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Fort Glenn Army Air Base
Cape Air Force Base also known as Fort Glenn Army Air Base, is a site significant for its role in World War II fighting, operating alongside Naval Air Facility Otter Point.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987 as Cape Field at Fort Glenn.
Because of the perceived vulnerability of Alaska immediately following the Pearl Harbor Attack, additional Army Air Corps units were authorized by General Henry H. Arnold for Alaska and plans were made to send modern aircraft to the Territory to replace the obsolete aircraft assigned. However, the Alaskan Air Force had few airfields to accommodate the additional aircraft and units being assigned.
Along with new airfields on the mainland and Southwest Alaska, new air bases were planned for the air defense of the Aleutians to Dutch Harbor. Construction of the new bases on Umnak and Cold Bay began in January 1942 in secret, with construction reportedly disguised as a cannery. Originally, the equipment was supposed to construct McGrath Army Airbase, but the ground had frozen by the time that the equipment arrived. The first United States Army engineers landed at what would become Fort Glenn Army Air Base on 17 January and construction began by the end of the month. A Naval airfield, Naval Air Facility Otter Point, was adjacent to the Army Airbase. The 807th Engineering Battalion (Aviation) was brought in from Yukat to perform the construction along with a detachment of the Navy Seabee 8th Construction Battalion.
Plans called for three hard-surfaced runways (four were eventually built), but time was of the essence in the construction of the base, as the air defense of Dutch Harbor was dependent on them. Instead of a hard surface, engineers chose to use a new material, pierced steel planking (PSP), which could be laid down quickly over a compressed gravel subsurface to provide the airfield with an all-weather capability. 80,000 pieces of matting needed to be barged to the island. Construction crews worked in three shifts, 24 hours a day laying down the runways and constructing a rudimentary support station, water and sewer lines, an electrical grid, communications, fuel and munitions storage sites and all the other necessities to convert a remote island site into an operational airfield capable of supporting heavy bombers. A 5,000-foot (1,500 m) PSP runway was completed on 5 April although a C-53 was the first plane to land on the field, on 31 March. The main runway was officially opened on 23 May. Fort Glenn's first runway was then the U.S. Army's most westerly airfield in the Aleutian Islands."
The first operational unit, the 11th Fighter Squadron, moved into Fort Glenn with P-40 Warhawk fighters on 26 May from Elmendorf Field. Additional construction continued throughout 1942 with four 5,000-foot (1,500 m) × 175-foot (53 m) runways were completed (06/24, 07/35), two of which (03/21, 04/22) were situated only 10 degrees apart. All runways had four layers of asphalt laid down over the PSP. Two additional emergency landing fields were built, one on the north coast of the island (North Shore) 53°30′45″N 167°55′18″W / 53.51250°N 167.92167°W, 9.4 miles north; the other 7.7 miles to the west-southwest of the base near the Tullk Volcano (Pacifier) 53°19′35″N 168°03′23″W / 53.32639°N 168.05639°W.
Morrison-Knudsen Construction Company built hundreds of Quonset hut structures on the base, replacing the temporary tents which exposed the construction crews to the sudden storms which swept the island frequently. Housing and messing facilities for 119 officers and 359 men were constructed as well as recreational and service buildings. Storage facilities consisted of 6,975 square feet for general stores and a 150-cubic-foot freezer. Buildings for aircraft included a kodiak-type hangar, 160-foot (49 m) x 90-foot (27 m), a squadron warehouse, and a terminal for air transport service. Administration offices were housed in five buildings with a total floor space of 3,850 square feet. Radio facilities included a transmitting station, a direction-finder station, and a radar station, all with separate power houses, and with housing and messing provisions for personnel. The hospital, located in one small building, contained eight beds. The maintenance force of the station was installed in seven buildings. Electric power was provided by three diesel-electric generators.
On 3 June 1942 the Imperial Japanese Navy launched two aircraft carrier raids on the United States Army barracks and the US Navy base at Dutch Harbor on nearby Amaknak Island. The attack was a surprise, but the base had been on alert for an attack for many days, although there was no specific warning of the attack before the Japanese planes arrived over Dutch Harbor. The attack signaled the beginning of the Aleutian Islands campaign. In response, the P-40s of the 11th Fighter Squadron from Fort Glenn AAB along with Naval land-based fighters attacked the Japanese aircraft. Eleventh Air Force also dispatched aircraft from Elmendorf Field. In the ensuring battle, the United States Navy lost four PBYs, and Eleventh AF lost one B-17, two B-26s and one LB-30 (B-24A) bombers and two P-40 fighters. The Japanese lost two A6M "Zero" fighters, and possibly a third due to ground anti-aircraft fire. One A6M "Zero", three D3A "Val" dive bombers and one E8N "Dave"reconnaissance seaplane were shot down in aerial combat.
