LORAN STATION CAPE ATHOLL
Station Information
| Site Survey: | 03 - 05 JUN 1952 05 AUG 1952 |
| Construction Date: | Started in 1953 with a completion in 1954 |
| Constructed by: | North Atlantic Constructors ($1,750,000.00 USD) |
| Established: Commissioned: |
1954 1954 |
| Decommissioned: Disestablished: |
30 JUN 1975 |
| Operated by: |
1954 - 30 JUN 1972: USCG 01 JUL 1972 - 30 JUN 1975: Danish contractors for station maintenance and power plant, USCG for On-Air LORAN operations |
| Project code name: |
DOPE I |
| Unit Identifier: |
01-40103 |
| Mail address: | 1954: APO 23, New York, NY
1967: APO 23, New York, NY 09023 |
| AKA: |
DOPE I |
| HAM Call Sign: |
KGLCG |
| Personnel Allowance: | 1 Officer, 18 Enlisted |
| Station Mascot: | |
| Station events: | 1952 - Established to support Operation Blue Jay Station located on a small bay known as Quaratit, four miles south of Cape Atholl and approximately eighteen miles south of Thule Air Force Base. 1955 NOV 07: The USAF flight mission was to deliver mail to station. During return trip back to Thule the helicopter crash. No flight plan was submitted. Station had very little involvement in the rescue effort. 1955 NOV: Shortly after, the 58th Air Rescue squadron received instructions not to furnish support to this unit except actual rescue operations. 1956 JUL: Radio beacon tower installed by the Air Force. 1956 OCT: An "Open Circuit" was established with Thule Air Force Base for traffic. 1959: Weather reports submitted to Thule Air Force Base three times daily. 1959 AUG: Senior U.S. foreign service officer, CO of Thule AFB and 4 Americans and one Danish die as a result of a helicopter crash. 1963 AUG 11: Main Diesel engine failure. Crew replaced with on-site spare. CG Engineer's Digest article 1964: A landline was established between Thule AFB and the station. 1966: A crew member had his appendix removed. 1971 JUL 17: SAEW AWOL a day after the USO show "Show Titans" performed at the station. Thule Air Base Security located him under the custody of the Catholic Chaplain. He was retained in custody of the Air Base security until the CO interviewed him. 1971 AUG 28: CO MEDEVAC - returned on the 30th. 1972: A new telephone cable was installed between Thule AFB and the station permitting a 100wpm teletype circuit. 1972 JUN 30: Danish contractors arrived at the station. 1972 JUL 01: Station Operations turned over to the Danish with the exception of CO, and LORAN on-air operations and radio net |
| Commanding Officers: | 1954 Construction Representative: Hal Hovorka 1954 - 1955 LT Leland C. Batdorf 1955 - 1956 LT William K. Vogeler 1956 - 1957 LTJG Robert Cluett 1957 - 1958 LTJG Anthony A. Nevins 1958 - 1959 LTJG Charles B. Glass 1959 - 1960 LTJG Donald M. Taub (? - JUL) 1960 - 1961 LTJG David J. Meskell (JUL - JUL) 1961 - 1962 LTJG Thomas R. Klein (JUL - JUL) 1962 - 1963 LTJG Kenneth C. Cutler (JUL - JUL) 1963 - 1964 LTJG William H. Wilson (JUL - AUG) 1964 - 1965 LTJG Nils Linfors (AUG – JUL) 1965 - 1966 LTJG Henry B. Traver (JUL - AUG) 1966 - 1967 1967 - 1968 LTJG David Zawadski (AUG - MAY) 1968 - 1969 LTJG David M. Labuda (MAY – MAY) 1969 - 1970 LTJG Harry F. Schmecht (MAY – MAY) 1970 - 1971 LTJG Theodore C. Scheeser (MAY - 06 JUN) 1971 - 1972 LTJG John F. McGowan (06 JUN - 02 JUN) 1972 - 1973 LTJG Pablo M. Rodriguez (02 JUN - ?) 1973 - 1974 LTJG Charles S. Allen 1974 - 1975 LTJG Thomas H. Gilmore (? - 30 JUN) |
Station Operations
LORAN-A
076 18 56.62 N 069 21 21.03 W
| Chain: | EASTERN ARCTIC |
| Station Letter designation: | |
| Radio Call Sign: | |
| Declared Operational date: | 08 NOV 1954 |
| Operations terminated: | 302400Q JUN 1975 |
| Station Operation: | Single MASTER (SM) |
| Station pair: Loran rate: Coding delay: Baseline: |
CAPE ATHOLL (M) - CAPE CHRISTIAN (S) 1L7, 1L0, 2S6 N/A Approx. 350 Nautical miles |
| On-air testing date: | 1954 |
| On-Air: | 1L7 – 8 NOV 1954 1L0 – NOV 1956 2S6 - 1957 |
| Off-Air: | 1L7 – NOV 1956 1L0 – 1957 2S6 – 302400Q JUN 1975 |
| Monitor Rate: | Cross rate monitor |
| Equipment: | 1954: AN/FPN-30 Timers, T-325B Transmitters, AM-701 Amplifiers JUL 1956: An 180 ft. Radio Beacon Tower constructed by USAF. Radio beacon, AN/URA-11 timer, TB-142 transmitter, TB-143A amplifier, CU-350 coupler JUL 1956: 1- AN/FPN-30 timer, 1-modified AN/FPN-30 timer with 4 servo loops and 1 phase loop. 1972: T-801A/FRN MAY 1972: Two Rubidium Frequency Standards installed allowing 2usec operations during daylight months. |
