Amchitka Air Force Base
Amchitka Air Force Base Amchitka Army Airfield (A-3) Aleutian Islands Campaign |
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Amchitka Air Force Base is an abandoned Air Force Base located on Amchitka, in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in southwest Alaska.
History
Aleutians campaign
The
The establishment of
Despite facing difficult weather conditions and continual bombing attacks from the Japanese, Army engineers managed to build a runway. As more troops were landed, heavy construction equipment was brought ashore. Frozen lakes were drained and the gravel scraped from their beds was used to lay down the bed for the runway. Navy Seabees also arrived and began to construct the harbor and dock facilities. Finally on 16 February, the construction of the runway at Amchitka (Code Name A-3) had progressed to the point where light fighters could be brought in.
The adverse weather conditions included much fog and this caused the loss of many aircraft. To counter this
With its establishment, the Alaska Command was now 80 km (50 mi) away from their target, Kiska.[4] The military eventually built numerous buildings, roads, and a total of three airstrips on the island,[5] some of which would later be renovated and used by the Atomic Energy Commission in the 1960s.[6] At its peak, the occupancy of Amchitka Army Airfield reached 15,000 troops.[5]
Known USAAF units assigned to Amchitka AAF were:
- HQ IX Bomber Command, 24 June – 4 September 1943
- HQ 343d Fighter Group, 25 July 1943 – 22 January 1944
- 11th Fighter Squadron, 27 March – 17 May 1943; 23 March 1944 – July 1945 (P-40 Warhawk)
- 18th Fighter Squadron, 15 February 1943 – 28 March 1944 (P-40 Warhawk, P-38 Lightning)
- 54th Fighter Squadron, 12 March – 18 October 1943 (P-38 Lightning)
- 344th Fighter Squadron, May–July 1943 (P-40 Warhawk, P-38 Lightning)
- 632d Bombardment Squadron(Dive), 19 July – 15 August 1943 (A-24 Banshee)
- 633d Bombardment Squadron(Dive), 19 July – 15 August 1943 (A-24 Banshee)
- 635th Bombardment Squadron (Dive), 19 July – 15 August 1943 (A-24 Banshee)
- 21st Bombardment Squadron, 18 February – July 1943, (LB-30, B-24 Liberator)
- 36th Bombardment Squadron, 4 May – 13 September 1943 (B-24 Liberator)
- 73d Bombardment Squadron, March–April 1943; June – 30 August 1943 (B-25 Mitchell, B-26 Marauder)
- 77th Bombardment Squadron, 11 September 1943 – 11 February 1944 (B-25 Mitchell, B-26 Marauder)
- 404th Bombardment Squadron, 4 June 1943 – 26 February 1944 (B-24 Liberator)
With the establishment of an American base on Amchitka, the Japanese forces on
From its bases on Amchitka and Adak,
Air support for the Battle of Attu, which took place from 11 to 30 May 1943, was carried out from Amchitka. The battle, which lasted for more than two weeks, ended when most of the Japanese defenders were killed in brutal hand-to-hand combat after a final banzai charge broke through American lines.[1]
Air attacks on the Japanese on Kiska continued from Adak and Amchitka, with the culmination being the unopposed United States landing on Kiska on 15 August. Due to the heavy casualties suffered at Attu Island, planners were expecting another costly operation. However, incessant and continual air attacks since April had reduced the Japanese forces defenses considerably and the Japanese tactical planners had realized the isolated island was no longer defensible and evacuated the island.[1]
The
Amchitka Air Force Base
On 1 July 1947 the Aleutian Section of
The site later hosted an Air Force White Alice telecommunication system in 1959 to 1961, and a temporary relay station in the 1960s and 1970s.[5]
Current status
Amchitka Air Force Base today is largely intact, although abandoned in most part for the past sixty years. Runways, taxiways, aircraft parking dispersal revetments remain along with a large support base with deteriorating buildings. Due to its remote location, it rests undisturbed with ice and snow covering the base most of the year, exposed to the elements in the short summers. It is almost constantly under a cloud cover and fog generally obscures the area.
The main World War II runway (07/23) was extended to 8,000 feet by SAC after the war to accommodate B-29s and MATS intercontinental transports 51°22′37″N 179°15′32″E / 51.37694°N 179.25889°E. A 6,000 ft secondary, crosswind runway was later constructed 51°22′45″N 179°18′32″E / 51.37917°N 179.30889°E. It appears that SAC or MATS received funding for a third 7,000-foot runway to the north side of the main airfield after the war 51°23′17″N 179°15′58″E / 51.38806°N 179.26611°E.
