing"/> A Pan-Am flying clipper stopped at Midway and evacuated passengers and Pan-American employees from Wake island, which had also been attacked earlier that day. The clipper was on its usual passenger route to Guam when the attack on Pearl Harbor happened; it then made a return journey going from Wake to Midway, Honolulu, and back to the USA.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clippers At War @ flyingclippers.com |url=http://www.flyingclippers.com/clippersatwar.html |access-date=2023-11-13 |website=www.flyingclippers.com |archive-date=September 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911111440/http://www.flyingclippers.com/clippersatwar.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

A Japanese submarine bombarded Midway on February{{nbsp}}10, 1942.<ref name="auto">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=30gRAGjXrIIC&q=midway+%22+feb.+10%22+1942&pg=PA14 |title=World War II: the Encyclopedia of the War Years, 1941–1945 |first1=Norman |last1=Polmar |first2=Thomas B. |last2=Allen |date=August 15, 2012 |publisher=Courier Corporation |access-date=September 16, 2016 |via=Google Books |isbn=9780486479620 |archive-date=August 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813234030/https://books.google.com/books?id=30gRAGjXrIIC&q=midway+%22+feb.+10%22+1942&pg=PA14 |url-status=live }}</ref> In total, Midway had been attacked four times between 7 December 1941 and the Japanese submarine attack of 10 February 1942.<ref name="auto"/>

Four months later, on June 4, 1942, a major naval battle near Midway resulted in the U.S. Navy inflicting a devastating defeat on the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]. Four Japanese fleet [[aircraft carrier]]s, {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Akagi||2}}, {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Kaga||2}}, {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Hiryū||2}} and {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Sōryū||2}}, were sunk, along with the loss of hundreds of Japanese aircraft, losses that the [[Empire of Japan]] would never be able to replace. The U.S. lost the aircraft carrier {{USS|Yorktown|CV-5|2}}, along with a number of its carrier- and land-based aircraft that were either shot down by Japanese forces or bombed on the ground at the airfields. The [[Battle of Midway]] was, by most accounts, the beginning of the end of the Imperial Japanese Navy's control of the Pacific Ocean.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Taylor |first1=Alan |title=World War II: Battle of Midway and the Aleutian Campaign - The Atlantic |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2011/08/world-war-ii-battle-of-midway-and-the-aleutian-campaign/100137/ |website=www.theatlantic.com |access-date=29 December 2021 |language=en |archive-date=December 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229183015/https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2011/08/world-war-ii-battle-of-midway-and-the-aleutian-campaign/100137/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Starting in July 1942, a [[submarine tender]] was always stationed at the atoll to support submarines patrolling Japanese waters. In 1944, a [[Dry dock#Floating|floating dry dock]] joined the tender.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/After_the_Battle_of_Midway.html |title=After the Battle of Midway |date=November 23, 2016 |website=Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge |publisher=Fish & Wildlife Service |access-date=June 5, 2017 |archive-date=June 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610113704/https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/preserving_the_past/After_the_Battle_of_Midway.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
After the Battle of Midway, a second airfield was developed on Sand Island. This work necessitated enlarging the island through landfill techniques that, when completed, more than doubled its size.
[[File:KM6CE QSL.jpg|alt=KM6CE QSL card|thumb|KM6CE [[QSL card]]]]

===Korean and Vietnam Wars===
From August 1, 1941, to 1945, U.S. military forces occupied Midway. In 1950, the Navy decommissioned [[Naval Air Station Midway]], only to re-commission it again to support the [[Korean War]]. Thousands of troops on ships and aircraft stopped at Midway for refueling and emergency repairs. Midway Island was a Naval Air Facility from 1968 to September{{nbsp}}10, 1993.

With about 3,500 people living on Sand Island, Midway supported the U.S. troops during the [[Vietnam War]]. In June 1969, President [[Richard Nixon]] met [[South Vietnam]]ese President [[Nguyen Van Thieu]] at the Officer-in-Charge house, also known as "Midway House".<ref>{{cite web |title=President Nixon and President Thieu Meet at Midway Island, June 8, 1969 |url=https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2014/06/president-nixon-president-thieu-meet-midway-island-june-8-1969/ |website=Richard Nixon Foundation |access-date=8 January 2024 |date=8 June 2014 |archive-date=January 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108232101/https://www.nixonfoundation.org/2014/06/president-nixon-president-thieu-meet-midway-island-june-8-1969/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Km6bi.jpg|alt=QSL card from KM6BI|thumb|QSL card from KM6BI]]
[[File:NAS Midway Terminal.jpg|thumb|NAS Midway Terminal 1970]]

