Tern Island

Tern Island is a tiny coral island located in the French Frigate Shoals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, at 23°N 166°W, approximately 490 miles west north west of Oahu. It has a land area of 105,276 m² (26.014 acres).

Tern Island in The War That Came Early
In 1943 the US Navy began work on a runway on Tern Island, a small island about half way between Hawaii and Midway. After the runway was finished, it was used as a staging area to launch approximately a brigade of Marine paratroopers in hundreds of C-47s to retake Midway.