Base Support Unit Kodiak

Kodiak Naval Operating Base and Forts Greely and Abercrombie

Kodiak Air Station, January 1989
Location Kodiak Station, Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska
Nearest city Kodiak, Alaska
Coordinates 57°44′19″N 152°30′17″W / 57.73861°N 152.50472°W / 57.73861; -152.50472Coordinates: 57°44′19″N 152°30′17″W / 57.73861°N 152.50472°W / 57.73861; -152.50472
Area 3,000 acres (1,200 ha)
Built 1941
NRHP Reference # 85002731
Significant dates
Added to NRHP February 4, 1985[1]
Designated NHL February 4, 1985[2]

Base Support Unit Kodiak is the host command for a large shore installation of the United States Coast Guard, located in Kodiak, Alaska. The largest tenant unit on the base is Air Station Kodiak. It is also the home port for several cutters. Historic elements that it includes are the Kodiak Naval Operating Base, Fort Greely, and Fort Abercrombie.

The station is the subject of the series Coast Guard Alaska on The Weather Channel and is prominently featured in the 2006 film The Guardian and is frequently referenced in the Discovery Channel series Deadliest Catch.

History

The base began as the United States Navy's Naval Air Station Kodiak on 15 June 1941. Built between 1939 and 1944, the Kodiak facilities served as the main forward operating base for the defense of Alaska, and for operations in 1942-43 Aleutians campaign in the Second World War. Fort Greely, a United States Army facility located in the Buskin River area, housed the forces that operated the island's defenses. Artillery emplacements survive on Buskin Hill, Artillery Hill, and at Fort Abercrombie (now a state park), but little remains of Fort Greely's barracks. The World War II facilities included an airfield with numerous hangars, a seaplane base for a fleet of Consolidated PBY Catalinas, and a submarine base.[3]

On 17 April 1947 the Coast Guard Air Station was commissioned as an Air Detachment at the navy base with one PBY Catalina aircraft, seven pilots, and thirty crewmen. On 25 April 1972 the order establishing Coast Guard Base Kodiak and CG RADSTA Kodiak was issued by the Commandant of the CG. CG Air Station Kodiak was already operating with three HC-130H airplanes and two HH-52A helicopters. Today, CG Air Station Kodiak operates five HC-130H aircraft, five HH-60J Jayhawk helicopters, and five HH-65C Dolphin helicopters.

Kodiak Naval Operating Base, Fort Greely, and Fort Abercrombie were together listed on the National Register of Historic Places and also declared to be a National Historic Landmark in 1985 for the role the facilities played in World War II.[2][3]

2012 Shooting

On April 12, 2012, two Coast Guard members were found fatally shot at their work stations in one of the communications buildings on-base.[4] After an investigation conducted by the FBI, Coast Guard Investigative Service, and Alaska State Troopers, the prime suspect (James Michael “Jim” Wells) was arrested.[5]

Homeported ships

See also

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "Kodiak Naval Operating Base and Forts Greely and Abercrombie". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 17 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
  3. 1 2 Erwin N. Thompson (April 9, 1984). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Kodiak Naval Operating Base and Forts Greely and Abercrombie / US Coast Guard Support Center and Fort Abercrombie State Historic Park" (PDF). National Park Service. and Accompanying 7 photos from 1982 and 1983. (708 KB)
  4. ↑ Pemberton, Mary (2012-04-12). "Coast Guard: 2 dead in shooting at Alaska station". The Associated Press. Retrieved 2012-04-13.
  5. ↑ Brianna Gibbs (16 February 2013). "Suspect arrested in double homicide on Kodiak Coast Guard base". KLOO. Retrieved 22 February 2013.

External links

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