Air Station Salem, Massachusetts
Original Location:
Winter Island, Salem, Massachusetts
Current Location:
N/A
Date of Commission:
15 February 1935
Fate:
Decommissioned, 1970
Historical Remarks:
On 15 February 1935 the Coast Guard established a
seaplane facility at Salem, Massachusetts because there was no longer space
to expand the Ten Pound Island Gloucester air station. Air Station
Salem was located at Winter Island, an extension of Salem Neck which juts
out into Salem Harbor. The aviation facilities consisted of a single
hangar, a paved 250 ft parking apron, and two seaplane ramps leading down
into the waters of Salem Harbor. Salem was equipped with, what were at
the time, state of the art communications and modern repair facilities.
Barracks, administrative and dinning facilities and motor pool buildings
were also part of the complex. The station was commissioned with a
complement of 35 men and two airplanes.
Search and rescue, hunting for derelicts and medical evacuations were the
primary areas of responsibility. During the first year of operation
the Salem crews performed 26 medivac missions. They flew in all kinds
of weather and the radio direction capabilities of the aircraft were of
significant value in locating vessels in distress. Fog, on numerous
occasions, complicated the situation. One had to see the vessel and
the water surface to land. LT P. S Lyons, on one occasion, after
obtaining a radio bearing, was unable to see the freighter SS Blackhawk
due to fog. He requested the freighter send up clouds of black smoke
from her stack. He saw the smoke, set up an intercept course, let down
slowly through the fog until he was just above the water surface and
proceeded toward the ship. When he saw the ship he landed along side
in a heavy swell, took the seaman aboard, then rushed him to a hospital
saving the mans life.
Not all of the units work was rescue of course. Duties ranged from
counting migratory water foul for the U.S. Biological Survey to carrying
provisions, mail and medical assistance to ice bound islands during the
winter; transporting serum and medical supplies to threatened communities;
and the making of aerial maps. Sometimes emergencies drew the aircraft
to inland locations. During the big floods in western Pennsylvania,
one of the station aircraft based out of Pittsburg and made the first
comprehensive survey of the flooded area. Because of this survey the
authorities were able to radio broadcast to the populace a complete picture
of the state of affairs in the region.
In 1941 air crews from Salem began to fly neutrality patrols along the
coast. During World War II the air station roster increased to 37
aircraft. Anti-submarine patrols were flown on a regular basis.
In October of 1944 Air Station Salem was officially designated as the first
Air Sea Rescue station on the eastern seaboard. The PBM, a hold-over
from the war, became the primary rescue aircraft. In the mid 1950s
helicopters came as did the Grumman Albatross amphibians (UFs). Salem
Harbor was large enough to provide a seadrome with three sealanes.
These offered a good choice of take-off headings regardless of wind
direction unless there was a strong steady wind from the east. This
produced large waves that swept into the mouth of the harbor making water
operations difficult. When the seadrome was too rough returning
amphibian aircraft would use Beverly airport.
Recognizing that weather conditions could render the seadrome inoperable
from time to time and that night operations in Salem Harbor had become
hazardous, a sub-unit, Coast Guard Air Detachment Quonset Point, was
established at the Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island. With
a complement of one Albatross amphibian, four pilots, and eight crewmen,
Quonset was responsible for supplementing Salem planes during rescue
operations and for fixed-wing flying when Salem could not provide it.
The Quonset crews stood a tough port-and-starboard duty schedule of three
days on watch and three days off.
Salem Air Station closed in 1970. The Salem and Quonset Point
operations moved to Otis Air Force base out on “The Cape” and Coast
Guard Air Station Cape Cod was established.
The CGAS Salem property was turned over to the City of Salem in 1972 and the
facilities of the former air station have been allowed to slowly
deteriorate. The original hangar, barracks and other buildings still
stand but are in disrepair. Historic Salem Incorporated has been able
to place Winter Island on the endangered list and they hope to be able to
restore the old air station which for 35 years played an important role in
this seafaring region.
Historic Photo Gallery
Unless otherwise indicated all photos are official U.S. Coast Guard photographs. Any original caption information is included in the text beneath each photo, along with a date, if known.
No caption; dated 1938; no photo number; photographer unknown.
No caption; dated circa 1945; no photo number; photographer unknown.
"AD3 E. Vogel on the
'Cat'; 1952.
Courtesy of the Pterodactyls.
Muster, 1952.
Courtesy of the Pterodactyls.
Sikorsky HNS-1
demonstration, circa 1952.
Courtesy of the Pterodactyls.
Martin PBM on AIRSTA
Salem's slipway, 1952.
Courtesy of the Pterodactyls.
Aerial view of AIRSTA
Salem, circa 1952.
Courtesy of the Pterodactyls.
Piasecki HRP-1 "Flying
Banana"; no date.
Courtesy of the Pterodactyls.
Grumman JRF
"Goose", circa 1952.
Courtesy of the Pterodactyls.
Historical Sources:
Air Station Files, U. S. Coast Guard Historian's Office
Arthur Pearcy. A History of U. S. Coast Guard Aviation. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1989.
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