Historically , the competition Competition has been open Openness to , and remains open to , the winners of sponsored regional spelling bees in the U.S. ( including territories such as Guam , American Samoa , Puerto Rico , the Navajo Nation , and the U.S. Virgin Islands , along with overseas military bases in Germany and South Korea ) .

Operation Downfall was the proposed Creating Allied plan Arranging for the invasion Attack of the Japanese Home Islands near the end of World War II .

The patrolling Patrolling British warships first sighted Know `` Junon '' in the Virgin Islands on 8 February .

On 6 March 1866 , during the Chincha Islands War , the Spanish steam frigate `` Blanca '' captured Conquering the Chilean sidewheel steamer Paquete de Maule in the Gulf of Arauco .

A hurricane watch was briefly issued Expressing_publicly for the Hawaiian Islands even though the watch was dropped Motion_directional when Ignacio weakened Cause_change_of_strength .

It was the twelfth tropical cyclone and eighth tropical storm of the 2000 Atlantic hurricane season , forming on September 15 east of the Windward Islands .

The first tropical cyclone Catastrophe and hurricane Catastrophe of the annual hurricane season , the storm Catastrophe developed Coming_to_be from a tropical wave first identified Check on August 3 , 1928 , north of the Virgin Islands .

It was also considered the first official hurricane Catastrophe in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands .

While paralleling the Hawaiian Islands on August 16 , Hiki strengthened Cause_change_of_strength into a hurricane Catastrophe .

The fourth tropical storm Catastrophe , second hurricane Catastrophe , and first major hurricane Catastrophe of the season , it formed Coming_to_be from an area of disturbed weather east of the Leeward Islands on July 13 , 1909 .

After passing Motion_directional through the Leeward Islands on January 2 , 1955 , Alice reached Achieve peak winds of 90 mph ( 150 km/h ) before encountering Hostile_encounter cold air and turning Motion to the southeast .

The thirteenth observed Know tropical cyclone Catastrophe , eleventh tropical storm Catastrophe , and fourth hurricane Catastrophe of the 1942 Atlantic hurricane season , this storm Catastrophe was detected in the vicinity of Turks and Caicos Islands on November 5 .

The Action of 3 July 1810 was a minor naval engagement Hostile_encounter of the Napoleonic Wars Hostile_encounter , in which a French frigate squadron under Guy-Victor Duperré attacked Attack and defeated Conquering a convoy of Honourable East India Company East Indiamen near the Comoros Islands .

On 25 September , Allemand achieved Achieve a major success when his squadron , while waiting Motion for a convoy from the Leeward Islands , encountered Hostile_encounter a seven-ship convoy Patrolling from the island of Saint Helena .

All except one of convoy Patrolling escaped Escaping , and by deliberately drawing Causation the French away from his own convoy 's direction , he had saved Rescuing the Leewards Islands convoy Patrolling from attack Attack as well .

Flora continued to quickly strengthen Cause_change_of_strength to reach Arriving Category 3 hurricane status before moving Motion through the Windward Islands and passing Motion_directional over Tobago , and it reached Arriving maximum sustained winds of in the Caribbean .

The system was first noted Know within the South Pacific convergence zone as a small tropical depression on November 13 , to the northeast of the Solomon Islands .

While it was active Tia directly affected Influence the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu , while it indirectly affected Influence Kiribati .

Damage Damaging was minimal in Vanuatu , and was mainly confined Hindering to crops and fruit trees on the Banks and Torres Islands .

Severe Tropical Cyclone Catastrophe Val was considered Deciding to be the worst tropical cyclone Catastrophe to affect Influence the Samoan Islands since the 1889 Apia cyclone Catastrophe .

Originating Coming_to_be from a disturbance within a monsoon trough in early September , Sarah was first classified Check as a tropical depression near the Mariana Islands on September 5 .

Four deaths also took place Process_start on the Gotō Islands .

During the first years of the Pacific War Military_operation these attacks Attack were limited Limiting to the Doolittle Raid Attack in April 1942 and small-scale raids Attack on military positions Placing in the Kuril Islands from mid-1943 .

The strategic bombing Attack campaign Military_operation was greatly expanded Expansion from November 1944 when bases in the Mariana Islands became Becoming available as a result Causation of the Mariana Islands Campaign Military_operation .

The strategic bombing Attack campaign Military_operation was greatly expanded Expansion from November 1944 when bases in the Mariana Islands became Becoming available as a result Causation of the Mariana Islands Campaign Military_operation .

