Hopedale Air Station

Hopedale Air Station (1953-1968) - A Cold War Pinetree Line Radar Station operational in 1953 near Hopedale, Newfoundland and Labrador as Hopedale Air Station. Initially manned by the 923rd AC&W Squadron and assigned an ID of N-28. This station also served as the Mid Canada Line - Sector Control Station SCS 200. Closed in 1968. Cold War Following the outbreak of the Korean War on 25 Jun 1950 and in response to a perceived Soviet bomber threat the United States Air Force (USAF) created the Northeast Air Command (NEAC), as a major command, to defend the Northeastern air approaches to the US. NEAC was responsible for all air defense forces in Newfoundland, Labrador, eastern Canada, and Greenland. The plan for the NEAC area included the construction of 10 permanent radar stations in Canada and 3 stations in Greenland, all as a part of the Pinetree Line. Of the 10 Canadian stations, 9 were to be manned by USAF personnel and one was to be manned by RCAF personnel The sites were selected and construction began in 1951-52. History Established and constructed in 1951-1953 by the contractor, Fraser Brace Construction Company Moncton, New Brunswick. The site became operational in 1953 as Hopedale Air Station manned by the 923nd Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron (USAF). The advanced party of USAF personnel arrived in June 1953. This site functioned for most of its life as a ground-controlled intercept (GCI) site that identified aircraft entering their coverage and was prepared to guide armed interceptor aircraft to those it could not identify. This station initially had both a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and Early Warning (EW) mission. The early warnng mission involved tracking and identifing all aircraft entering their airspace while the GCI mission involved guiding Air Force interceptors to any unknown or enemy aircraft. Controllers at the station vectored fighter aircraft at the correct course, speed and altitude to intercept enemy aircraft using voice commands via ground-to-air radio. This station initially had both a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and early warning mission as well as operating an Air Defense Direction Center (ADDC). The early warnng mission involved tracking and identifing all aircraft entering their airspace while the GCI mission involved guiding Air Force interceptors to any unknown or enemy aircraft. Controllers at the station vectored fighter aircraft at the correct course, and altitude speed to intercept enemy aircraft using voice commands via ground-to-air radio. The initial USAF interceptor aircraft were four F-94Bs at Goose Bay Airport which later grew to three Fighter Interceptor (F-I) Squadrons one at Goose Bay Airport (59th F-I), one at Thule Air Force Base (74th F-I) and one at Harmon Air Force Base (61st F-I). Each squadron had roughly 8 to 12 aircraft. These NEAC squadrons were augmented by fighter aircraft belonging to other commands that periodically staged through NEAC. Communication between NEAC Radar stations and bases started out as a HF/LF communications system that soon proved inadequate. This system was replaced by a UHF tropospheric scatter (TROPO) system in 1954-55 that became known as the "Pole Vault" system. The Pole Vault system ran south from Frobisher Bay to Pepperrell with a terminal and relay at each radar site. In the south the system provided 36 telephone circuit and in the north, 18 telephone circuits. The system was contracted for with Bell Canada in January 1954 and began operation in February 1955. Extensions were later added from Frobisher to Cape Dyer and on to Thule. Voice and teletype traffic was carried across this vast tropo system to enable cross-tell between radar sites, communication with direction centers and upper echelons. There were existing land lines, cable communications and radio between St. John's Newfoundland and the United States that could connect into the Pole Vault system. Hopedale Direction Centers & Sectors Assigned Direction Center Sector 2 Feb 1953 - 1 Apr 1957 64th Air Division Pepperrell AFB, Newfoundland 1 Apr 1957 - 1 Apr 1960 4732nd Air Defense Group (ADC) Goose 1 Apr 1960 - 1 Apr 1966 Goose Manual ADCC Goose NORAD/CONAD Air Defense Sector 1 Apr 1966 - 18 Jun 1968 Goose Manual ADCC 37th Air Division - Initial equipment included the FPS-3C search radar and a TPS-502 height finder radar. The search radar was later upgraded to an FPS-20 and then to an FPS-93A. A TPS-502 height finder radar was installed and that was later replaced with two height finders, an FPS-6B and an FPS-90. The 923rd AC&W Squadron also operated a manned gap-filler radar site as a detachment, complete with operations personnel and a commanding officer (1957-1961). Closure Hopedale Air Station and the 923rd AC&W Squadron were deactivated on 18 Jun 1968. Polevault Troposcatter The Polevault Troposcatter communications link at Hopedale was a heavy ground communications system that depended on bouncing radio waves off the troposphere for reliable long-distance communications circuits. Normal HF/LF and other radio links had proven unreliable and the Polevault system was implemented about 1954 to solve that problem. The Hopedale Polevault site provided tropo links with Saglek Air Station to the North and Goose AFB, to the South. The system then extended from Goose AFB to Cartwright AS and then to St. Anthony and down to Gander and then on to Red Cliff at St. John's. St. John's had cable communications with the US and it served as the southern terminus of the Polevault system. The Hopedale Polevault site also provided communications to the Cape Makkovik gap-filler radar site between 1957 and 1961. A teletype channel provided hard copy communications with Headquarters in Newfoundland and beyond. By 1961, Detachment 9 of the 1933rd Communications Squadron (AFCS), a support organization of the 923rd AC&W Squadron, operated and maintained the Hopedale Polevault site. Hopedale Major Equipment List Search Radar HF Radar Data Systems Comm Scopes IFF/SIF FPS-3C FPS-502 FPS-20A FPS-87A FPS-93A FPS-14 GF TPS=502 FPS-6B FPS-90 FST-1 GF UPA-35 OA-175 OA-99 OA-947 GPA-30 Mapper UPX-6 IFF UPX 14 IFF GPX-7A IFF/SIF Unit Designations 923rd Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron 923rd AC&W Squadron Assignments 13 Jun 1953 - Activated at Grenier AFB, NH, as the 4707th Defense Wing. Fall 1953 - Reassigned to NEAC. 1 Apr 1957 - Reassigned to ADC and 4732nd Air Defense Group. 1 Apr 1960 - Transferred to Goose ADS. 1 Apr 1966 - Transferred to 37th Air Division. 18 Jun 1968 - Discontinued. Current Status Foundational remains, no buildings remain. {"selectable":false,"height":"-500","width":"-500"} Location: Hopedale, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Maps & Images Lat: 55.46639 Long: -60.22972 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: ...' GPS Locations: 55.46639, -60.22972 Hopedale Air Station See Also: Pinetree Line Permanent System Radar Sites US Radar Sets Sources: Cornett, Lloyd H. & Johnson, Mildred W., A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization (1946-1980), Office of History ADC, Peterson AFB, Colorado, 31 Dec 1980, 179 pages, Pdf, page 104. Wikipedia - Hopedale Air Station Links: Pinetree Line Hopedale - Main Pinetree Line Hopedale - History Pinetree Line Hopedale - Photos Pinetree Line Cape Makkovik Gap Filler Mid Canada Line – Sector Control Station 200 Visited: No