LORAN-C transmitter Lampedusa was the X-Ray secondary station of the Mediterranean Sea

LORAN-C Loran-C is a hyperbolic radio navigation system that allows a receiver to determine its position by listening to low frequency radio signals that are transmitted by fixed land-based radio beacons. Loran-C combined two different techniques to ...

Chain (GRI 7990). It used a transmission power of 325 kW. The Lampedusa LORAN-C transmitter was situated on the island of

Lampedusa Lampedusa ( , , ; scn, Lampidusa ; grc, Λοπαδοῦσσα and Λοπαδοῦσα and Λοπαδυῦσσα, Lopadoûssa; mt, Lampeduża) is the largest island of the Italian Pelagie Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The ''comune'' of L ...

at . The Lampedusa LORAN-C transmitter uses as an antenna a 190.5 metre (625 ft) tall mast radiator, which was commissioned in 1972. An Omega monitoring station was also constructed on the base. The LORAN Station ceased transmission on 312400Z DEC 94 and was decommissioned in January 1995.

History

The Loran station was relocated to Lampedusa, from Libya in 1972. In 1979, Lt.

Kay Hartzell Kay Lynn Hartzell (6 September 1948 — 26 February 2016) was a United States Coast Guard officer, notable for being the first female commanding officer of an isolated U.S. military base, when she assumed command of the Coast Guard LORAN/Omega stati ...

took command of the Coast Guard base,US Coast Guard's Women Chronology
/ref> becoming the first female commanding officer of an isolated U.S. military base. On April 15, 1986,

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

fired two Scuds at the U.S. Coast Guard navigation station on the Italian island, in retaliation for the American bombing of

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

and Benghazi. However, the missiles passed over the island, landing in the sea, and caused no damage. At the time of the missile attack, the LORAN station was under the command of Lt. Ernest DelBueno. DelBueno had spent the previous winter arming the crew and hardening the station against a possible terrorist attack. DelBueno received orders to evacuate non-essential members of the crew to the U.S. Naval Air Station in Sigonella, Sicily and to stay behind with a small team to keep the signal on air. The commander of a U.S. Navy transport helicopter from Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Four (

HC-4 Helicopter Combat Support Squadron FOUR (HC-4) was a United States Navy helicopter squadron based at Naval Air Station Norfolk, Virginia. Nicknamed the "Black Stallions", they flew the Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion and MH-53E Sea Dragon helicop ...

), upon landing advised DelBuono that he had received orders to evacuate the entire crew. Unable to communicate with his superiors in London, DelBueno and the crew left the base. They returned early the next morning. The incident damaged relations with some of the local Italians. Despite additional threats from Qaddafi throughout the spring of 1986, the station continued to provide signal availability to NATO forces. Prior to leaving at the end of his tour in July 1986, DelBueno installed enhanced secure communications equipment, fences and additional weapons to ensure that future commanding officers had the equipment to respond to potential terrorist threats. As a result of the attack, the Coast Guard station was commissioned as a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

base, controlled by Italy, including security hardening and an armory, as well as an Italian security detail stationed nearby. The NATO base was decommissioned in 1994 and transferred to Italian military control. It can still be seen clearly on Google Earth (keyword: Lampedusa), at the west end of the island, with swimming pool and outbuildings visible.

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

* http://www.megapulse.com/chaininfo.html * http://www.loran-history.info/lampedusa/lampedusa.htm LORAN-C transmitters Towers in Italy Military installations of the United States in Italy Lampedusa e Linosa 1972 establishments in Italy Towers completed in 1972 1990s disestablishments in Italy