The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
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Naval History and Heritage Command #NH 106710
Astoria (123.861W
46.185N) was founded in 1811 as a fur-trading post on the
mouth of the Colombia River.
It was the
terminus of the Lewis-Clark expedition and was an important element of
the United States’ claim to
the Oregon Territory.
In 1941, it was the site of a Coast
Guard station and
other small military posts, as well as Tongue Point Naval Air Station
and Clatsop County Airport. The
latter supported Navy land-based aircraft during the
war. There was a small shipyard here, Astoria Marine Construction, which by 1943 was constructing small warships such as submarine chasers.
The naval station carried out a number of conversions of civilian ships
to Navy auxiliaries, and many of the warships launched by Kaiser at Portland or Vancouver were formally commissioned here.
Fort Stevens,
located west of Astoria (123.96W
46.20N), was the
headquarters of Harbor Defenses, Columbia River, which included 18
Coast Artillery Regiment and 249
Coast Artillery Regiment.
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007-2008, 2010, 2012 by Kent G. Budge. Index
