Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base and Fort Mears, U.S. Army
Encyclopedia
Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base and Fort Mears are the two military installations built next to each other in Dutch Harbor, Alaska
, by the United States
in response to the growing war threat with Japan
. A 1938 Navy board recommended the construction which began in July 1940. The first army troops arrived in June 1941 and the Navy air base was finished in September 1941. At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor
, these two bases were the only military installations in the Aleutian Islands.
, it occurred a day earlier due to one-day delay in the sailing of Nagumo's task force. 43 Americans and at least one Japanese died during the attacks, which lasted for two days. The base remained an important part of coastal defenses for the remainder of World War II
.
In the late 1980s, the US government finally funded a cleanup of the derelict fort, and the area was turned over for commercial use.
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in response to the growing war threat with Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. A 1938 Navy board recommended the construction which began in July 1940. The first army troops arrived in June 1941 and the Navy air base was finished in September 1941. At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, these two bases were the only military installations in the Aleutian Islands.
Battle of Dutch Harbor
On June 3, 1942, the Japanese navy attacked Dutch Harbor. Originally planned to start at the same time as the battle of MidwayBattle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...
, it occurred a day earlier due to one-day delay in the sailing of Nagumo's task force. 43 Americans and at least one Japanese died during the attacks, which lasted for two days. The base remained an important part of coastal defenses for the remainder of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Postwar
Shortly after the end of World War II, the US military abandoned their Dutch Harbor outposts. For decades afterwards, the buildings remained standing, generally abandoned. With the growth of the king crab fishery in the 1970s, many of these buildings were called into use as warehouses, bunkhouses, and family homes.In the late 1980s, the US government finally funded a cleanup of the derelict fort, and the area was turned over for commercial use.