Crusty old Joe's

Kodiak Alaska Military History

The official web site of the Kodiak Military History Museum

Aleutian Islands

List of Aleutian Islands

Eastern Hemisphere Aleutians

This is the portion of the United States that is in the Eastern Hemisphere. The EASTERNMOST point in the United States is Potchnoi Point, the East tip of Semisopotchnoi Island.

          
1 Attu   satellite image *
2 Agattu
3 Alaid
4 Nizki
5 Shemya
6 Buldir or Buldyr map
7 Kiska map satellite image
8 Little Kiska map
9 Segula map
10 Khvostof map
11 Davidof map
12 Little Sitkin map
13 Rat or Kryssei
14 Amchitka   satellite image
15 Semisopochnoi map satellite image
* Google maps beta. It is interactive and zoomable. You can drag the zoom bar and pan to any place on earth reasonably quickly. The Attu to Semisopochnoi area has no maps.

ATTU

The code name for ATTU during WWII, after we re-occupied, was DISH.

4 by 5 prints May 13, 1961


Fuel pier 165k
Fuel pier 143k
Fuel pier 203k
Old loran site warehouse 205k

Old loran site barracks 192k
Old loran barracks fuel and dock 147k 		width=100%
Old loran barracks 177k
Old loran barracks from road 90k

Hangar B6 looking NE 266k
Hangar B6 looking NW 155k
Hangar B6 looking NE 303k
Gymnasium looking North 181k

Gym bldg. bowling alley lean-to 152k
Gymnasium front 136k
Looking E from gym 183k
Looking SE from gym toward new loran site.
Hangar B1 at left. 202k

The following three pictures came from the US Army http://www.ahco.army.mil/site/photos_.html using a search for ATTU. They were added to this site on 30 Sep 2010. (Click on the image for a bigger version. In Windows, you can hold the CTRL key and use your mouse wheel to zoom.)


(171526) U.S. Troops landing on Attu, Aleutians, 1943


(173242) Div. Artillery Camp at Front Radios and Telephone on Jeep., Alaska, 1943. Attu, Alaska


(174523) In this picture men can be seen carrying 105 howitzer ammunition to supply the guns already going into position. In the background, blanketed by the fog, can be seen other landing barges coming into land. This picture shows to a degree the weather conditions in which the landing was made. Holts Bay, Attu, Aleutian Islands May 11, 1943

More Attu pictures from May 1943 available on the Fleet Air Wing FOUR page

The natives of Attu Island were not evacuated prior to the Japanese invasion. The fate of these people was grim. The Japanese shipped forty-two Aleuts from Attu to Japan, where twenty-one died in captivity at Otaru War Prison.

Attu 1934, KMHM, Curt Law collection



The gold seal in the lower left corner reads ATTU ISLAND INVASION MASSACRE BAY MAY 13 1943.
This refers to the athletic effort required during the battle and is typical of the humor of the day. There was no actual club. The invasion force was the club.
Roy A. Matson served in the Army Transport Service from 1942 to 1944 aboard the JAMES B HUSTON, a 202 foot marine repair ship. A copy of his seaman's certificate is on file at our museum.


AttuKid (Leo Glende), Clarence Gay, Whitie, Kerbaugh (Penna), George, Newberg and Snuffy Norris (New York).

Photo received from Edward Sidorski sidorski at nep.net Wed Jan 21, 2004

USCG Loran Attu 1945

www.uscg.mil/history/stations/LORAN_Section_3.asp


(Official Coast Guard photo courtesy of Loran Station Attu) 

Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard Seventeenth District


United States Coast Guard
Date: Jan. 7, 2010
Contact: (907) 487-5700
Petty Officer 1st Class Sara Francis
News Release

   Alaska-based Long Range Aids to Navigation (Loran-C) stations to cease broadcasting

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Coast Guard Loran Station Attu as seen from the top of the 
antenna. The Loran Station is home to 20 Coast Guardsmen for a year at a time 
each. The station is located on Attu Island at the end of the Aleutian Island 
Chain. They are the only inhabitants of the island. 

KODIAK, Alaska:
Electroncis Technician 1st Class Damon Raley, Executive Petty Officer for Loran 
Station Kodiak, performs system checks as part of his normal rounds Nov. 22, 
2000. Raley is part of a seven-person crew that keeps the station functioning 24 
hours a day, seven days a week. U.S. Coast Guard photo by PA1 Keith Alholm. 
*/Editors note: The images above are archive photos from Alaska-based Loran-C 
operations. For a high resolution copy please click on the image above./*

KODIAK, Alaska:
As a result of technological advancements during the last 20 years and the 
emergence of the U.S. Global Positioning System, Alaska-based Long Range Aids to 
Navigation stations (Loran-C) will cease broadcasting a signal this year.

The North American Loran-C signal will cease broadcasting Feb. 8, with the 
exception of stations Attu and Shoal Cove which are bound by bi-lateral 
agreements with other nations.  Attu and Shoal Cove are expected to stop 
broadcasting later in the year. "Coast Guard men and women, working largely with 
antiquated systems and little fanfare, have stood a steadfast watch for more 
than 50 years in some of America's most isolated regions," said Admiral 
Christopher Colvin, Commander, 17th Coast Guard District, "I am proud of their 
professionalism and hard work."

