The Navy “Neighbor” Of Kodiak
An Integral Segment Of The Community
By Fred Harden
From a purely historical view
point, the U.S. Navy’s contribu
tion to Kodiak history — which
0 dates back to 1783, when the first
white settlement was established
here—has been rather recent vin
tage.
« The Navy first came to Kodiak
some 21 years ago, on August 29,
1939, to be precise. It was on this
date that the Navy initially occupi
ed the present site of the Kodiak
naval station.
The Navy’s interest in Alaska
was generated by the Japanese
Pacific expansion and gave our
military leaders to fear that some
day the Japanese might use the
Aleutian-Alaskan route in an at
tack upon the Continental United
States, a pre-Pearl Harbor supposi
tion that proved ultimately to be
closer to the truth, even more so
than had been thought by those
who had advocated a military build
up in the Alaska area.
The Naval Station was first com
missioned as a Section Base in
January, 1941, but actually, Navy
wise, Kodiak hit its stride when it
was designated a Naval operating
Base in June of ’42. There was a
Submarine Base out on Nyman’s
Peninsula, an Air Station, a com
munication Station, a Fleet Wea
ther command and an Army com
mand at Fort Greely. More than
$36,000,000 had been poured into
construction work at Kodiak by
June, 1942 and another $36,000,000
had been authorized for station’s
completion.
By June, 1942, there were more
than 2,500 civilian contract work
ers in Kodiak; an Army garrison
of 7,600 and some 773 Navy men,
contributing to a condition that
one historian describes as being
“an optimum of chaos."
Untid August, 1940, the first
naval military command was es
tablished in Alaska with Capt.
Ralph Parker serving with the
title of Commander. Alaska Sector.
Capt. Parker served as ComAlSec
until June, 1942 just after the jap
anese attack upon Dutch Harbor.
He had the 2000-ton gunboat USS
Charleston assigned to him as his
Flagship, but with the outbreak
of war in 1941, he moved his of
fices ashore at Kodiak. Capt. Par
ker was in command when most of
the Navy’s Alaska expansion took
pdace.
More than 20 years later, Kodiak
is still the seat of the Navy’s vast
Alaska command. There are seven
separate commands housed aboard
the base.
There is the Naval Station, pre
sently commanded by Capt. N. R.
Lincoln. The mission of the Naval
Station is to maintain and operate
facilities and provide services for
the other six commands housed a
board the station and to units of
the Fleet that visit.
The commands It supports in
clude Headquarters, 17th Naval
District, Headquarters, Comman
der Alaskan Sea Frontier, Fleet
USCG Air Detachment, and Patrol
Weather Central, Marine Barracks,
Squadron Seventeen.
The Alaskan r«sa Frontier and
the 17th Naval District are com
manded by Rear Admiral H. H.
Caldwell, who has to wear “two
hats” to carry on the responsibili
ties of these two separate billets.
The missions of both commands
remain virtually the same—to pro
tect sea communications, submar
ine and anti-submarine operations,
nrning and harbor defense, Alas
kan reconnaissance and support
of the Dew line.
The majority of personnel as
signed to District Headquarters at
Kodiak, like the Admiral, wear
“two hats” and are holding down
an assigned billet with the Alas
kan Sea Frontier command.
The stories that could be told, of
the Navy here at Kodiak, of the
heroics, especially of the SAR mis
sion of the Coast Guard and the
P2Vs’ flights, of the community
assistance, of the deeds of individ
uals, are too numerous to cover in
this brief report on the Navy at
Kodiak.
However, they were no more
than one would expect of a “neig
hbor” who has been an integrated v
part of the Kodiak scene for more
than 21 years.
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