Cape Field at Fort Glenn

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Cape Field at Fort Glenn
(Umnak Island)
(U.S. National Historic Landmark District)
Cape Field at Fort Glenn (Alaska)
Cape Field at Fort Glenn
Location: Fort Glenn, Umnak Island, Alaska
Coordinates: 53°24′″N 167°53′″W / <span class="geo-dec geo" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for Expression error: Unexpected / operator Expression error: Unexpected / operator">Expression error: Unexpected / operator, Expression error: Unexpected / operatorCoordinates: 53°24′″N 167°53′″W / <span class="geo-dec geo" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for Expression error: Unexpected / operator Expression error: Unexpected / operator">Expression error: Unexpected / operator, Expression error: Unexpected / operator
Built/Founded: 1942
Architect: U.S. Army
Designated as NHL: May 28, 1987[1]
Added to NRHP: May 28, 1987[2]
NRHP Reference#: 87001301
Governing body: State

Cape Field at Fort Glenn (Umnak Island), also known as Umnak Airport, is a site significant for its role in World War II fighting. It "provided aerial defensive cover for the U.S. bases in Unalaska Bay"[1] and "is the most comprehensive and intact World War II base in the Aleutian Islands"[3]

"Constructed between January and April 1942, Cape Field's first runway was then the U.S. Army's most westerly airfield in the Aleutian Islands."[1][3] "In June 1942 aircraft from Cape Field participated in a counterattack after the Japanese attacked the Dutch Harbor naval and army installations on nearby Amaknak Island."[3] It "also served as the initial forward base to launch bombing attacks on Japanese installations on Attu and Kiska" islands.[1]

"By the close of 1942, Fort Glenn had 10,579 personnel, but its role as an advanced air base had been supplanted by facilities on Adak Island farther to the west. Buildings, runways, and World War II artillery emplacements remain."[3][1] It was decommissioned in 1950 and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Cape Field at Fort Glenn. National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2008-01-10. If link is not working, a cached version as of 2008-01-09 is available from Google.
  2. ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
  3. ^ a b c d National Historic Landmark writeup: Cape FieldPDF (3.58 KiB), National Park Service 

[edit] External link


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