Loran-C is no longer required by the armed forces, the transportation sector or 
the nation's security interests, and is used by only a small segment of the 
population.  Users of Loran-C are strongly encouraged to make the transition to 
GPS navigation and plotting systems immediately.

The decision to terminate transmission of the Loran-C signal reflects the 
president's pledge to eliminate unnecessary federal programs. The president did 
not seek funding for the Loran-C system in fiscal year 2010. Termination was 
also supported through the enactment of the 2010 Homeland Security 
Appropriations Bill.

The Loran-C system was not established as, nor was it intended to be, a viable 
systemic backup for GPS. If a single, domestic national system to back up GPS is 
identified as being necessary, the Department of Homeland Security will complete 
an analysis of potential backups to GPS. The continued active operation of 
Loran-C is not necessary to advance this evaluation.

Loran-C stations in Alaska include Attu, Shoal Cove in Ketchikan, Tok, Narrow 
Cape in Kodiak, Port Clarence and St. Paul Island.

The notice of termination may be viewed online at www.regulations.gov 
www.regulations.gov, docket number: USCG-2009-0299. for more 
information on terminations, reductions and savings contained in the fiscal year 
2010 budget, including Loran-C, visit www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/TRS/ 

For Loran history visit: 

www.uscg.mil/history/stations/loran_volume_1_index.asp
For videos of Alaska Loran operations including 2010 tower demolition, try this youtube search. or this Google search

From about 1984 to 1986 a company run by Ray Ducolon, Ducolon Mechanical, did some extensive remodelling of the loran station. During this time the crew as well as the contractors lived in Atco units next to the station. The contractor did not complete the job in a timely manner and the last contract carpenter out, Steve Penn, was asked to leave by a US Marshal. The GSA completed the work. [Oral interview with Steve Penn 23 March 2011.
...j0e]

KISKA

Kiska is one of the only Aleutian places that has high detail images on Google. Satellite image of Kiska in HIGH RESOLUTION on maps.google.com. You can see roads and building sites VERY clearly in this image. (This is not Google Earth which has the same image but with better control.)


AMCHITKA

Milrow - zero time 1.5 seconds. Taken from NC-135 aircraft.
Milrow - zero time 1.5 seconds. Taken from NC-135 aircraft. 12:06 PM October 2, 1969, 1 megaton, 3992 feet deep. (Photo in Joe Stevens collection from Baine Cater.)
Video of blast 		September 1971
detail
Infrared Color Photography of Cannikin Test Site, Amchitka Island, Alaska, September 1971. Red to pink color tones indicate healthy, live tundra vegitation. Dark tracks in tundra were caused by vehicles traveling across the tundra. Light gray to dark gray indicates exposed ground or gravel-covered areas (such as roads). Photograph was taken from an altitude of 1,500 feet on a heavily covercast day at f/5 and 1/250 sec with a K-17 Fairchild aerial camera fastened to the outside of an Alloutte III helicopter. (Photo in Joe Stevens collection from Baine Cater.) Patch.
Cannikin was a five megaton device detonated 6150 feet underground at noon on November 6, 1971. A Google search will turn up many hits. Search for "Cannikin Amchitka". You Tube video about Cannikin. 		May 2, 1943, Amchitka
May 2, 1943, Amchitka

Dan McDowell of Wasilla Alaska told us on 15 June 2014 that his dad, Sam McDowell, ran Alaska Diamond Drill and he drilled the test holes on Amchitka for the underground tests.

There was a test named Long Shot in 1965.

AMCHITKA and the BOMB, Nuclear Testing in Alaska by Dean W. Kohlhoff.

Many videos of blasts on Amchitka on YouTube

SEMISOPOCHNOI

Potchnoi Point on Semisopotchnoi Island is the Easternmost point in the USA.

Semisopochnoi Island (se-mei-suh-PAWCH-noi), has seven volcanoes, Rat Islands, Aleutian Islands, SW Alaska, Eastern Hemisphere, 35 mi/56 km NE of Amchitka Island; 12 mi/19 km long, 10 mi/16 km wide; 51o57'N 179o38'E. Uninhabited. Important as a landmark for vessels sailing down the Aleutian chain. Satellite image.

Links

Distance between Kodiak, Alaska
and Attu, Alaska as the crow flies:
1392 miles (2240 km) (1210 nautical miles) 

Initial heading from Kodiak to Attu:
west (270.9 degrees) 
Initial heading from Attu to Kodiak:
east-northeast (62.1 degrees) 

Kodiak, Alaska, US
Location: N57 47 55 W152 24 08

Attu, Alaska, US
Location: N52 54 09 E172 54 34 

(These positions can be cut and pasted into a Google Earth search)
Main index

http://www.kadiak.org/aleutians/index.html created 2001 June 18 Updated 2014 June 19, 2015 April 17, 2017 August 29, 2017 December 1, 2023 March 23

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