NAS Argentia

Naval Air Station Argentia
IATA: NWP ICAO: none
Summary
Airport type	Military
Operator	United States Navy
Location	Argentia, Newfoundland
Time zone	NST (UTC−03:30)
• Summer (DST)	NDT (UTC−02:30)
Elevation AMSL	28 ft / 9 m
Coordinates	47°18′22″N 053°59′24″W / 47.30611°N 53.99000°W / 47.30611; -53.99000Coordinates: 47°18′22″N 053°59′24″W / 47.30611°N 53.99000°W / 47.30611; -53.99000
Map
Naval Air Station Argentia Location in Newfoundland and Labrador
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 04/22 7,400 2,250 Asphalt concrete 14/32 5,000 1,525 Asphalt concrete 08/26 5,100 1,550 Asphalt concrete

Naval Station Argentia (IATA: NWP) is a former base of the United States Navy that operated from 1941 to 1994. It was established in the community of Argentia in what was then the Dominion of Newfoundland, which later became the tenth Canadian province, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Established under the British-US destroyers for bases agreement of 1940, the base was first occupied on 25 January 1941 following the expropriation of the flat headland formed by a small natural bay called Little Placentia Sound and the western end facing Placentia Bay by the Newfoundland government; over 400 families were displaced.

Construction crews rushed to build the base as well as an adjoining air field. On 15 July 1941, the Naval Operating Base was commissioned.

On 7 August 1941 the heavy cruiser USS Augusta carrying U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt arrived in the anchorage at Little Placentia Bay off the base. Roosevelt inspected the base construction progress and did some fishing from Augusta over the next two days. Augusta was joined by the British warship HMS Prince of Wales carrying British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on 9 August 1941. While in the Argentia anchorage from 9–12 August, the chiefs of staff of Britain and the U.S. met to discuss war strategies and logistics once the U.S. joined in the war. The two leaders and their aides also negotiated the wording of a press release that they called a "joint statement". That press release was issued on 14 August 1941 in Washington, D.C. and was issued simultaneously in London, England. Several days later the Daily Herald would characterize the public statement as being the Atlantic Charter. However, there never was a signed, legal document called the "Atlantic Charter". Neither Roosevelt nor Churchill signed it. The conference concluded the evening of 12 August 1941 with the British and American warships and their escorts passing in review before departing the area for their home ports. The joint declaration was publicly announced on 14 August, presumably after Prince of Wales had returned to UK waters.