To the south of the main World War II runway are numerous taxiways and a large number of aircraft revetments, likely dating from the Aleutian Campaign 51°22′16″N 179°15′31″E / 51.37111°N 179.25861°E. The aircraft parking is dispersed over a wide area almost to the south shore of the island connected by a taxiway and road network. As the airfield was attacked on several occasions by Japanese aircraft, the wide dispersal was needed for defense. Under the snow cover likely are a large number of anti-aircraft artillery sites, the remains of ammo dumps and other facilities. To the east of the secondary crosswind runway are a series of personnel billeting or aircraft technical sites 51°23′05″N 179°21′02″E / 51.38472°N 179.35056°E 51°23′00″N 179°21′58″E / 51.38333°N 179.36611°E and what appears to be a port facility 51°22′48″N 179°23′21″E / 51.38000°N 179.38917°E.
To the north of the main World War II runway are a large number of roads and what appear to be Quonset huts. Also the remains of temporary World War II aircraft maintenance hangars are visible in the snow. Many personnel billeting sites consisting again of Quonset hut are dispersed to the north and east of the main runway, along the south side of an inlet 51°23′51″N 179°19′11″E / 51.39750°N 179.31972°E
To the north of the 3d runway is likely the location of the postwar SAC/MATS Amchitka Air Force Base. In the mid-1960s, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) used Amchitka for a series of underground nuclear tests. The large number of access roads and Quonset huts are intermixed with new facilities built in the 1960s by the AEC which apparently used the old AFB as its main base station. Along with the numerous huts are a significant number of permanent buildings, large aircraft hangars 51°23′38″N 179°16′23″E / 51.39389°N 179.27306°E and a substantial port facility 51°24′29″N 179°17′29″E / 51.40806°N 179.29139°E. The northern extend of the base likely goes north to 51°23′38″N 179°14′24″E / 51.39389°N 179.24000°E, south of which is an intermixing of former Air Force buildings and AEC structures. It was an expansive and large base consisting of several hundred buildings, all of which remains largely intact and abandoned. No evidence of an Air Traffic Control Tower has been located. The postwar White Alice Site appears to be at 51°24′56″N 179°17′29″E / 51.41556°N 179.29139°E
A new 5,000 ft airfield (01/19) was constructed at 51°26′38″N 179°08′05″E / 51.44389°N 179.13472°E and the #3 Air Force runway was refurbished in the 1960s. The AEC built a series of roads, base camp facilities and support buildings for the nuclear workers over the south part of the island in a similar manner to the
The AEC withdrew from the island in 1973 and their facilities were abandoned. The remnants of the AEC facilities are visible over a wide area, generally north of the former AFB. The Department of Energy continues to monitor the site as part of their remediation program. This is expected to continue until 2025, after which the site is intended to become a restricted access wildlife preserve.[12]
In popular culture
- In the 1955 motion picture B-47Bombers being deployed from the United States to Japan.
See also
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- ^ ISBN 0-933126-47-6
- LCCN 62-60067. CMH 4–2. Archived from the originalon 2007-12-25. Retrieved 2006-10-09.
- ^ Geoffrey Williams, Flying Through Fire. FIDO - The Fogbuster of World War Two, pp. 216–224
- ^ a b MacGarrigle, George L. (October 2003). The Campaigns of World War II: Aleutian Islands. United States Army Center of Military History. CMH Pub 72–6, paper, GPO S/N 008-029-00232-9. Archived from the original on 2014-03-17. Retrieved 2006-10-07.
- ^ a b c "Amchitka, Alaska, Site Fact Sheet" (PDF). Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 30, 2007. Retrieved 2006-10-07.
- )
- ^ "Pre-1952 Historical Timeline". National Security Agency. Archived from the original on 2006-10-03. Retrieved 2006-10-07.
- ^ AFHRA Document 00001487
- ^ AFHRA document 00076530
- )
- ^ AFHRA Document 00496942
- ^ "Amchitka Island". Department of Energy. Archived from the original on 2006-09-25. Retrieved 2006-10-11.
- Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
- Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. OCLC 72556.
Bibliography
- Geoffrey Williams: Flying Through Fire. FIDO - The Fogbuster of World War Two (Grange Books, London, UK, 1996, ISBN 1-85627-900-6).