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 11th AF Sept 30, 1943 |
Location Lat 52° 49' 42N 173° 10' 49E Long Attu Airfield was located at an elevation of 40' above sea level on Alexai Point on the southeast coast of Attu Island in the Aleutian Island Chain (Aleutian Islands) in Alaska in the United States. Borders Casco Cove. Mountains are located to three sides of the airfield. Attu Airfield was known as "Alexai Point Airfield" or simply "Alexai Point" or "NAS Attu" during the Pacific War. Postwar, known as "NAS Casco Field". Today, known as Coast Guard Station Casco Cove (CGS Casco Cove). Construction After the May 11, 1943 U.S. landing on Attu Island, construction began at Alexai Point of a single runway for use as a fighter strip. On June 8, 1943 became operational as Naval Air Facility, Attu. American and Japanese missions against Attu January 6, 1943–October 13, 1943 Wartime History On June 8, 1943 the first U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) plane to land on the newly built runway was a C-47 Skytrain landing fighter crews. Attu Airfield was used as a base for American fighters and as a staging base for bombers attacking targets in the Kurile Islands. During early 1945, P-38s of the 54th Fighter Squadron began to fly special high-altitude missions to intercept Japanese balloon bombs drifting in the jet stream eastward towards North America. Attu Airfield was directly in their flight path and many balloons passed overhead at altitudes between 30,000' to 37,000'. American units based at Attu Airfield (Alexai Point) 343rd FG, 54th FS (P-38 detachment) 343rd FG, 344th FS (P-40 detachment) Umnak arrives June 12, 1943–December 1, 1943 Shemya 343rd FG, HQ Amchitka January 22, 1944 343rd FG, 18th FS (P-38) Amchitka March 28, 1944 28th CG, 77th BS (B-25) Adak arrives July 22, 1943–1945 343rd FG, 344th FS (P-40) Shemya June 1943–December 1943 Shemya Today Today, designated a small airport known as Coast Guard Station Casco Cove (CGS Casco Cove). The single runway is oriented 20/02 measures 5,800' x 150' surfaced with asphalt. Airport codes: FAA: ATU / IATA: ATU. To this day, twenty gun emplacements are located around the former airfield. References The Thousand Mile War page 300 (Ballentine edition) "[May 1943, US Army 18th Engineers]...Talley's Engineers had marked out an airstrip on the east side of Massacre Bay (disdaining the northern bogs where the Japanese had tried and failed to build a runway)." HyperWar - US Navy in World War II - Casco Field Naval Air Station (NAS) Attu, Alaska (photos) Contribute
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