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Fort Glenn Army Air Base
Cape Air Force Base also known as Fort Glenn Army Air Base, is a site significant for its role in World War II fighting, operating alongside Naval Air Facility Otter Point.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987 as Cape Field at Fort Glenn.
Because of the perceived vulnerability of Alaska immediately following the Pearl Harbor Attack, additional Army Air Corps units were authorized by General Henry H. Arnold for Alaska and plans were made to send modern aircraft to the Territory to replace the obsolete aircraft assigned. However, the Alaskan Air Force had few airfields to accommodate the additional aircraft and units being assigned.
Along with new airfields on the mainland and Southwest Alaska, new air bases were planned for the air defense of the Aleutians to Dutch Harbor. Construction of the new bases on Umnak and Cold Bay began in January 1942 in secret, with construction reportedly disguised as a cannery. Originally, the equipment was supposed to construct McGrath Army Airbase, but the ground had frozen by the time that the equipment arrived. The first United States Army engineers landed at what would become Fort Glenn Army Air Base on 17 January and construction began by the end of the month. A Naval airfield, Naval Air Facility Otter Point, was adjacent to the Army Airbase. The 807th Engineering Battalion (Aviation) was brought in from Yukat to perform the construction along with a detachment of the Navy Seabee 8th Construction Battalion.
Plans called for three hard-surfaced runways (four were eventually built), but time was of the essence in the construction of the base, as the air defense of Dutch Harbor was dependent on them. Instead of a hard surface, engineers chose to use a new material, pierced steel planking (PSP), which could be laid down quickly over a compressed gravel subsurface to provide the airfield with an all-weather capability. 80,000 pieces of matting needed to be barged to the island. Construction crews worked in three shifts, 24 hours a day laying down the runways and constructing a rudimentary support station, water and sewer lines, an electrical grid, communications, fuel and munitions storage sites and all the other necessities to convert a remote island site into an operational airfield capable of supporting heavy bombers. A 5,000-foot (1,500 m) PSP runway was completed on 5 April although a C-53 was the first plane to land on the field, on 31 March. The main runway was officially opened on 23 May. Fort Glenn's first runway was then the U.S. Army's most westerly airfield in the Aleutian Islands."
The first operational unit, the 11th Fighter Squadron, moved into Fort Glenn with P-40 Warhawk fighters on 26 May from Elmendorf Field. Additional construction continued throughout 1942 with four 5,000-foot (1,500 m) × 175-foot (53 m) runways were completed (06/24, 07/35), two of which (03/21, 04/22) were situated only 10 degrees apart. All runways had four layers of asphalt laid down over the PSP. Two additional emergency landing fields were built, one on the north coast of the island (North Shore) 53°30′45″N 167°55′18″W / 53.51250°N 167.92167°W, 9.4 miles north; the other 7.7 miles to the west-southwest of the base near the Tullk Volcano (Pacifier) 53°19′35″N 168°03′23″W / 53.32639°N 168.05639°W.
Morrison-Knudsen Construction Company built hundreds of Quonset hut structures on the base, replacing the temporary tents which exposed the construction crews to the sudden storms which swept the island frequently. Housing and messing facilities for 119 officers and 359 men were constructed as well as recreational and service buildings. Storage facilities consisted of 6,975 square feet for general stores and a 150-cubic-foot freezer. Buildings for aircraft included a kodiak-type hangar, 160-foot (49 m) x 90-foot (27 m), a squadron warehouse, and a terminal for air transport service. Administration offices were housed in five buildings with a total floor space of 3,850 square feet. Radio facilities included a transmitting station, a direction-finder station, and a radar station, all with separate power houses, and with housing and messing provisions for personnel. The hospital, located in one small building, contained eight beds. The maintenance force of the station was installed in seven buildings. Electric power was provided by three diesel-electric generators.
On 3 June 1942 the Imperial Japanese Navy launched two aircraft carrier raids on the United States Army barracks and the US Navy base at Dutch Harbor on nearby Amaknak Island. The attack was a surprise, but the base had been on alert for an attack for many days, although there was no specific warning of the attack before the Japanese planes arrived over Dutch Harbor. The attack signaled the beginning of the Aleutian Islands campaign. In response, the P-40s of the 11th Fighter Squadron from Fort Glenn AAB along with Naval land-based fighters attacked the Japanese aircraft. Eleventh Air Force also dispatched aircraft from Elmendorf Field. In the ensuring battle, the United States Navy lost four PBYs, and Eleventh AF lost one B-17, two B-26s and one LB-30 (B-24A) bombers and two P-40 fighters. The Japanese lost two A6M "Zero" fighters, and possibly a third due to ground anti-aircraft fire. One A6M "Zero", three D3A "Val" dive bombers and one E8N "Dave"reconnaissance seaplane were shot down in aerial combat.