northern Ratak atolls of Bokak (Taongi) and Toke, Bikar was traditionally the hereditary property of the Ratak atoll chain Iroji Lablab. The exploitation of abundant sea turtles, birds, and eggs was regulated by custom, and overseen by the Iroji. 19th century The Russian brig Rurik, with Captain Otto von Kotzebue, visited in summer 1817 during a search for a north passage between western Russia and its North American territories. The French corvette Danaide, Capt J. de Rosamel, visited the atoll in August 1840 during a hydrographical survey of islands in the Pacific. During the late 1800s, Bikar was the subject of a number of commercial transactions related to the increasing German presence in the Marshall Islands. On January 12, 1880, Bikar was sold by Iroojs Jurtaka and Takular of Maloelap, and on June 19, sold by Irooj Lajikit and Tannara of Utirik to Adolph Capelle & Co. On December 18, 1883, the Atoll was sold to Deutsche Handels und Plantagengesellschaft. Spain transferred sovereignty to the Empire of Germany in 1885, and in December 1887 property rights were transferred to the Jaluit Gesellschaft. In 1900, the Manchester, a four-masted steel-hulled cargo ship of 2851 tons with a load of kerosene, went missing at sea between New York City and Yokohama. Wreckage and signs of habitation were discovered on Bikar in 1901, suggesting that the ship had come to grief there and that the survivors had pushed off in lifeboats shortly before the discovery. No sign of the crew or passengers has since been found. 20th century to present In 1914, the Empire of Japan occupied the Marshall Islands, and transferred German government properties to their own, including Bikar. Like the Germans before them, the Japanese colonial administration (the South Seas Mandate) did not attempt to exploit the atoll, and the Northern Radak Marshallese continued to hunt and fish unmolested. Following the end of World War II, the island came under the control of the United States as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. In 1951, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Army Corps of Engineers sponsored an expedition to Bikar and Taongi Atolls, to characterize their primeval environment. While en route from the US to Asia in April 1953, LST 1138, later commissioned as , dropped anchor at Bikar to search for rumored Japanese stragglers. The landing party found no signs of any current occupants. In 1954, the