Frobisher Bay Air Base
| Frobisher Bay Air Base | |
|---|---|
| Frobisher Bay | |
 Frobisher Bay Air Base
|
|
| Coordinates | 63°45′21″N 68°32′23″W / 63.755833°N 68.539722°W |
| Type | Air Force Station |
| Site information | |
| Owner | USAF |
| Controlled by | USAF |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1942 |
| Built by | USAF |
| In use | 1942–1963 |
Frobisher Bay Air Base is a former United States Air Force facility adjacent to the then town of Frobisher Bay, Northwest Territories (now Iqaluit, Nunavut); 1,299 mi (2,091 km) north of Ottawa, Ontario. It was closed in 1963 and became a civilian airport Frobisher Bay Airport (Iqaluit Airport since 1987).
During late July 1941, a United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) team headed by Captain Elliott Roosevelt investigated the Frobisher Bay region for a potential airport for use in trans-Atlantic air traffic. Roosevelt's report designated a marginal site at Cape Rammelsberg for later construction. In mid-October, trawlers Lark, Polarbjoern, and Selis reached the vicinity, but owing to inaccurate charts (dating from the 1865 expedition of Charles Francis Hall) could not find the Roosevelt site. Instead, an eight-man crew commanded by USAAF Captain John T. Crowell was offloaded on a smaller island "about eight miles southeast of the headland Captain Roosevelt had recommended." They operated a weather/radio station over the winter. The expedition reported that "this island is reported to be some 400 feet high and very level on top providing a natural runway of more than a mile in length." The ships left on 5 November.
When the station relief and base construction expedition arrived next July, both the Crowell and Roosevelt sites were rejected in favor of a level meadow discovered along the Sylvia Grinnell River on mainland Baffin Island. On 30 July, ships Polaris and Effie M. Morrissey anchored in what was then called Koojesse Inlet and began surveying the area: "The terrain was excellent, with level ground extending nearly the entire 6,000 feet needed for an ample runway...The harbor, readily accessible from the bay, offered a good anchorage for ships of any size that would come in." The expedition consisted further of the USCGC Bear, equipped with a seaplane, the transports Fairfax and Eleanor and some smaller vessels. Having offloaded the airport construction crews and materials, the expedition left at the end of September.
...
Wikipedia