==== Amateur radio ====
Because of its particularly remote location and political status as a U. S. Navy base not part of the State of Hawaii, Midway was a separate country for amateur radio purposes. During this era, there were two main amateur radio stations: KM6BI on Sand Island and KM6CE on Eastern Island. Many other amateurs operated under callsigns from their quarters. They all provided a vital link to home via messages and phone patches.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Amateur Radio Operations to Begin Again on Midway Atoll |url=https://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-operations-to-begin-again-on-midway-atoll |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=www.arrl.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-12-17 |title=Midway Island Ham Radio QSL Cards – Midway Island |url=https://www.midwayisland.com/midway-blog/midway-island-ham-radio-qsl-cards/ |access-date=2025-03-29 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-01-17 |title=Chronology |url=https://www.midway-island.com/chronology-of-events/ |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=Midway Island |language=en}}</ref>

In 2009, the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service|U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]] (USFWS) permitted amateur radio operations on Midway Atoll for the first time since 2002. This initiative aimed to encourage visitors to experience Midway's wildlife, history, and culture, with amateur radio being a significant aspect of this experience.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Hams to Activate Midway Atoll as K4M in October 2009 |url=https://www.arrl.org/news/hams-to-activate-midway-atoll-as-k4m-in-october-2009 |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=www.arrl.org |language=en}}</ref> The operation, designated as K4M, involved a team of 19 operators who activated the atoll for a 10-day period, operating on multiple frequencies and bands to connect with amateur radio enthusiasts worldwide.<ref name=":1" />

==== Missile Impact Location System ====
From 1958 through 1960, the United States installed the [[Missile Impact Location System]] (MILS) in the Navy-managed Pacific Missile Range, later the Air Force-managed [[Western Range (USSF)|Western Range]], to localize the splashdowns of test missile nose cones. MILS was developed and installed by the same entities that had completed the first phase of the Atlantic and U.S. West Coast SOSUS systems. A MILS installation, consisting of both a target array for precision location and a broad ocean area system for good positions outside the target area, was installed at Midway as part of the system supporting [[Intercontinental Ballistic Missile]] (ICBM) tests. Other Pacific MILS shore terminals were at the [[Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay]] supporting Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) tests with impact areas northeast of Hawaii and the other ICBM test support systems at [[Wake Island]] and [[Eniwetok]].<ref name=ICAA>{{cite web |title=Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS) History 1950 - 2010 |publisher=IUSS/CAESAR Alumni Association |url=http://www.iusscaa.org/history.htm |access-date=11 February 2020 |archive-date=February 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225083609/http://www.iusscaa.org/history.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Subcommittee on Military Construction (March–April) |date=April 29, 1959 |title=Military Construction Appropriations for 1960: Hearings |pages=169–170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e-JLAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA169 |access-date=16 September 2020 |archive-date=October 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001002732/https://books.google.com/books?id=e-JLAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA169 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Subcommittee on Military Construction (May) |date=May 20, 1959 |title=Military Construction Appropriations for 1960: Hearings |pages=818, 824 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HBVEAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA818 |access-date=16 September 2020 |archive-date=October 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001041550/https://books.google.com/books?id=HBVEAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA818 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Eastern Island ====
[[Nomoi Islands|Eastern Island]], part of Midway Atoll, played a significant role during the [[Cold War]] as a site for U.S. naval intelligence operations. From July 1, 1954, to February 1971, it hosted the Naval Security Group Activity (NSGA), Midway Island, which was responsible for operating the AN/GRD-6 High-Frequency Direction Finding (HFDF) system. This system was integral to both the Eastern and Western Pacific HFDF networks, providing critical capabilities in tracking and monitoring high-frequency radio communications.

The AN/GRD-6 HFDF system was designed to automatically provide [[azimuth]] indications within the frequency range of 2 to 32&nbsp;MHz. It featured two antenna arrays: a low-frequency array covering 2 to 8&nbsp;MHz and a high-frequency array covering 8 to 32&nbsp;MHz. Each array consisted of multiple [[Monopole antenna|monopole]] antennas arranged in a circular pattern, with a sense antenna positioned at the center.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=AN/GRD-6 DF Set |url=https://jproc.ca/rrp/grd_6.html |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=jproc.ca}}</ref> Beneath each array, a circular copper wire mesh ground mat was buried to ensure consistent and reliable direction-finding performance, independent of local ground conductivity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AN/GRD-6 HF Direction Finding System (HFDF) |url=https://navy-radio.com/grd6.htm |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=navy-radio.com}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> The system included [[Superheterodyne receiver|superheterodyne]] receivers and cathode ray tube indicators to display the direction of incoming signals.<ref name=":2" />

The strategic location of Eastern Island allowed the NSGA to monitor vast expanses of the [[Pacific Ocean]], contributing to the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy's]] efforts in signals intelligence and maritime surveillance during a period marked by heightened geopolitical tensions. The data collected through the AN/GRD-6 system supported various military operations and enhanced the United States' situational awareness in the region.

[[File:NSGA Midway Sign.jpg|thumb|NSGA sign 1970.]]

