Saint Anthony Air Station

Saint Anthony Air Station
Part of Pinetree Line
Newfoundland, Canada
Emblem of the 921st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron
Coordinates	51°20′57″N 055°36′39″W
Type	Radar Station
Code	N-26
Site information
Controlled by	Northeast Air Command Aerospace Defense Command
Site history
Built	1953
Built by	United States Air Force
In use	1953-1968

Saint Anthony AS

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Location of Saint Anthony AS

Saint Anthony Air Station (ADC ID: N-26) is a closed General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 292.5 miles (470.7 km) north-northwest of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.[1] 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, one of the many that would make up the Pinetree Line of Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) radar sites.

It was used initially by the Northeast Air Command 921st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, which was activated. It was equipped with the following radars:

• Search Radars: AN/FPS-3C, AN/FPS-502, AN/FPS-20A, AN/FPS-93A
• Height Radars: AN/TPS-502, AN/FPS-6B

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 at Goose AFB, Labrador.

The station was reassigned to the USAF Air Defense Command on 1 April 1957, and was given designation "N-26". In 1963, the site was connected to the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) Direction Center (DC-31) at Goose AFB.[2]

In addition to the main facility, Saint Anthony operated an AN/FPS-14 manned Gap Filler site:

• La Scie Air Station (N-26B): 49°58′50″N 055°31′48″W (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^[when?] the site remains intact. It apparently^[according to whom?] has been unused and abandoned since its closure, some have been reduced to concrete foundations only.

Saint Anthony Air Station, Newfoundland in July 1961

The Pole Vault communications system at Saint Anthony

USAF units and assignments

Units:

• 921st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, Activated at Grenier AFB, 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:

• 64th Air Division (NEAC), 1 October 1953
• 4731st Air Defense Group, 1 April 1957
• Goose Air Defense Sector, 6 June 1960
• 37th Air Division, 1 April 1966 – 18 June 1968

See also

• List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

1. "The CADIN Pinetree Line Locations".
2. Information for St. Anthony AS, NL

• 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.