One of the eight National Historic Landmarks in Sitka commemorates World War II.
Sitka Naval Operating Base and U.S. Army Coast Defenses National Historic Landmark is on Japonski and neighboring islands, across the O’Connell Bridge from downtown Sitka.
Construction began in 1939, and when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Naval Air Station at Sitka was the only military base on the North Pacific ready to defend this coast, regarded as a potential target.
The Naval Operating Base (1942) began as a seaplane base in 1937. Before and during World War II the scenic chain of islands of Sitka Harbor was leveled and connected to form the Naval Air Station and accompanying Army installations for harbor defense. This massive project culminated in a causeway 1.5 miles long, with the Army’s Fort Rousseau on Makhnati Island at the tip.
Sitka’s airport cuts off land access to the Causeway, but it can be reached using a kayak or by landing from a small boat.
Nearly all the wooden buildings were removed for use elsewhere, but concrete structures such as bunkers and gun emplacements can still be found. The causeway is now Fort Rousseau State Historical Park.
The Naval Operating Base was built on Japonski Island for the amphibious PBY Catalina “flying boats.” The best view of the former Navy base is from across the channel on Katlian Street, near the ANB Founders Hall, itself a National Historic Landmark. Two hangars remain – one is now the University of Alaska Southeast’s Sitka campus – with an apron in front the size of an aircraft carrier deck and once equipped with catapults and arresting gear. On the hill above are the concrete communications and recreation buildings, barracks, and mess hall, now used by Mt. Edgecumbe High School, a state boarding school.
Under way is rehabilitation of the Navy’s boat repair shop, at the foot of O’Connell Bridge on Japonski Island, as a working maritime center and interpretive center for the National Historic Landmark. Information on this project can be found at the Sitka Maritime Heritage Society’s Web site, sitkamaritime.org.
