Location
Amchitka Island (Umaknak) is located in the Fox Island Group (Fox Islands) in the Aleutian Island Chain (Aleutian Islands) in Alaska in the United States. Borders Constantine Harbor on the northern coast. At the southeastern corner of the island is East Cape. Borders the Bearing Sea to the north and North Pacific Ocean to the south.

Wartime History
During September 1942 and December 17-19, 1942, a U. S. Army reconnaissance party was dispatched to the island to survey it for an airfield.

American missions against Amchitka
August 17, 1942 - March 16, 1943

On January 12, 1943 a small force of U. S. Army and U. S. Navy personnel landed unopposed at Amchitka. Immediately, they began developing Amchitka Airfield to support the Allied invasion of Attu and Kiska.

Japanese missions against Amchitka
January 26, 1943 - February 4, 1943

After the Alaska campaign, a strategic intercept station was established on the island, which remained in use until February 1945. The Army abandoned the site in August 1950. The site later hosted an Air Force weather station in the 1950s, a White Alice telecommunication system in 1959 to 1961, and a temporary relay station in the 1960s and 1970s.

Amchitka Airfield
Built by the U. S. Army during early 1943

USS Worden (DD-352)
Grounded on January 12, 1943

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Last Updated
June 15, 2019