Crusty old Joe's

Kodiak Alaska Military History

The official web site of the Kodiak Military History Museum

Aleutian Islands

Eastern Hemisphere Aleutians

This is the portion of the United States that is in the Eastern Hemisphere. The EASTERNMOST point in the United States is Potchnoi Point, the East tip of Semisopotchnoi Island.

1	Attu		satellite image *
2	Agattu
3	Alaid
4	Nizki
5	Shemya
6	Buldir or Buldyr	map
7	Kiska	map	satellite image
8	Little Kiska	map
9	Segula	map
10	Khvostof	map
11	Davidof	map
12	Little Sitkin	map
13	Rat or Kryssei
14	Amchitka		satellite image
15	Semisopochnoi	map	satellite image

* Google maps beta. It is interactive and zoomable. You can drag the zoom bar and pan to any place on earth reasonably quickly. The Attu to Semisopochnoi area has no maps.

ATTU

The code name for ATTU during WWII, after we re-occupied, was DISH. Annual veteran's visits are organized by Albert King, williwawal (at) aol.com (954)423-1852. The 2000 Attu trip took place June 7 thru 21.

During 2007 there is no Attu trip planned but there are reunions at Chillicothe MO June 3-6?, Clio MI Aug 11, Williams CA Sept 4-6, Archbold OH Oct 26-28 and Laughlin NV Nov 11-13. Contact Albert King.

4 by 5 prints May 13, 1961

Fuel pier 165k

Fuel pier 143k

Fuel pier 203k

Old loran site warehouse 205k

Old loran site barracks 192k

Old loran barracks fuel and dock 147k

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Old loran barracks 177k

Old loran barracks from road 90k

Hangar B6 looking NE 266k

Hangar B6 looking NW 155k

Hangar B6 looking NE 303k

Gymnasium looking North 181k

Gym bldg. bowling alley lean-to 152k

Gymnasium front 136k

Looking E from gym 183k

Looking SE from gym toward new loran site.
Hangar B1 at left. 202k

More Attu pictures from May 1943 available on the Fleet Air Wing FOUR page

The natives of Attu Island were not evacuated prior to the Japanese invasion. The fate of these people was grim. The Japanese shipped forty-two Aleuts from Attu to Japan, where twenty-one died in captivity at Otaru War Prison.

The gold seal in the lower left corner reads ATTU ISLAND INVASION MASSACRE BAY MAY 13 1943.
This refers to the athletic effort required during the battle and is typical of the humor of the day. There was no actual club. The invasion force was the club.
Roy A. Matson served in the Army Transport Service from 1942 to 1944 aboard the JAMES B HUSTON, a 202 foot marine repair ship. A copy of his seaman's certificate is on file at our museum.

AttuKid (Leo Glende), Clarence Gay, Whitie, Kerbaugh (Penna), George, Newberg and Snuffy Norris (New York).

Photo received from Edward Sidorski sidorski at nep.net Wed Jan 21, 2004

KISKA

Kiska is one of the only Aleutian places that has high detail images on Google. Satellite image of Kiska in HIGH RESOLUTION on maps.google.com. You can see roads and building sites VERY clearly in this image. (This is not Google Earth which has the same image but with better control.)

AMCHITKA

Milrow - zero time 1.5 seconds. Taken from NC-135 aircraft. (Photo in Joe Stevens collection from Baine Cater.)
detail
Infrared Color Photography of Cannikin Test Site, Amchitka Island, Alaska, September 1971. Red to pink color tones indicate healthy, live tundra vegitation. Dark tracks in tundra were caused by vehicles traveling across the tundra. Light gray to dark gray indicates exposed ground or gravel-covered areas (such as roads). Photograph was taken from an altitude of 1,500 feet on a heavily covercast day at f/5 and 1/250 sec with a K-17 Fairchild aerial camera fastened to the outside of an Alloutte III helicopter. (Photo in Joe Stevens collection from Baine Cater.) Patch.
May 2, 1943, Amchitka

SEMISOPOCHNOI

Potchnoi Point on Semisopotchnoi Island is the Easternmost point in the USA.

Semisopochnoi Island (se-mei-suh-PAWCH-noi), has seven volcanoes, Rat Islands, Aleutian Islands, SW Alaska, Eastern Hemisphere, 35 mi/56 km NE of Amchitka Island; 12 mi/19 km long, 10 mi/16 km wide; 51^o57'N 179^o38'E. Uninhabited. Important as a landmark for vessels sailing down the Aleutian chain. Satellite image.

Links

Joe Broadbent Amchitka photos
Amchitka history, geology, research and much more
You can find Amchitka's still usable runway by pasting this position into Google Earth: N51 22 40 E179 15 27
Alaskan Islands index on Wikipedia
Aleutian Islands index on Wikipedia
Attu topo map jpg image
George Villasenor Fleet Air Wing FOUR photographer
Aleutian Island satellite images
The Aleutian Campaign by Patrick Clancey
Aleutian World War II National Historic Area National Park Service
Museum of the Aleutians
Aleutians homepage, Shemya, Attu, Amchitka, Umnak, etc,
Attu trips
Outside Magazine Attu trip article by Stewart O'Nan, November 1998
Coast Guard PBY (08055) V-189 crashed on Mount Moffat, Adak, on July 18, 1943

Distance between Kodiak, Alaska
and Attu, Alaska as the crow flies:
1392 miles (2240 km) (1210 nautical miles) 

Initial heading from Kodiak to Attu:
west (270.9 degrees) 
Initial heading from Attu to Kodiak:
east-northeast (62.1 degrees) 

Kodiak, Alaska, US
Location: N57 47 55 W152 24 08

Attu, Alaska, US
Location: N52 54 09 E172 54 34 

(These positions can be cut and pasted into a Google Earth search)

Main index

http://www.kadiak.org/aleutians/index.html created 2001 June 18 Updated 2008 February 16