Naval Air Station Bermuda
Encyclopedia
Naval Air Station Bermuda (Kindley Field), was located on St. David's Island, Bermuda
from 1970 to 1995, on the former site of Kindley Air Force Base
. It is currently the site of Bermuda International Airport
.
to the USAF Base at Kindley Field when its Martin P5M Marlin flying boat
s were removed from service in the 1960s. They were replaced by Lockheed P-2 Neptune landplanes, which could not operate from the existing Naval Air Station, which had no hard surface runway ashore. The US Navy took over the airfield entirely from the USAF in 1970 and the base continued to operate anti-submarine patrols, first with Neptunes, then with Lockheed P-3 Orion
s. In the 1980s, the P-3s were occasionally augmented by carrier-based S-3 Viking
s operating ashore, as well as Canadian Forces' Lockheed CP-140 Aurora and Royal Air Force
Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR.2 aircraft.
By the early 1990s, the range of submarine-launched ballistic missile
s (SLBM) had so increased that Soviet submarines no longer found it necessary to come within range of Bermuda-based patrol aircraft in order to strike their targets in the USA. This was followed by the dissolution of the Soviet Union
in 1991 and a general lessening of tensions between the now renamed Russian Federation and the United States.
Reflecting these developments, the US Naval air detachment at Bermuda had been steadily reduced from a full squadron of Regular Navy P-3Cs on six month rotations to an average of three P-3B or P-3C aircraft, primarily from Atlantic Fleet Navy Reserve
P-3 squadrons on 60 day rotations, plus the air station's own UH-1N Twin Huey
search and rescue aircraft. In 1992, a scathing investigative report on US television labelled the base as the 'Club Med
of the Navy', because of its questionable use by senior military officers and DoD civilian and other U.S. Government civilian officials as a de facto vacation retreat. Subsequently, all three US Naval bases in Bermuda were slated for closure by BRAC
. Except for the NASA
tracking station on Coopers Island (at the Eastern End of NAS Bermuda), all US facilities in Bermuda were closed in 1995.
The Bermudian government took over operation of the field in 1995, being obliged to spend a great deal of money making it conform to international civil standards. This involved changes to lighting systems, fencing, and razing any objects over a certain height, within a certain distance of the runway (which included both the former base commander's residence, and the hillock it stood on). The US Government still held the lease, which was for 99 years, however, until negotiations were completed regarding the clean up of toxic waste left behind. The cost of clean-up of all US Navy facilities in Bermuda was then estimated at $65.7 million, although that included $9.5 million for replacing the Longbird Bridge. Threats were made that, if the Bermuda government did not allow the US Government to wash its hands of responsibility, the US Navy would take the field over again and close it to all air traffic. The final compromise negotiated by the UK, Bermuda, and USA governments, which comprised an $11 million payment for the replacement of Longbird Bridge, has been denounced by many in Bermuda as a betrayal, but the field has now been transferred entirely to the Bermuda Government as the Bermuda International Airport
. It was an alternative landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle
.
Areas for clean-up identified in 1997 by a private contractor were:
The estimated cost was $65.7 million:
St. David's Island, Bermuda
St. David's Island is one of the main islands of Bermuda. It is located in the far north of the territory, one of the two similarly sized islands that makeup the majority of St...
from 1970 to 1995, on the former site of Kindley Air Force Base
Kindley Air Force Base
Kindley Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base in Bermuda from 1948–1970, having been operated from 1943 to 1948 by the United States Army Air Force as Kindley Field.-World War II:...
. It is currently the site of Bermuda International Airport
Bermuda International Airport
L.F. Wade International Airport , formerly named Bermuda International Airport, is the sole airport serving Bermuda, a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is located in the parish of St. George's and is northeast of Bermuda's capital city of Hamilton. In 2006, L.F. Wade...
.
