Crabbs Peninsula is a long narrow finger of land which extends from the northeast coast of

Antigua Antigua ( ; ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua ...

. It lies between

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

and

Guana Island Guana Island is an island of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in the Caribbean. One of the few remaining privately owned islands in its part of the world, Guana has seven white powder-sand beaches and of tropical forest, mountains, hills, ...

, the fourth and fifth largest islands of

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda is a Sovereign state, sovereign archipelagic country composed of Antigua, Barbuda, and List of islands of Antigua and Barbuda, numerous other small islands. Antigua and Barbuda has a total area of 440 km2 (170 sq mi), ...

. The small settlement of Parham lies close to the base of the peninsula.

Naval Base Crabbs

In 1941, Crabbs Peninsula was leased for 99 years to the US Military, due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the

Destroyers-for-bases deal The destroyers-for-bases deal was an agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom on 2 September 1940, according to which 50 , , and -class US Navy destroyers were transferred to the Royal Navy from the US Navy in exchange for lan ...

. A

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Station was built with a camp for

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

and

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

. The Naval Air Station construction started on 17 March 1941 and improvement ended in 1943. After the war in 1945, the base was closed. The Navy dredged a channel near Maiden Island on the south side of the base for shipping. The dredge made two small islands. During the war the station had one patrol squadron of

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tech ...

s with a

seaplane tender A seaplane tender is a boat or ship that supports the operation of seaplanes. Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are rega ...

. The station was built by civilian workers. US Bases
'US Navy''

Demographics

Crabbs Peninsula has one enumeration district, ED 51304. Crabbs is considered to be part of Vernons for census purposes. The enumeration district has an area of 2.36 square kilometers.

References

Landforms of Antigua and Barbuda {{Antigua-geo-stub

Naval Base Crabbs

Demographics

See also

References