Bluie West Seven

Bluie West 7 or Grondal was a major U.S. naval operating facility (naval base) near Ivigtut in Arsuk Fjord, Greenland. In some form, it was in operation from 1940 to 1951, although its formal establishment by the U.S. Navy was on 1 April 1943. After 1942, the proper name was Grønnedal (Danish), or Green Valley (English), but the base was also called Grondal ("groan dale") by Americans. Bluie was the military code name for Greenland. It was three miles east of the Ivigtut cryolite mine. The location's local name in use today is Kangilinnguit. The Arsuk Fjord approach is accessible by sea year-round, though with occasional ice-breaking assistance, and is known as an exceptionally scenic area.

During the initial period of U.S. humanitarian aid to Greenland (1940), the cryolite mine at Ivigtut was identified as the only sensitive military target in need of protection. In addition, the Cryolite Company informed the U.S. that its workers were unreliable and might be a greater security risk than a German raider. To address an urgent Greenlandic request and to forestall similar British/Canadian plans while simultaneously avoiding the appearance of American intervention, a minimal force of 15 U.S. servicemen were given discharges and then hired by the Cryolite Company. For their use, in June 1940 the U.S. sold to the Greenland government an armaments package including one 3" naval gun and 55 rifles with ammunition. However, as early as November 1940 the State Department mentioned to the colonial governors the eventual need for a naval station in the vicinity. Plans were drawn up by the Navy Department over the winter, awaiting renewed American shipping access in March 1941.

In spring 1941, after the Hull-Kauffmann agreement allowed U.S. militarization of Greenland, a proper naval base was sought nearby. At first, the mine village was itself used, as it had the best port facilities in Greenland. It was supplemented by a protected anchorage at Kungnat Bay ten miles west, near Arsuk village. By May 1942, the Army took over protection of the mine, while the Navy operated in temporary quarters pending move to a nearby location. This site was known as Grønnedal from the green foliage there. In April 1942, U.S. Coast Guard vessels began surveying the site for a tank farm and other buildings. By February, the Navy decided to expand to an Advanced Operating Facility with an initial complement of 64 men, and the base was inaugurated on 1 April 1943. Major construction continued in 1943, and Grondal, known then as Navy 26, became an important naval support base.

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