History
The US Navy moved its anti-submarine air-patrol operationsAnti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....
to the USAF Base at Kindley Field when its Martin P5M Marlin flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
s were removed from service in the 1960s. They were replaced by Lockheed P-2 Neptune landplanes, which could not operate from the existing Naval Air Station, which had no hard surface runway ashore. The US Navy took over the airfield entirely from the USAF in 1970 and the base continued to operate anti-submarine patrols, first with Neptunes, then with Lockheed P-3 Orion
P-3 Orion
The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner. The aircraft is easily recognizable by its distinctive tail stinger or...
s. In the 1980s, the P-3s were occasionally augmented by carrier-based S-3 Viking
S-3 Viking
The Lockheed S-3 Viking is a four-seat twin-engine jet aircraft that was used by the U.S. Navy to identify, track, and destroy enemy submarines. In the late 1990s, the S-3B's mission focus shifted to surface warfare and aerial refueling. The Viking also provided electronic warfare and surface...
s operating ashore, as well as Canadian Forces' Lockheed CP-140 Aurora and Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR.2 aircraft.
By the early 1990s, the range of submarine-launched ballistic missile
Submarine-launched ballistic missile
A submarine-launched ballistic missile is a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead that can be launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles each of which carries a warhead and allows a single launched missile to...
s (SLBM) had so increased that Soviet submarines no longer found it necessary to come within range of Bermuda-based patrol aircraft in order to strike their targets in the USA. This was followed by the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in 1991 and a general lessening of tensions between the now renamed Russian Federation and the United States.
Reflecting these developments, the US Naval air detachment at Bermuda had been steadily reduced from a full squadron of Regular Navy P-3Cs on six month rotations to an average of three P-3B or P-3C aircraft, primarily from Atlantic Fleet Navy Reserve
United States Navy Reserve
The United States Navy Reserve, until 2005 known as the United States Naval Reserve, is the Reserve Component of the United States Navy...
P-3 squadrons on 60 day rotations, plus the air station's own UH-1N Twin Huey
UH-1N Twin Huey
The Bell UH-1N Twin Huey is a medium military helicopter that first flew in April, 1969. The UH-1N has a fifteen seat configuration, with one pilot and fourteen passengers. In cargo configuration the UH-1N has an internal capacity of 220 ft³ . An external load of 5,000 lb can be carried...
search and rescue aircraft. In 1992, a scathing investigative report on US television labelled the base as the 'Club Med
Club Med
Club Méditerranée , commonly known as Club Med, is a French corporation of vacation resorts found in many parts of the world, usually in exotic locations. It is considered the original all-inclusive resort.-Foundation:...
of the Navy', because of its questionable use by senior military officers and DoD civilian and other U.S. Government civilian officials as a de facto vacation retreat. Subsequently, all three US Naval bases in Bermuda were slated for closure by BRAC
Base Realignment and Closure
Base Realignment and Closure is a process of the United States federal government directed at the administration and operation of the Armed Forces, used by the United States Department of Defense and Congress to close excess military installations and realign the total asset inventory to reduce...
. Except for the NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
tracking station on Coopers Island (at the Eastern End of NAS Bermuda), all US facilities in Bermuda were closed in 1995.
The Bermudian government took over operation of the field in 1995, being obliged to spend a great deal of money making it conform to international civil standards. This involved changes to lighting systems, fencing, and razing any objects over a certain height, within a certain distance of the runway (which included both the former base commander's residence, and the hillock it stood on). The US Government still held the lease, which was for 99 years, however, until negotiations were completed regarding the clean up of toxic waste left behind. The cost of clean-up of all US Navy facilities in Bermuda was then estimated at $65.7 million, although that included $9.5 million for replacing the Longbird Bridge. Threats were made that, if the Bermuda government did not allow the US Government to wash its hands of responsibility, the US Navy would take the field over again and close it to all air traffic. The final compromise negotiated by the UK, Bermuda, and USA governments, which comprised an $11 million payment for the replacement of Longbird Bridge, has been denounced by many in Bermuda as a betrayal, but the field has now been transferred entirely to the Bermuda Government as the Bermuda International Airport
Bermuda International Airport
L.F. Wade International Airport , formerly named Bermuda International Airport, is the sole airport serving Bermuda, a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is located in the parish of St. George's and is northeast of Bermuda's capital city of Hamilton. In 2006, L.F. Wade...
