Visit East Island, French Frigate Shoals, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

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East Island is the second largest island of the French Frigate Shoals. La Perouse Pinnacle is a volcanic pinnacle approximately 3 miles WSW of East Island. Some history of East Island: In 1932, the minesweeper USS Quail visited the shoals, anchoring near East Island. A seaplane tendered from the ship took some of the first aerial photographs of the islands. In 1936, the seaplane tender USS Wright (AV-1) came to the shoals, and established a base on East island to support a month of seaplane operations. The United States Coast Guard operated a LORAN navigation station on East Island until 1952, and Tern Island until 1979. At any one time, 15 to 20 military personnel were billeted to French Frigate Shoals. As with all Coast Guard isolated duty stations, the Service attempted to fill open billets with volunteers. If there were no volunteers for essential billets, the Coast Guard would at times fill open slots as a disciplinary measure. The Coast Guard designated the French Frigate Shoals billet as "isolated duty," thereby entitling Coast Guard members serving at the station to additional monthly "isolated duty pay." Because of the billet's remoteness, a duty term was limited to one year. In October 2018, Hurricane Walaka eroded away most of East Island. About 11 acres of East Island were eliminated, which was thought to be caused by the large storm surge that Walaka caused in the area. The hurricane damaged many of the shoal's islands, and underwater many coral reefs were stripped of sea life.

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