Additional buildings were set into hillsides and covered with sod.Īccording to the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), “Pacific Huts were erected extensively on Alaskan military bases during the peak years of wartime construction (1942-43). Existing white barracks (and other buildings in the main grid of buildings) were camouflaged with olive-drab paint, nets on the roof, and rubbing the exterior with mud and water.

It also provided power, even after it was bombed by the Japanese on June 3, 1942, until the powerstation was completed.Īfter the bombing, military planners began housing people in small, randomly dispersed cabanas, Quonset huts, and Pacific huts to be less of a target for enemy attacks. Additional civilian contractors were housed in the refurbished 1889 freight and passenger ship, SS Northwestern, beached for easy access. The buildings were modified to accommodate drying rooms, arctic entries, and blackout windows. Housing was predominantly two-story dormitories which housed 63 men each, built in the standard quartermaster plans (700 series).

Both the NOB and Fort Mears were designed by Michigan architect Albert Khan. The NOB provided a naval air station and a deep-water port. Initial construction was done by civilians from the Siems-Drake-Puget Sound Construction Company, but after they were evacuated in June 1942, the Navy Seabees took over.Īt its peak operation, there were over 5,600 Navy personnel and almost 10,000 Army personnel stationed on side-by-side Amaknak and Unalaska Islands. The US Navy’s first military installation on Amaknak Island was a radio station complex built in 1911, but it wasn’t until 1940 that the military bought land and started construction on the Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base (NOB) and Fort Mears. Details on Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base and Fort MearsĬommissioned in September 1941, Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base and Fort Mears were the first bases the Japanese attacked during the Aleutian campaign. Army is one of eight historic landmarks that commemorate World War II in Alaska.

Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base and Fort Mears, U.S. World War II came to Alaska with the Japanese bombing of Dutch Harbor on Amaknak Island on June 3 and 4, 1942. World War II Battles at Amaknak and Umnak Islands

Dutch navy world war 2