. It was an alternative landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
.
Areas for clean-up identified in 1997 by a private contractor were:
- Cleaning up petroleum and heavy-metal contamination
- Eliminating friable and non-friable asbestos
- Demolishing derelict and unsafe buildings
- Replacing Longbird Bridge, which they described as unsafe and prone to malfunction
The estimated cost was $65.7 million:
- $11.7 million would be spent on the environmental cleanup.
- $30.9 million would be spent on removing asbestos.
- $8.6 million would be spent on demolition.
- $5.1 million would be spent on managing the work.
- $9.5 million would be spent on replacing Longbird Bridge.
Additional US Navy Commands formerly in Bermuda
- Naval Air Station Bermuda Annex (Morgans Point, 1941–1995)
- Naval Facility Bermuda (Tudor Hill, 1954–1995)
- Patrol Squadron Bermuda (rotational P-3 squadron while deployed)
- Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department Bermuda
- Marine Corps Barracks Bermuda
- USN Submarine Base, Ordnance Island, BermudaUSN Submarine Base, Ordnance Island, BermudaUS Navy Submarine Base, Ordnance Island. Ordnance Island, Bermuda, which sits near the King's Square, in St. George's, had gained its name as a Royal Army Ordnance Corp depot, supplying munitions to forts and batteries around the Colony...
- Marine Security Force Bermuda
- Naval Medical Clinic Bermuda (formerly USAF Hospital Kindley AFB; formerly Naval Hospital Bermuda)
- Personnel Support Activity Detachment Bermuda
- The Lieutenant Commander Roger B. ChaffeeRoger B. ChaffeeRoger Bruce Chaffee was an American aeronautical engineer and a NASA astronaut in the Apollo program. Chaffee died along with fellow astronauts Gus Grissom and Ed White during a pre-launch test for the Apollo 1 mission at Cape Kennedy...
School, a former Department of Defense Dependent School System (DoDDS) facility (Now Clearwater Middle School) - Anti-Submarine Warfare Operation Center (ASWOC) Bermuda (Ceased Operations and Buildings Removed April 1993)
- Naval Meteorology and Oceanographic Detachment Bermuda
- Navy Exchange Bermuda
Former names
- Fort Bell Army Airfield (1941–1948)
- Kindley Air Force BaseKindley Air Force BaseKindley Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base in Bermuda from 1948–1970, having been operated from 1943 to 1948 by the United States Army Air Force as Kindley Field.-World War II:...
(1948–1970)
See also
- USCG Air Station Bermuda (1963–1965)
- Royal Air Force, Bermuda, 1939-1945Royal Air Force, Bermuda, 1939-1945The Royal Air Force operated from two locations in Bermuda during the Second World War. Bermuda's location had made it an important naval station since US independence, and, with the advent of the aeroplane, had made it as important to trans-Atlantic aviation in the decades before the Jet Age...
- Military of BermudaMilitary of BermudaThe defence of Bermuda remains the responsibility of the National Government, rather than of the Bermudian Government, which is effectively a local authority. Despite this, the Bermuda Government was historically responsible for maintaining Militia for the defence of the Colony...
External links
- United Bermuda Party. Copy of Opinion Articles Bases Agreement Most Expensive Mistake in Bermuda’s History, Dr. Grant Gibbons - Opposition Leader (Published on July 10th, 2002 in The Royal Gazette).
- Bermuda Online: American military bases in Bermuda 1941 to 1995.
- The Royal Gazette Scott turns to London on asbestos.
- The Royal Gazette UK tells Bermuda: Asbestos is your problem.