Cape Field at Fort Glenn

Infobox nrhp
name = Cape Field at Fort Glenn (Umnak Island)
nrhp_type = nhld
locmapin = Alaska
mapwidth = 250
lat_degrees = 53
lat_minutes = 24
lat_seconds = 0
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 167
long_minutes = 53
long_seconds = 0
long_direction = W
location = Fort Glenn, Umnak Island, Alaska
built = 1942
architect = U.S. Army
designated = May 28, 1987cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=2004&ResourceType=District
title=Cape Field at Fort Glenn |accessdate=2008-01-10|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service If link is not working, a [http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:khFbB-YOVQYJ:tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm%3FResourceId%3D2004%26ResourceType%3DDistrict cached version as of 2008-01-09] is available from Google.]
added = May 28, 1987cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
refnum = 87001301
governing_body = State

Cape Field at Fort Glenn also known as Umnak Airport, is a site significant for its role in World War II fighting. It "provided aerial defensive cover for the U.S. bases in Unalaska Bay" and "is the most comprehensive and intact World War II base in the Aleutian Islands"citation|title=PDFlink| [http://www.nr.nps.gov/writeups/87001301.nl.pdf National Historic Landmark writeup: Cape Field] |3.58 KiB |accessdate=2008-01-10 |author= |publisher=National Park Service] It is located on Umnak Island in the Aleutian Islands.

"Constructed between January and April 1942, Cape Field's first runway was then the U.S. Army's most westerly airfield in the Aleutian Islands." "In June 1942 aircraft from Cape Field participated in a counterattack after the Japanese attacked the Dutch Harbor naval and army installations on nearby Amaknak Island." It "also served as the initial forward base to launch bombing attacks on Japanese installations on Attu and Kiska" islands.

"By the close of 1942, Fort Glenn had 10,579 personnel, but its role as an advanced air base had been supplanted by facilities on Adak Island farther to the west. Buildings, runways, and World War II artillery emplacements remain." It was decommissioned in 1950.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.Note: A National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination document should be available upon request from the National Park Service for this site, but it appears not to be available on-line from the [http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreghome.do?searchtype=natreghome NPS Focus search site] .]

On Saturday July 12, 2008, nearby Mount Okmok, erupted, sending ash 50,000 feet in the air and forcing the evacuation of the ranch.cite news|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1238277220080713?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews|title=Alaska volcano erupts; island residents evacuated|date=July 13, 2008|publisher=Reuters|accessdate=2008-07-13]

References

External links

* [http://www.hlswilliwaw.com/aleutians/umnak-homepage.htm History of Fort Glenn on Umnak Island]