Stephenville Air Station

Stephenville Air Station
Part of Pinetree Line
Newfoundland, Canada

Emblem of the 640th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron
Coordinates 48°35′21″N 058°39′51″W / 48.58917°N 58.66417°W / 48.58917; -58.66417 (Stephenville AS N-23)
Type Radar Station
Code N-23
Site information
Controlled by Northeast Air Command
Aerospace Defense Command
Site history
Built 1952
Built by United States Air Force
In use 1952-1971
Garrison information
Occupants teletype com.
Stephenville AS
Location of Stephenville, Newfoundland

Stephenville Air Station (ADC ID: N-23, C-23) is a closed General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 5.9 miles (9.5 km) west-northwest of Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador. It was closed in 1971.

History

The site was established in 1951 as a General Surveillance Radar station, funded by the United States Air Force, one of the many that would make up the Pinetree Line of Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) radar sites.

It was activated by the Northeast Air Command which stationed the Federalized Air National Guard 105th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Stephenville Air Station on 19 January 1952. It operated the following radars:

As a GCI base, the 105th'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 at Goose AFB, Labrador. On 1 August 1953, the Air National Guard squadron was released from active service, and the unit was replaced by the 640th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, which assumed its personnel and equipment. The station was given designation "N-23" (later "C-23").

The station was reassigned to the USAF Air Defense Command on 1 April 1957. In 1963, the site was connected to the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) Direction Center (DC-31) at Goose AFB, and the site was upgraded to an AN/FPS-93A, AN/FPS-90 and AN/FPS-6B radars.

On 30 June 1971, the USAF transferred control of the site to the Canadian Forces. It was inactivated and has stood vacant ever since.

USAF units and assignments

Units:

Federalized in August 1951 and moved to Otis AFB, Massachusetts
Moved to Grenier AFB, New Hampshire on 1 September 1951
Moved to Stephenville Air Station on 19 January 1952
Inactivated and returned to Air National Guard control on 1 August 1953
Inactivated 30 June 1971

Assignments:

See also

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

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