NWHI French Frigate Shoals. Approximately 1500 km ESE of Midway Atoll and 700 km WNW of Kaua'i lies French Frigate Shoals at longitude 166 degrees 10 minutes W and latitude 23 degrees 45 minutes N. French Frigate Shoals was formed approximately million years ago as the Pacific Plate crossed over a "hotspot" in the earth's mantle.