Saint Anthony Air Station (ADC ID: N-26) is a closed General Surveillance Radar station. It is located north-northwest of

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North Ame ...

, Canada. It was closed in 1968.

History

The site was established in 1953 as a General Surveillance Radar station, funded by the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, one of the many that would make up the

Pinetree Line The Pinetree Line was a series of radar stations located across southern Canada at about the 50th parallel north, along with a number of other stations located on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Run by North American Aerospace Defense Comm ...

of Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) radar sites. It was used initially by the

Northeast Air Command Northeast Air Command (NEAC) was a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major command (military formation), Command of the United States Air Force, responsible for the operation and defense of air bases in Greenland, Labrador, ...

921st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, which was activated. It was equipped with the following radars: * Search Radars:

AN/FPS-3 The AN/FPS-20 was a widely used L band early warning and ground-controlled interception radar system employed by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command, the NORAD Pinetree Line in Canada, the USAF CONAD in the continental United State ...

C, AN/FPS-502,

AN/FPS-20 The AN/FPS-20 was a widely used L band early warning and ground-controlled interception radar system employed by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command, the NORAD Pinetree Line in Canada, the USAF CONAD in the continental United States, a ...

A, AN/FPS-93A * Height Radars: AN/TPS-502,

AN/FPS-6 The AN/FPS-6 Radar was a long-range height finding radar used by the United States Air Force's Air Defense Command. The AN/FPS-6 radar was introduced into service in the late 1950s and served as the principal height-finder radar for the United S ...

B As a GCI base, the 921st's role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes. These interceptors were assigned to the

64th Air Division The 64th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, being stationed at Stewart Air Force Base, New York. It was inactivated on 1 July 1963. History World War II The orga ...

Goose AFB Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay , commonly referred to as CFB Goose Bay, is a Canadian Forces Base located in the municipality of Happy Valley-Goose Bay in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is operated as an air force base by ...

, Labrador. The station was reassigned to the USAF

Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for air defense of the continental United States. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air De ...

on 1 April 1957, and was given designation "N-26". In 1963, the site was connected to the

Semi Automatic Ground Environment The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was a system of mainframe computer, large computers and associated computer network, networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce a single unified image ...

(SAGE) Direction Center (DC-31) at

. Information for St. Anthony AS, NL
/ref> In addition to the main facility, Saint Anthony operated an

AN/FPS-14 The AN/FPS-14 was a medium-range search Radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command. This medium-range search radar was designed and built by Bendix as a SAGE system gap-filler radar to provide low-altitude coverage. Operating ...

manned Gap Filler site: * La Scie Air Station (N-26B): (Det 2 921st AC&W) N-26B was built in 1957 about 150 km southeast of the main station and was closed in 1961. The town of La Scie, located about 5 km to the southwest provided living facilities to Detachment 2. The 921st AC&WS squadron was inactivated on 18 June 1968, and Saint Anthony AS was closed on 30 June. Today the site remains intact. It apparently has been unused and abandoned since its closure, some have been reduced to concrete foundations only. Saint Anthony Air Station aerial view July 1961

Saint Anthony Air Station aerial view July 1961

USAF units and assignments

Units: * 921st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, Activated at

Grenier AFB Grenier is a surname. It is a French word for ''attic, loft,'' or ''granary''. Notable people with the surname include: * Adrian Grenier * Angèle Grenier, Canadian maple syrup producer * Auguste Jean François Grenier (1814–1890), French docto ...

, New Hampshire, 26 May 1953 : Transferred to Saint Anthony Air Station, Northeast Air Command, 1 October 1953 : Reassigned to Air Defense Command, 1 April 1957 : Discontinued 18 June 1968 Assignments: *

(NEAC), 1 October 1953 * 4731st Air Defense Group, 1 April 1957 *

Goose Air Defense Sector The Goose Air Defense Sector (GADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 26th Air Division, being stationed at Goose Air Force Base, Labrador, Canada. It was inactivated on 1 April 1966 and re ...

, 6 June 1960 *

37th Air Division The 37th Air Division (37th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command at Goose Air Force Base, Labrador, Canada It was inactivated on 30 June 1970. History Strategic Air Command Es ...

, 1 April 1966 – 18 June 1968

References

* A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado * Winkler, David F. (1997), Searching the skies: the legacy of the United States Cold War defense radar program. Prepared for United States Air Force Headquarters Air Combat Command. {{NLMilitary, state=collapsed Installations of the United States Air Force in Canada Radar stations of the United States Air Force Military installations in Newfoundland and Labrador 1953 establishments in Newfoundland and Labrador 1968 disestablishments in Newfoundland and Labrador Military installations closed in 1968 Military installations established in 1953

History

USAF units and assignments

See also

References