RCAF Station St. Sylvestre
| RCAF Station St. Sylvestre | |
|---|---|
| Part of RCAF Air Defence Command | |
| Lotbinière, Quebec | |
 RCAF Station St. Sylvestre
Location in Quebec
|
|
| Coordinates | 46°20′09″N 71°08′30″W / 46.3359°N 71.1416°WCoordinates: 46°20′09″N 71°08′30″W / 46.3359°N 71.1416°W |
| Type | PINETREE Radar Station |
| Code | RCAF ADC C-6 |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by |
.svg){kind=small} RCAF
|
| Site history | |
| Built | 1952 |
| Built by |
RCAF
|
| In use | 1953-1964 |
| Events | Cold War |
| Garrison information | |
| Occupants | No.13 AC&W (Radar) Squadron |
Royal Canadian Air Force Station St. Sylvestre (RCAF ADC ID: C-6) was a Radar station of the Canadian Pinetree Line, located at Saint-Sylvestre, Quebec, in the Lotbinière Region, sixty-nine kilometres south Quebec City. Construction starting in 1952, the Station opened on 15 September 1953, first as RCAF Station Ste-Marie, being renamed RCAF Station St. Sylvestre, on 1 August 1955.
Announced on 16 March 1964, No.13 AC&W Radar Squadron was disbanded on 1 April 1964, with a downsizing of RCAF Air Defence Command AC&W Radar Squadrons. On 20 July 1964, the last RCAF personnel departed St. Sylvestre, given another re-alignment of the CANUS NORAD system.
Plans for the PINETREE Line were first considered, as early as May 1946, as Canada worked with the United States to consider cooperative continental defence planning, against limited long-range bomber air attacks. In 1949, the United States Congress agreed to 'shared' financing the construction of a line of radar stations, across southern Canada, to enhance warning of ‘air attack’ and for the direction of fighter interceptors. Given the estimated costs in construction, maintenance and personnel, it was agreed Canada would focus on priorities in southern Ontario and Quebec, with the United States on stations in Western and Atlantic Canada.
In 1951 the locations agreed, the PINETREE Project Office established, construction of the first PINETREE Stations began in 1952, they being completed by 1954. In the Eastern Canada, the stations ran in a line essentially along the 50th parallel, St Sylvestre being an anomaly situated at 46.33 Degrees North. Amongst several reasons, the St Sylvestre radomes on Mont Sainte-Marguerite, at an altitude of 698 metres (2290 feet), on the north edge of the Appalachians, easily covered the critical approaches into the eastern United States.
As a Continental Air Defense Integration North - PINETREE Line Station, it was designated as a Category 1 (Immediate Action) Project, assigned to RCAF Air Defence Command 1 ADCC Operational Sector, having a two-hour warning mandate. The Sector’s Air Defence Control Centre (No.1 ADCC) was located at RCAF Station Lac St. Denis, and it remained St Sylvestre’s ‘control’ through a short history with Continental Air Defense Command, before the signing of the NORAD Agreement in May 1958, later falling under the Montreal NORAD Air Defense Sector.
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