| Radiator: | Cage Tee |
Fred's Place Reunion Hall: Old
Awards:
Coast Guard Unit Commendation
01 SEP 1970 - 30 SEP 1970
15 JUN 1973- 30 NOV 1973
The Arctic Service Medal
Any member of the U. S. Coast Guard who serves or has served at least 21 consecutive days
under competent orders
Coast Guard Restricted Duty Ribbon
Documents:
06 JUN 1956 - Overseas Loran Station Survey - pdf
02 NOV 1961 - General Information Book - pdf (a revision to the 1957 GIB)
21 JAN 1964 - Review Of Coast Guard Overseas Facilities - pdf
24 SEP 1972 - General Information Book; revision of 1967 - pdf
131525Z MAR 74 - State Department Station Closure - pdf
Removal of Thule Helicopters
231655Z JUL 73 - State Department Withdrawal of Helos at Thule - pdf
051409Z APR 74 - State Department Withdrawal of Helos at Thule - pdf
191400Z APR 74 - State Department Withdrawal of Helos at Thule - pdf
MEMORY LANE:
"During my tour we had what was billed as the first USO show since the station was commissioned. The show was "The Arkansas Lassies" who put on a wonderful song and
cleared, Thule called to say they would be able to come soon to get
them. The lassie's supervisor replied "Don't rush, we're having a
wonderful time!"
--- CDR Bill Wilson; CO July '63 to Aug'64
Bob Cluett's, A year at the top of the world
Thanks Bob!
1959 - 1960 Scenes at the station - contributed by Don Taub (1959/1960 - CO)
Explanation:
Attached are several items related to my year at USCG LORAN Station,
Cape Atholl, Thule District, NW Greenland in 1959-60,....and 1994.
(1) Map.
(2) Photo of CG station at Quarautit valley in Springtime.
(3) Photo in 1994 of the remains of the station after the site was
"returned to nature" in 1976; leaving only the station's "survival
building" & a shed for the use of the Eskimos hunters & travelers.
USCGC Northland had also transplanted a small seed herd of musk oxen there & at 3 other locations north of Cape Atholl in 1986. [ Another CG icebreaker; thought to be CGC Westwind, had landed a small seed herd of caribou in the mid-late 1960's in Olrik Fjord, north of the airbase.]
(4) Miscellaneous photos.
(1)
Pitugfik (Petowik) Glacier just south of the CG station.
(2) Polar Bear Hunt, late winter / early spring 1960 with Thomas
Suersaq, Ere Danielsen & Jess Kujaukitsoq. [ CG station personnel
did not do any hunting. I was armed with a camera.]
(3) Getting water from under the sea ice: Heated water tank
mounted on caterpillar trailer with its tractor (after it broke
through the ice),...and 2nd bulldozer to pull them out,...thence up
the hill to the station's machinery room equipped with diesel
powered saltwater distillers....(1 of 2 separated machinery rooms;
both with 2 of 4 diesel electric generators.).
(4) Social hospitality with Eskimos: boy playing pool & dancing
with the ladies (who loved to dance !) They were our welcome
guests. As below; contact between the Eskimos & the US military in
the Thule Air Base "Defense Zone" was prohibited.
(5)
Two of Bob Cluett's friends at CG Station:
Greenlander school teacher, Ingmar Egede, with our female dog
Pearl & me. .Ingmar was Bob's dogsledding companion & host to
Kanak. .... And also my host later at Kanak.
Dr. Ingrid Givskud, MD, from Kanak..the only Danish medical
doctor in the Thule District....(& with what may be Ingmar Egede).
They were also thankful for the assistance provided to local Eskimos
by the CG station's hospital corpsman.
Dr. Givskud & Mr. Egede were the influential administrators at Kanak
who assisted me in obtaining the USCG station's recognized exemption
from the USAF-Danish-NATO agreement's "No Contact" rules (no
contact between the US military personnel at Thule AF Base & the
Thule District's Eskimos; and agreed upon by the new Danish military
Liaison Officer at Thule AF Base; CDR Erik Groseth, following the
helicopter death of the earlier DLO, CDR Alexander Edvars (who had
lectured me about our violations)...with his Thanks & "Please
Continue" to be the Eskimos' Good Neighbor.....as it likely had
been, perhaps from the CG station's origin..
Don Taub
Thanks Don!
Pictures:
U.S. Coast Guard Official photos
Tom Leary (RM3 SEP 1968 to SEP 1969) photo collection
Charley Allen (CO 1973-74) photo collection
photo from Google earth
Found on Fred's Place
1970's
