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Greenland and the U.S.

This map shows the locations of all U.S. military and scientific research locations on Greenland, past and present. Most were installed during World War II. Some later. The blue markers represent current bases. The red markers are for bases that were removed or turned over to the Greenland-Denmark government.

The code names for some of these bases is Bluie. This name is arbitrary and has nothing to do with Greenland.

Number of locations:
Bluie East One
Prince Christian Sound, Greenland
Active: 1941-1947

Wikipedia: Prince_Christian_Sound

Primarily a weather station

photo
Prince Christian Sound Photo by Jens Bludau
Bluie East Two
Ikateq, Greenland
Active: 1941-1947

Wikipedia: Bluie East Two

Wikipedia: North Atlantic air ferry route in WWII

airfield and weather station

photo
Old fuel drums left when the Americans abandoned Bluie East Two Photo by Pbesser
Bluie East Three
Scoresby Sound, Greenland
Active: 1941-1947

radio and weather station

Bluie East Four
Ella Island, Greenland
Active: 1941-1947

Link: Sledge Patrols

radio and weather station


Bluie West Four abandoned. Photo July 1952
Bluie East Five
Clavering Island, Greenland
Active: 1941-1947

This is the original Bluie East Five

The Island was nicknamed Eskimonæs

radio and weather station

Bluie East Five (later)
Myggbukta, Greenland
Active: 1941-1947

radio and weather station

Bluie West One
aka: Narsarsuaq International Airport
Narsarsuaq, Greenland
Active: 1941-1958

Wikipedia: Narsarsuaq_Air_Base

Wikipedia: North Atlantic air ferry route in WWII

airfield, radio and weather station

About 4,000 American servicemen were stationed there, living in an area norheast of the airfield called Hospital Valley.

Bluie West One is sometimes abbreviated BW-1.

PBY Catalina patrol planes were stationed there.

photo
Narsarssuak Air Base 1956 Photo by Hrftx
Bluie West Three
Simiutaq, Greenland
Active: 1941-1947

radio direction finding station

Bluie West Four
aka: Teague Field
Marrak Point, Greenland
Active: 1942-1945

Wikipedia: Marrak Point

airfield, radio, and weather station

Don't see anything that looks like an airfield at the marker location

Bluie West Five
Assiaat, Disko Island, Greenland
Active: 1942-1945

radio and weather station

Bluie West Six
aka: Pituffik Space Base
aka: Thule AFB
Pituffik, Greenland
Active: 1943-Present

Wikipedia: Thule AFB

photo
Thule AFB 1989 Photo by TSGT Lee E. Schading
Bluie West Seven
aka: Kangilinnguit
aka: Gronnedal
aka: Green Valley
aka: Navy 26
Ivigtut, Arsuk Fjord, Greenland
Active: 1940-1951

Wikipedia: Bluie West Seven

Link: Reuters: Denmark spurned Chinese offer for Greenland base over security - sources

North Atlantic Route

PBY5 Catalina patrol aircraft operated from this location during WWII.

In 2016, the Chinese mining company General Nice Group offered to buy the base, but the Danish government rejected the offer because of the United States.

Bluie West Eight
aka: Sondrestrom Air Base
Kangerlussuaq Fjord, Greenland
Active: 1941-Present

Wikipedia: Sondrestrom Air Base

Wikipedia: North Atlantic Route

SAC, now Air National Guard

Crimson Route


Bluie West Eight September 1943
Bluie West Nine
aka: Cruncher Island
Simiutak Island, Greenland
Active: 1941-Present

radio communications facility

Camp Century
Icecap, Greenland
Active: 1959-1966

Wikipedia: Project Iceworm

Link: photos

Link: Youtube

An underground city in the ice

photo
Camp Century trench construction in 1960. Photo by U.S. Army
Camp Fistclench
Icecap, Greenland
Active: 1957-1960

Wikipedia: Camp Fistclench

U.S. Army research camp

photo
Ice tunnels Photo by U.S. Army
Camp TUTO
Qaasuitsup Municipality, Greenland
Active: 1954-1966

Wikipedia: Camp TUTO

Link: Many photos

Link: Lisa Murkowski visits Camp Tuto

Link: Camp TUTO Sixty Year Anniversary

Link: Ray Hansen's recollections from 1955-58

photo
Camp Tuto July 1964 Photo by Steffen Winther
Station Nord
Qaasuitsup Municipality, Greenland
Active: 1952-1966

Wikipedia: Station Nord

A military and scientific station

was a U.S. satellite tracking station, part of Satellite Triangulation Program.

photo
Station Nord in 1966 Photo by NOAA
Summit Camp
Northeast Greenland National Park, Greenland
Active: 1989-Present

Wikipedia: Summit Camp

The station is located at 3,216 metres (10,551 ft) above sea level at the apex of the Greenland ice sheet. It is a research facility run by the United States National Science Foundation.

photo
The Big House at Summit Station Photo by Peter West/NFS
photo
Aurora Borealis silhouettes the Big House- 2018 Photo by August Allen, Polar Field Services
DEW site DYE-1
Qaqqatoqaq, -near Sisimiut, Greenland
Active: 1957-1988

Link: DEW Line Adventures

Tactical callsign: Red River

photo
DYE-1 Photo by Preben Bjornsholm
DEW site DYE-2
Greenland-ICE CAP 1, Greenland
Active: 1957-1988

Link: DEW Line Adventures

Tactical callsign: Sea Bass

photo
Hercules transport near the station Photo by Arthur Everett
DEW site DYE-3
Greenland-ICE CAP 2, Greenland
Active: 1957-1988

Wikipedia: Dye 3

Link: DEW Line Adventures

Tactical callsign: Sob Story

photo
Dye 3 circa early 1980s Photo by Lars Henrik Mortensen
DEW site DYE-4
Kulusuk, Greenland
Active: 1957-1991

Link: DEW Line Adventures

Tactical callsign: Big Gun

photo
DYE-4 aerial view looking out to sea. Photo by Preben Bjornsholm

This is a link to the Joint Committee Annual Report 2011 that documents the relationship between Greenland, Denmark, and the United States.

JC-Annual-Report-2011

Sources

The Long Blue line: Greenland—Coast Guard’s Arctic combat zone of World War II, 1940-41

Bluie East Two