[[File:NSGA, Eastern Island 1970.jpg|alt=|thumb|NSGA Eastern Island 1970]]

==== Naval Facility Midway ====
[[File:Watch floor.gif|250px|thumb|right|Lofargram writers on NAVFAC watch floor.]]
During the [[Cold War]], the U.S. established a shore terminal, in which output of the array at sea was processed and displayed utilizing the [[Low-Frequency Analyzer and Recorder (LOFAR)]], of the [[SOSUS|Sound Surveillance System]] (SOSUS), Naval Facility (NAVFAC) Midway Island, to track [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] submarines. The facility became operational in 1968 and was commissioned on January{{nbsp}}13, 1969. It remained secret until its decommissioning on September{{nbsp}}30, 1983, after data from its arrays had been remoted first to Naval Facility Barbers Point, Hawaii, in 1981 and then directly to the Naval Ocean Processing Facility (NOPF) Ford Island, Hawaii.<ref name=ICAA/><ref>{{cite web |last=Commander Undersea Surveillance |title=Naval Facility Midway Island January 1969 - September 1983 |publisher=U.S. Navy |url=https://www.public.navy.mil/subfor/cus/Pages/NAVFAC_Midway_Island.aspx |access-date=19 February 2020 |archive-date=February 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219214952/https://www.public.navy.mil/subfor/cus/Pages/NAVFAC_Midway_Island.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star|U.S. Navy WV-2]]

===Civilian handover===
In 1978, the Navy downgraded Midway from a Naval Air Station to a Naval Air Facility, and many personnel and dependents began leaving the island. With the war in Vietnam over and with the introduction of [[reconnaissance satellite]]s and nuclear submarines, Midway's significance to U.S. national security was diminished. The [[World War II Facilities at Midway|World War&nbsp;II facilities]] at Sand and Eastern Islands were listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] on May{{nbsp}}28, 1987, and were simultaneously added as a [[National Historic Landmark]].<ref name="nhlsum"/>

As part of the [[Base Realignment and Closure]] process, the [[Naval Air Facility Midway|Navy facility]] on Midway has been operationally closed since September{{nbsp}}10, 1993. However, the Navy assumed responsibility for cleaning up environmental contamination.

===2011 tsunami===
The [[2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami]] on March 11 caused many deaths within the bird community on Midway.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/03/albatrosses-tsunami/ |title=Midway's Albatrosses Survive the Tsunami |author=Brandon Keim |magazine=Wired |date=March 15, 2011 |access-date=March 15, 2011 |archive-date=March 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110316102608/http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/03/albatrosses-tsunami/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It was reported that a {{cvt|1.5|m|ft|adj=on}} -tall wave completely submerged the atoll's reef inlets and Spit Island, killing more than 110,000 nesting [[seabird]]s at the [[Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge|National Wildlife Refuge]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Tsunami washes away feathered victims west of Hawaii |url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/18/tsunami.birds.deaths/?hpt=C2 |work=CNN |date=March 19, 2011 |access-date=March 19, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725071238/http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/18/tsunami.birds.deaths/?hpt=C2 |archive-date=July 25, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Scientists on the island, however, do not think it will have long-term negative impacts on the bird populations.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Hiraishi |first1=Tetsuya |title=Field Survey of the Damage Caused by the 2011 Off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami |date=2013-07-10 |work=Natural Disaster Science and Mitigation Engineering: DPRI reports |pages=37–48 |publisher=Springer Japan |doi=10.1007/978-4-431-54418-0_4 |isbn=9784431544173 |last2=Yoneyama |first2=N. |last3=Baba |first3=Y. |last4=Azuma |first4=R.}}</ref>

A [[U.S. Geological Survey]] study found that the Midway Atoll, Laysan, and Pacific islands like them could become inundated and unfit to live on during the 21st century, due to increased storm waves and [[sea level rise|rising sea levels]].<ref>"[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=storm-surges-rising-seas-could-doom-pacific-islands-this-century ''Storm Surges, Rising Seas Could Doom Pacific Islands This Century''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130414225907/http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=storm-surges-rising-seas-could-doom-pacific-islands-this-century |date=April 14, 2013 }}: Atolls and other low-lying islands in the Pacific Ocean may not slip under the waves but they will likely become uninhabitable due to overwashing waves" [[ClimateWire]] and [[Scientific American]] April 12, 2013</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Storlazzi |first1=Curt D. |last2=Berkowitz |first2=Paul |last3=Reynolds |first3=Michelle H. |last4=Logan |first4=Joshua B. |title=Forecasting the Impact of Storm Waves and Sea-Level Rise on Midway Atoll and Laysan Island within the Papa hānaumokuākea Marine National Monument — A Comparison of Passive Versus Dynamic Inundation Models |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2013/1069/of2013-1069.pdf |website=U.S. Geological Survey |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior |access-date=6 April 2018 |date=2013 |archive-date=November 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115041423/https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2013/1069/of2013-1069.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>