Shemya

Shemya or Simiya (Samiyax̂ [Bergsland, K "Aleut Dictionary" Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center, 1994] in Aleut) is a small island in the Semichi Islands southwest of Alaska, at coord|52|42|44.19|N|174|06|49.03|E|region:US_type:airport. It has a land area of 15.289 km² (5.903 sq mi). It is about 1,900 km (1,200 miles) southwest of Anchorage, Alaska.

The Russian vessel "Saint Peter and Paul" wrecked at Shemya in 1762. Most of the crew survived.

A United States Air Force radar, surveillance and weather station and aircraft refueling station, including a 3 km (10,000 ft) long runway, opened on Shemya in 1943 and is still in operation. The station, originally Shemya Air Force Base or Shemya Station, had 1,500 workers at its peak in the 1960s.

The United States Air Force airborne intelligence platforms "Cobra Ball", "Rivet Amber" and "Rivet Ball" flew intercontinental ballistic missile tracking flights from this island near the Soviet Union, especially the Kamchatka Peninsula, during the height of the Cold War.

In 1956, Northwest Airlines leased Shemya Island from the U.S. government to use as a refueling station on their North Pacific route. According to Northwest's website, that made them "the first airline to operate its own airport". [ [http://www.nwa.com/corpinfo/upclose/1950.shtml Northwest Airlines nwa.com - About Northwest - NWA Up Close ] ]

The station was renamed the Eareckson Air Station in 1993 to honor USAF Colonel William O. Eareckson, who had commanded bomber operations during the Aleutian Campaign of World War II.

The station still operates as a radar station and aircraft refueling station with a staff of about 180 people. The 2000 census reported an official resident population of 27 persons on the island.

One of the most recognizable features of the island is the COBRA DANE radar system (AN/FPS-108). This radar system was built in 1976 and brought on-line in 1977 for the primary mission of intelligence gathering in support of verification of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) II agreement.

Shemya was an important outpost during the cold war. As part of Project Bluegrass, the White Alice Communications System, provided a vital tropospheric scatter communications link to the mainland during the early-60s to late-70s. Its two 120 ft parabolic reflectors and 50 kW transmitter output bridged the nearly 400 mile gap to Adak, Alaska.

External links

* [http://www.hlswilliwaw.com/aleutians/shemya-homepage.htm Informative Shemya site]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/library/report/2001/x-band_radar.htm#A%20Brief Briefing about Shemya]
* [http://www.RC135.com "A Tale of Two Airplanes"] by Ltc. Kingdon R. Hawes

References

* [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-context=dt&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-CONTEXT=dt&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_P001&-tree_id=4001&-transpose=N&-redoLog=false&-all_geo_types=N&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=100$10000US020160001001147&-search_results=100$10000US021500001002007&-format=&-_lang=en&-show_geoid=Y Shemya Island: Block 1147, Census Tract 1, Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska] United States Census Bureau