Aircraft flying from Allied aircraft carriers and the Ryukyu Islands also frequently struck Attack targets in Japan during 1945 in preparation for the planned Arranging invasion Attack of Japan scheduled Arranging for October 1945 .

Hurricane Catastrophe Anna impacted Influence Central America and the Windward Islands in July 1961 .

The first tropical cyclone Catastrophe and first hurricane Catastrophe of the hurricane Catastrophe season , Anna developed Coming_to_be on July 20 from an easterly wave located in the Intertropical Convergence Zone ( ITCZ ) over the Windward Islands .

As a developing Coming_to_be tropical cyclone Catastrophe over the Leeward Islands , Anna produced Creating strong winds over Grenada , though damage Damaging was limited Limiting to some crops , trees , and telephone poles .

In contrast with predictions , Joyce continued to weaken Cause_change_of_position_on_a_scale and became Becoming a tropical depression on October 1 while crossing Motion_directional through the southern Windward Islands .

The Drive Self_motion on Munda Point was an offensive Attack by mainly United States Army forces Hostile_encounter against Imperial Japanese forces Hostile_encounter on New Georgia in the Solomon Islands from 2–17 July 1943 .

Pebble Island is one of the smaller Falkland Islands , lying north of West Falkland .

It also led to Causation the final breakup Destroying of the oil tanker MV `` Braer '' , from which the storm Catastrophe derived Giving its name ; it had been stranded Motion in rocks off the Shetland Islands by a previous storm Catastrophe nearly a week beforehand GetReady .

As a result of scattered observations at open sea , however , no ship encountered Hostile_encounter the storm until September 15 , by which time the cyclone had reached Arriving major hurricane intensity north of the Virgin Islands .

Southwest Cay ( ) ( ; ; ) is an islet on the northwestern edge of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea .

With an area of , it is the sixth largest of the naturally occurring Coming_to_be Spratly Islands , and the second largest of the Vietnamese-occupied islands .

Damage estimates vary due to inadequate reporting Reporting of private insurance claims Statement as well as lack of hard data on uninsured damage Damaging ; Frederic is believed Know to have inflicted Causation $ 5 million ( 1979 USD ) in both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands , with an additional $ 1.7 billion in damage Damaging on the mainland United States .

On October 20 , Tropical Depression Twenty-five formed Coming_to_be from a tropical wave near the Windward Islands .

The plan called Request for Imperial Japanese Navy troops to capture Conquering Tulagi and nearby islands in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate .

Without the means to effectively resist Defending the Japanese offensive in the Solomons , the British Resident Commissioner of the Solomon Islands protectorate and the few Australian troops assigned Choosing to defend Defending Tulagi evacuated the island just before the Japanese forces arrived on 3 May .

`` Greyhound '' had been sent Sending to the Java Sea and the Molucca Islands to reconnoitre Scrutiny the Dutch ports in preparation for a raid Attack on Java by a larger force under Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew later in the year .

Typhoon Chaba was the strongest tropical cyclone Catastrophe in the western Pacific during 2004 and caused Causation a swath of damage Damaging from the Mariana Islands to Japan from August through September of that year .

The typhoon caused Causation significant damage Damaging to areas of the Northern Mariana Islands , which were buffeted by strong typhoon-force winds .

Damage in the Northern Mariana Islands amounted Cause_change_of_position_on_a_scale to US $ 18 million , and 13 people were injured Bodily_harm , with one fatality .

Following the storm , a state of emergency was declared Expressing_publicly in Guam and areas of the Northern Mariana Islands were declared Expressing_publicly federal disaster areas .

Like in the Northern Mariana Islands , power outages and transportation delays were of numerous extent in Japan .

Located Placing near the Lesser Antilles , the outer bands of Faith produced Manufacturing gale force winds in the region , especially Puerto Rico , the Virgin Islands , and Antigua .

Faith finally weakened Cause_change_of_strength while north of Scotland and became Becoming extratropical near the Faroe Islands on September 6 .

A fire quickly spread Dispersal among the ships being prepared GetReady for Operation Forager , the invasion Attack of the Japanese-held Mariana Islands .

Choi-wan attained Getting its peak intensity on September 15 , as it moved Motion through the Northern Mariana Islands with the Japan Meteorological Agency reporting Reporting peak windspeeds of 195 km/h ( 120 mph ) .