United States Naval Station White's Island, Bermuda facts for kids
The United States Naval Station Whites Island was a United States Navy base. It was located on White's Island in Hamilton Harbour, in the British territory of Bermuda. Bermuda is about 640 miles off the coast of North Carolina.
The US Navy set up this base during the First World War. This war was also known as the Great War. The base helped anti-submarine ships. These ships were traveling from the United States to the war in Europe.
Bermuda was already an important naval spot. The Royal Navy had its Admiralty House, dockyard, and naval base there. This had been true since the American War of Independence. Bermuda's location in the North Atlantic was key. It also had a strong Royal Navy base. A barrier reef protected its harbors from submarines. Because of this, Bermuda became a major meeting point for ships crossing the Atlantic. These ships traveled in groups called convoys. Bermuda was a convoy staging point in both World War I and World War II.
When the US joined the war in 1917, it needed a place for its smaller anti-submarine ships. These ships needed a stopover point on their long trip across the Atlantic to Europe. Most small islands in Hamilton Harbour and the Great Sound belonged to the Royal Navy or the British Army. Some of these islands had been used to keep sick servicemen separate. Others were a Prisoner of War (POW) camp for Boer prisoners during the Second Boer War. Agar's Island was a secret British Army storage place for weapons. These islands had not been used much before.
Contents
Setting Up the Base on White's Island
On April 15, 1918, US Naval Captain W. G. Cutter arrived in Bermuda. He came on the ship SS Arethusa. He was there to take charge of the new US Naval Base 24. A US Navy group also ran a supply station on Agar's Island.
This base stayed open for the rest of the war. It helped 126 submarine hunter ships that passed through. These ships traveled in convoys of one to two dozen vessels. One ship sank in Two Rock Passage, the main way into Hamilton Harbour. It was pulled up, but then sank again near Agar's Island.
The US bases closed on April 1, 1919. This happened after the war ended.
Bermuda has been home to many important military bases over the years.
Other US Bases in Bermuda
- United States Navy Supply Station, Bermuda at Agar's Island (First World War)
- US Naval Operating Base, Naval Station Bermuda, Naval Air Station Bermuda, and NAS Bermuda Annex (1941-1995)
- United States Navy Submarine Base, Ordnance Island (Second World War)
- United States Navy, Naval Facility Bermuda (Tudor Hill) (1954-1995)
- United States Army, Fort Bell (1941-1948)
- United States Army Air Forces, Kindley Field (1943-1948)
- United States Air Force, Kindley Air Force Base (1948-1970)
- United States Army Bermuda Garrison (1941-1945)
- United States Navy, Naval Air Station Bermuda (originally Kindley Field) (1970-1995)
- United States Coast Guard Air-Sea Rescue, at Naval Station Bermuda and Kindley AFB
- National Air and Space Administration, at Kindley AFB/US NAS Bermuda
- Royal Naval Dockyard Bermuda, and the Royal Navy in Bermuda (1795-1995)
- Royal Navy (Fleet Air Arm), Royal Naval Air Station Boaz Island (HMS Malabar)
- Royal Canadian Navy, HMCS Somers Isles (1944-1945)
- Royal Canadian Navy, Naval Radio Station Bermuda (1944-1968)
- Canadian Forces Station Bermuda, Daniel's Head (1968-1993)
