The scheduling of the first Eniwetok nuclear test in the near future necessitated the immediate
removal of the people. On 3 December the Governor of the Marshalls flew to Eniwetok and proposed

to the chiefs that they move to Ujelang Atoll, which was then being prepared as a relocation site for
the Bikini people.

The two Eniwetok chiefs, Johannes and Abraham, were flown to Ujelang on 4

December and later returned to Eniwetok after selecting sites for dwellings and community
buildings. Temporary living quarters were ready for the people of Eniwetok when they went ashore
from an LST on 21 December 1947. Permanentfacilities on Ujelang were constructed in the spring
of 1948 by 35 enlisted men and 15 Marshallese.
On 28 May 1948, the Governor of the Marshalls reported to the High Commissioner of the Trust
Territory of the Pacific Islands that resettlement of the Eniwetok people was completed.

The three

nuclear tests of the Sandstone series were completed by 14 May 1948 and no additional tests were
eonducted at Eniwetok until 1951.
The people of Enewetak have continued their temporary residence on Ujelang since December 1947.

Living conditions on Ujelang during this period, and other anthropological considerations, have been
reported by Tobin, Mason, and others. The viewpoint of the people as expressed by their leaders

before House and Senate subcommittees is available in the Congressional Record (incorporated in
testimony before the House Appropriations Military Construction Subcommittee on 23 June 1975).

1.3 ISLANDS IN THE ATOLL
Eniwetok Atoll is located at approximately 11°21'N and 162°21'E in the northwestern portion of the
Marshall Islands, 2,740 miles west-southwest of Honolulu and 1,200 miles east of Guam (see Figure

1-1), The atoll has about 388 square miles of lagoon and about 2.75 square miles of dry land.
land area consists of 46 islands irregularly spread around the lagoon perimeter. Rainfall in
vicinity of Eniwetok averages about 60 inches annually, somewhat less than at locations nearer
equator. The soils are basically coral rock and coralline sands with minimal organie content

The
the
the
and

limited water holding capacity. The Pacific trade winds, generally from ENE to E, average 18 mph

during the period December to April, and 12 mph from May through November. The area is subject
to infrequent destructive typhoons, and occasional westerly storms are experienced.

The marginal

rainfall, marginal water-holding capacity of the soil, and the nearly constant windborne salt spray,

especially on the windward side of the islands, are not conducive to growth of lush tropical

environments usually associated with the islands of the Pacific.

The geologic evolution of a coral atoll is a dynamie process with changes in island shape and size
evident even in a short period of time. The direction, duration, and intensity of each passing storm

have an influence on the size and location of sand bars, on erosion of exposed points of land, and on
deposition along protected stretches of beach. Maps of Eniwetok made about 1960 show a named
sandbar on the western reef. The sandbar that was on the western reef is no longer there, but one

new islet has formed in the past few years.

Recent documents pertaining to the atoll variously

indicate 39, 40, 42, or 43 islets or islands. This report will discuss 46 islands and islets, and 2 named

eoral heads as shown in Figure 1-2.

Names by which the islands of Eniwetok Atoll--and the atoll itself--are known seem also to be
undergoing dynamic change. As presented by Hines, the coral reefs were first given a documented
European name in 1794 by Captain Thomas Butler who was engaged in the China trade. Butler called
the reefs Browne's Range, a Mr. Browne being the factor of his firm at Canton. For many years
Browne's name clung persistently to Eniwetok even after the final "e" was lost. In World War II, the
Japanese frequently referred to Fniwetok as Brown and, on recent U.S. hydrographic charts,
Eniwetok is identified as "Eniwetok or Brown Atoll."

Table 1-1 presents the island names as they

appeared on charts of 1946 and 1968, as listed by Bryan and as determined by Tobin in 1973. Table

1-2 lists a few additional names that have appeared in various documents since 1946. The exact
source of the flower and shrub nameslisted by Bryan has not been located; however, some of these
names appear in military histories of the capture of Eniwetok in World War II, so the flower names
may have been assigned during invasion planning.

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