Aleutian Airfields of WW2

Been looking at the Aleutians after reading an article about the Jap occupation of Attu and the ensueing campaign to dislodge them..... it struck me how little seems to have been written about the airfields that were built(- and operated )throughout the Aleutians in the most difficult conditions or terrain .

A bit out of our area I know but still fascinating ...

Had a look on GE to see what could be seen - unfortunately Hi-res coverage of the islands is far from complete ...but here are some I found (mostly abandoned)...

First is Shemya ..N52.43.16/E174.05.53... Two airfields - one in use(Now known as Eareckson/PASY )- one abandoned .


Both below are Amchitka ..three airfields - or maybe just two and one of them has widely seperated runways ...?
Top one at N51.26.33 /E 179.08.09



This one at N51.22.43/E179.16.33..note smaller NW/SE RW to the east, and what looks like a short strip beyond a ridge just to the north of the main runway- 3 runways in all.This is shown on modern charts as abandoned.



Below-This is just one of several airfields that were constructed on Attu by both US and Japanese forces ..this one is the Navy field at Casco Beach/Navy Town(originally PSP runways)- unfortunately the two main Japanese strips at Holtz bay are not in the Hi-res coverage.The field is now known as Casco Cove CGS(Coast Guard Station) /
N52.49.12/E173.17.54.ICAO code PAAT.


Also on Attu is the remains of Alexai Field - a Naval airfield with two runways......



This one is Adak , The US Navy "Albert E. Mitchell Field"- closed 1950. N51.56.30/E176.36.04



The present day field on ADAK is at N51.52.48/W176.38.43(ICAO code PADK)

Dave:

Here is a list of WWII era US Naval airfields in the Aleutians:

NAS Adak
NAAF Amchitka
NAAF Atka
NAS Attu
NAAF Cold Bay
NAS Dutch Harbor
NAAF Kiska
NAF Otter Point
NAAF Sand Point
NAAF Shemya
NAAF Tanaga

Key: NAF - Naval Air Facility, NAAF - Naval Auxilary Air Facility, NAS- Naval Air Station

Here are some more - including some of those in the list above from jdvoss...



Next Unmak where there is one current airfield- Nikolski- ICAO code PAKO (top),plus the remains of Fort Glenn AAF (Otter Point)(N53.22.39/W167.53.45).The Naval Seaplane Base at NAAF Otter Point was adjacent to Ft Glenn AAF.



Also on Unmak is this pair of abandoned runways(a satellite of Glenn)(N53.29.54/W167.55.38)


Another satellite field for Glenn was located some miles to the SW...possibly the runway seen below(N53 16.15/W 168.09.17.).(NB Later images make this look more like an abandoned road)



On Tanaga(below) there are the remains of the runway - at the centre of the picture - running NE/SW(N51.40.59/W178/03.00).According to a recent Volcanic survey , the control tower still remains almost complete ......



Below is the Cold Bay Airport(PACD)- originally built as Fort Randall Army Airfield in 1941, later renamed Thornbrough Air Force Base in 1948 - became Cold Bay Airport in 1953.

Just to the southeast, another strip - possibly abandoned -is visible in the picture.


Here is a later - and better - view of the abandoned strip.

This one is Atka (N52.13.16/W174.12.36).In use now ,ICAO code PAAK.

Dutch Harbor, Unalaska.
Prior to 1942 there a seaplane base and ramp at Dutch harbor and the intention was to build a two runway field .Only one runway was complete before the Japanese attack in June 1942 - the red line(top picture) shows the proposed but unbuilt second runway.Nowadays known as Unalaska Dutch Harbor (PADU)

It was also intended to build another field in the Makushin Valley but this was never completed ...the red lines in the lower picture show the approximate location.

Some 50 miles to the west ,the present day Chernofski Harbor Seaplane Base(KCN.. 53-23-56.8120N / 167-33-06.8400W) is in approximately the location of the auxiliary Naval air station (subsidiary to NAF Otter Point on Unmak).

Sand Point NAAF

There was a Naval air station at Sand Point - however whether or not it was on the site of the present day airport (55-18-49.3000N / 160-31-17.1000W)is uncertain.

Kiska....

The Japanese occupying forces started to build an airfield on Kiska at 51° 58′ 18″ N, 177° 31′ 17″ E but although used it was unfinished when the US Forces reoccupied the island .

The US Forces completed the field which was abandoned at the end of the war.



A later image shows building remains clearly.....


A short distance to the south is what looks like the remains of a small base ...along with many bomb craters.

This is great information, guys! I'm in the 'scratch the surface' stages of working up a USN/USAAF/RCAF Aleutians air campaign for my favourite flight sim (Combat Flight Simulator 2). There's good information on the campaigns and the living conditions, besides the fact that I have 'hands-on' experience in that category, having grown up in Northern Canada. Same old story though, as already mentioned here.....not much info on airfield layouts from '42-'43. What I see here is a great help, however a lot of airfield design would be 'by guess or by golly' simply because of the dearth of graphic info.

Are there any other sources available for more detailed info that anyone is aware of? Any help in pursuing this would be a great help.

Cheers!

Amchitika had FIDO on Rwy 25, which was 10,000 x 300 feet. (Williams)

Guess it's your lower picture - pity GE is so bad. Bing is similar.

More from Williams. First Amchitka strip (Jan / Feb 1943) was called 'Fox' and was 4,000 foot for P-40s

Adjacent came 'Baker' at 10,000 feet. By 5 May1943 it was 5,000 feet and B-24s could operate. FIDO was completed by June 1944.

Attu and Shemya were planned next in May 1943. The latter was 3,000 feet by 21 June for fighters, and extended to 10,000 feet by 13 August for B-24s.

Amchitka was used for various purposes post WWII; air defence, nuke testing, radar testing - decommissioned September 1993. Many remnants of FIDO were extant then.

Graham

Williams lists as sources: Graham

10-4, thanks Carnaby. In my travels across the web last night, I stumbled into this website. If you type into 'search' a request for Aleutians campaigns, for example, you'll come up with some pretty good stuff. I in fact downloaded a couple of .pdf's that had good drawings and some photos I hadn't seen before. If somebody wants the .pdf's I can send them along, just ask and they're yours.

www.scribd.com/doc/35510746/WWII-Aleutian-Islands-Campaign

Cheers!