Frobisher Bay, NWT

Longitude:
68 degrees 35 minutes West (Pinetree site, southeast Baffin Island)

Population:
135 approximately (1963)

Named after Sir Martin Frobisher who visited the area in 1576, 1577 and 1578 in search of the Northwest Passage and gold. The settlement took its name from the nearby bay.

After the Americans built the air base at Frobisher Bay in 1942 (See APO 692), it was turned over to Canada on September 1, 1950, but the US continued to use it. In the early 1950’s Frobisher Bay was used as a transshipment point for supplies flown to the newly established American air base at Thule, Greenland. A Pinetree Line radar station was built by the US above their base in 1952 and the "Polevault" communications system was added two years later. These facilities, known as the "Upper Base", were located north of the airport on a high ridge. The radar station (also known as site N-31) was closed on November 1, 1961. It appears that the "Polevault" communications facilities were used until 1974 when the whole site was abandoned. The buildings were finally dismantled and removed in the summer of 1997.

During DEW Line construction from 1955 to 1957, Frobisher served as a major staging area. In 1957 the US air base was transferred from the Northeast Service Command (part of the local system of defence for North America) to the Strategic Air Command (SAC) which operated long range bomber aircraft. SAC required an in-flight refueling base in the Eastern Arctic and chose Frobisher Bay in 1959. A large building was constructed in 1960 to the east of the new north-south airstrip built in 1958 for international air traffic. In 1961 there were 130 Americans at this SAC facility. It was deactivated in 1963 and the building was turned over to the Canadian Federal Government.

APO 440, which was a mailing address only, was established for the Pinetree radar site at Frobisher Bay. It appears to have been replaced or was changed to APO 228 which also served the US Coast Guard Long Range Aid to Navigation (LORAN) station at Cape Christian, near Clyde, NWT.

Opened: July 1, 1959 - Mailing Address Only (Parent Office New York)

Closed: August 15, 1960

References:
Advisory Commission 1966, Fletcher 1990, Meldrum 1975, Nicks et. Al 1997, Shaffer 1979, van Rassel 1996.

926^th Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron

Postal Markings:
No postal markings reported.

Kevin O’Reilly made this detail available for use on the Pinetree Line web site in December, 1998. He would like to communicate with anyone on this topic and he would appreciate receiving information about this aspect of the Pinetree Line. Kevin can be reached at: