Naval Air Station Halifax, also NAS Halifax, was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Naval Air Station located in

Eastern Passage Eastern Passage is an unincorporated suburban community in Halifax Regional Municipality Nova Scotia, Canada. Eastern Passage has historically been tied to the fishing industry. Its waterfront has several small wharves and piers. The constru ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

History

NAS Halifax was established in August 1918 by

Richard E. Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer and explorer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, p ...

in the months following the United States' entry into

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. United States Naval Aviation briefly operated the base on the shores of

Halifax Harbour Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Halifax largely owes its existence to the harbour, being one of the largest and deepest ice-free natural harbo ...

, adjacent to

RCAF Station Dartmouth Canadian Forces Base Shearwater , commonly referred to as CFB Shearwater and formerly named HMCS ''Shearwater'', is a Canadian Forces facility located east southeast of Shearwater, Nova Scotia, on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour in the Hal ...

, to stage its

Curtiss HS-2L The Curtiss HS was a single-engined patrol flying boat built for the United States Navy during World War I. Large numbers were built from 1917 to 1919, with the type being used to carry out anti-submarine patrols from bases in France from June 1 ...

flying boats used in coastal and anti-submarine patrols along North America's eastern seaboard. NAS Halifax was transferred to the Royal Canadian Naval Air Service (RCNAS) at the end of World War I and the facility was renamed HMCS Shearwater. The flying boat facility was merged with the land-based airfield at RCAF Station Dartmouth to form RCAF Station Shearwater (also known as RCNAS Shearwater). In 1968 the entire facility (airfield and shore-based former flying boat base) was merged into the

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Forc ...

and the base was renamed

CFB Shearwater Canadian Forces Base Shearwater , commonly referred to as CFB Shearwater and formerly named HMCS ''Shearwater'', is a Canadian Forces facility located east southeast of Shearwater, Nova Scotia, on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour in the Hal ...

. The flying boat base has been redeveloped as a shore-side pier to the air force base and is occasionally used for transferring aircraft to and from warships, as well as being a secure dock outside of Downtown Halifax for visiting nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

warships.

References

{{Coord, 44, 38, 5.81, N, 63, 30, 28.23, W, region:CA, display=title Halifax NAS Transport in Halifax, Nova Scotia History of Halifax, Nova Scotia 1918 establishments in Nova Scotia Closed installations of the United States Navy

History

See also

References