Volcano Islands uninhabited. The first recorded sighting by Europeans was in October 1543 by Spanish navigator Bernardo de la Torre on board of carrack "San Juan de Letrán" when trying to return from Sarangani to New Spain. Iwo Jima was charted as Sufre, the old Spanish term for sulphur. The islands were uninhabited until 1889, when the two northern islands were settled by Japanese settlers from the Izu Islands. They were annexed by Japan in 1891. The population was about 1,100 in 1939, distributed among five settlements: Higashi, Minami, Nishi, Kita and Motoyama (meaning "East", "South", "West", "North" and "Mountain of Origin",
Japanese air attacks on the Mariana Islands too small to be effective. As it was not possible to allocate additional aircraft to bolster these missions, the GDC directed that the offensive cease and that the 6th Air Army be held in reserve to be used against any Allied forces which landed in the Japanese home islands. Overall, more than 80 Japanese aircraft were dispatched against Saipan and Tinian between November 1944 and the end of the offensive in February 1945. The Japanese destroyed 11 B-29s, caused major damage to eight and minor damage to another 35. American casualties were 45 dead and over 200 wounded. USAAF fighters