What's This? The Blackhawks' base.
The facts: As long as there's been a Blackhawk, there's been a Blackhawk Island (so Military Comics #1, August 1941), though the Blackhawk haven't always used it as a base of operations. When the Blackhawks were fighting WWII in the European theater, the Island was in the North Atlantic (which is what Who's Who says). The Blackhawk novel puts it where it would have been cold and miserable, northwest of Scotland (don't believe it). According to the DC Heroes RPG, it's west of Spain between 1940 and 1943, which is more believable. After the U.S. got into the war in the Pacific, the Blackhawks moved house to that side of the world, but relatively late, references aggregating around 1944.
How you could have heard of it: Blackhawk Island is appearing and being referenced today, even in Dark Metal nonsense where it is "a place where cosmic energy conducted through the earth's metal core cancel's itself out, creating a kind of static that disrupts space-time". It has appeared in the Jusice League/Unlimited cartoon, the Arrow and Flash TV shows (sort of, I mean, it's within Central City limits), and the New Frontier animated film. It is not to be confused with Blackhawk Island, Wisconsin.
Example story: Blackhawk #41 (June 1951) "The Man Who Owned Blackhawk Island" by Reed Crandall
After World War II, the Blackhawks continued to have less focused adventures, especially before the Communist threat was well and truly under way. And in some ways, that led to more stories ABOUT Blackhawk Island. Looking at various story synopses, it seems like the Island's location was a leaky secret or just easy too stumble upon. In this era, it was attacked, raided and invaded many times. By all sorts. And while I imagine you're looking at that cover wishing I was gonna cover a flying tank story, I'm afraid we're skipping over that one to instead expose how a rich yachting enthusiast just finds Blackhawk Island completely by happenstance.
Note the slick illustrative style of the era, and also how the lettering is mechanically produced. What Mr. Jurgen doesn't know is that his yacht captain and Carolyn there are in cahoots and planning to hold Jurgen for ransom. But if Blackhawk gets wind of it, they're cooked for sure! What THEY don't know is that the ship is sailing into the Island's defense system - an underwater mine field! Blackhawk is forced to blow a mine himself to save them, then hydro-lands (not sure how) and boards the ship to give everyone a good talking to.
Routed and unable to carry out their scheme, the villains go home and figure out that Blackhawk Island is still nominally part of a native ruler's territory. Might he be persuaded to sell his rights to it? Jurgen takes the bait and runs off to see if he can't buy it and force the Blackhawks to move. Bit of boxing action in the Blackhawk gym... moving right along... and Jurgen lands on the Island's strip with papers in hand!
Ignorance of the law is no excuse, Chuck. You just moved onto an island that wasn't yours, just like the narrator is using the term Dark Knights without checking with the Bob Kane office. Tsk, tsk. And of course now the baddies are in a perfect position to ransom their boss, secluded island and all that. AND Carolyn plans to use the Island as a base from which to raid shipping lanes!
The Blackhawks build some cabins on a deserted atoll (did they check who it belongs to this time?), and it's not long until they pick up distress calls from the ships Carolyn's crew are going after. Can we get a Hawkaaaa?
Note the shiny new jets, different from the classic WWII design seen in the Who's Who entry. They get there before the pirates leave, but they escape after some battle action. But having identified the culprits, it's easy to figure out they're based on Blackhawk Island, and the Blackhawks know it like the back of their hands.
Nobody thought to check for secret laboratories and underground tunnels, did they? Well, the Blackhawks win the day with kicks to the head, Jurgen gives them the Island rights in gratitude, and the boys sing their famous song.
There is in fact, no place like home. But where IS home exactly? Well, look at the scene where Chuck tells Blackhawk the Cambodia's position. We know the ship is using the shipping lanes close to Blackhawk Island and that it is currently at Latitude 47, Longitude 166. Now depending on whether these are positive or negative, it gives us different locations on a map, but it almost has to be -47, 166, which puts somewhere south of New Zealand, affording the best access to Southeast Asia where the flying tank story seems to take place (and doesn't contradict the and the third story in the issue which features a Polynesian tribe). All other possibilities are near nothing on the globe.
Who's Next? An Olympic-level hero.
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