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 Attu,
the westernmost Aleutian island, is nearly 1,100
miles from the Alaskan mainland and 750 miles
northeast of the northernmost of the Japanese Kurile
Islands. Attu is about 20 by 35 miles in size, and
is today the home of a small number of U. S.
Coastguard personnel operating a Loran station.
Attu was occupied on June 6th, 1942 by the Japanese, and
was the site of some of the bloodiest fighting
during W.W.II (second only to Iwo Jima)
commencing on "D-Day," 11 May 1943. See
the "Brief History" of the war in the
Aleutians by clicking on the "W.W.II"
menu selection in the top menu.
The battle of Attu
ended in May 1943 and the Japanese forces on the
island were annihilated. The need for a LORAN
station was deemed necessary on the southern most
tip of Attu. The equipment to build the station came
out of Holtz Bay and was ferried on barges and
landing craft to Baxter Cove located about one mile
east of the station. Bulldozers were used to cut a
road from Baxter Cove to Theodore Point (see map) over which the
equipment was hauled. The construction began about
November 1943 by a USCG Construction Detachment. The
main building consisted of five Quonset huts shaped
like an "H" with connecting passageways.
The LORAN/Radio Shack was one Quonset hut located on
the point next to a 400 ft cliff which dropped down
to the Pacific Ocean. The original commanding
officer was a Lt. Jg Doster and one of the original
crew members is Bob Yeaton of MA. Several crew
members who served during the period 1943 to 1947
held their first reunion in 1996 and a second
reunion in September 1998. A normal crew consisted
of approximately 20 men and the tour of duty was one
year more or less. There are seventeen known members
who make up the survivors of the most isolated
station in the world. In 1960 the station was moved
to Casco Cove, near the former Navy Base at Massacre
Bay. Later it was changed from a Loran "A"
to Loran "C" and moved into a modern
building at Massacre Bay. The present station is in
operation and manned by a crew of 20. It was
scheduled for closing this year, but chances are
good that it will remain operational for several
more years. This is the only station on the island
and the only human inhabitants. A book entitled
"Lonely in the Aleutians" by Dick Griessel
was recently published giving detailed information
on US Coast Guard Unit 62, Theodore Point. Dick
served there in 1945-1946. The book was a limited
edition and presently not available to the public.
(The point of contact for men who served on Theodore
Point during 1943 to 1947 is: Ardon W
"Smitty" Smith, 250 Stratford Way,
Fayetteville, GA 30214 Phone 770-461-8834)
The
weather on Attu is typical of Aleutian weather in
general...cloudy, rainy, foggy, with occasional very high
winds. The weather becomes progressively worse as
you travel from the easternmost islands to the west.
On Attu, five or six days a week are likely to be
rainy, with hardly more than eight or ten clear days
a year. The rest of the time, even if rain is not
falling, fog of varying density is the rule rather
than the exception. The average rainfall is around
40 to 50 inches throughout the islands, with the
heaviest rains experienced during fall and early winter.
Attu
war stories can be found on the "Attu War
Stories" page. Photos of Attu during W.W.II can
be found by selecting the "Attu W.W.II"
menu selection, while photos of Attu after the war
can be found by selecting the "Post
W.W.II" menu selection.
Links
to other Attu sites are located on the "Attu
Links" page. If you find some that I don't
have, I'd sure appreciate it if you'd email them to
me.
For
additional stories of Attu from the W.W.II
timeframe, go to the Shemya Homepage and select
"Shemya
Mailbag." There are numerous stories at the
Shemya Mailbag site, courtesy of Dan Lange, written
by folks that had been stationed on Attu (as well as
Shemya) during War II.
Your help would be appreciated if
you can in any way contribute information to this
site, regardless of whether it is W.W.II vintage, pre-war or
post-war material! Click on the "wanted" sign below, and you can
email information directly to this site. Thanks for your help! By the
way, so long as you're here, you can also either view or sign the Attu
Guestbook! Maybe you'll run into someone you knew who was there?
George L. (Smitty) Smith
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