Cape Chiniak, Kodiak Island, AK -- 1962

All photos Copyright © 1996, Peter J. Azzole
All Rights Reserved


Click the thumbnails for larger photos

Photo #1 --

The first impression of one's tour at Cape Chiniak, and Kodiak Island in general, is formed upon landing at Kodiak International Airport. Even in 1961, this seemed like a giant step backward in time. Sometimes first impressions aren't all that far off the mark.


Photo #2 --

A nasty thunder and hail storm is about to engulf the main building. This building contained nearly everything. There was a garage just behind this building. It was a long stone throw to the direction finder shack. Late in my tour, we built a log cabin by a lake near the site. That's the site building inventory.


Photo #3 --

This shot was taken from my quarters window on the second floor. This is looking up toward the cliff from which photo #2 was taken. The green shack housed the burn bag incinerator. The Pacific Ocean and dark gray volcanic rock beaches beckon right off our back porch.

 

Photo #4 --

Panning to the left from Photo #3, we see the picnic tables where 50 hungry guys attacked charcoaled steaks and hamburgers from time to time. King crab legs are great charcoaled too. In the distance was the brackish lake near the site. The narrow strip of land along the far side of the lake was the only separation between the lake and the ocean. There were brown trout and catfish in the lake; both liked raw bacon. Note the island located offshore; it was well populated with seals whose hollering and carrying on could be heard constantly.

 

Photo #5 --

Somehow, it became a great idea to build a log cabin to save us from boredom and give us a place away from the main building to make merry and not bother anybody -- namely the OIC and AOIC. Being a fisherman in an angler's paradise, I didn't need saving and had a hard time getting motivated for the cabin project. It was located near the main building, on a hill overlooking the brackish lake.

 

Photo #6 --

This is the side of the cabin which faced the lake.




Photo #7 --

Before we go inside the main building, let's stop by the site flag pole. This was a very early a.m. shot, during winter. Note the snow pushed to the side of the driveway and snow capped mountains in the background.





Photo #8 --

First stop indoors is the room shared by four of us. That's my table on the right; my bunk on the lower right. It's not a very clear photo, but you can see by the objects above the window that one of the universal hobbies was searching the beaches for glass and plastic floats from commercial fishing nets. The bigger, the better barter value. I traded a 12" glass ball for a spinning rod!


Photo #9 --

The second most important location in the building was the galley and serving line -- right here. Our mess deck served as our recreation deck and library. This shot had to be taken about 0400 on a week day.


Photo #10 --

On the far right, is the galley serving line seen in Photo #9. Note the TV -- we had a decent signal from Naval Station Kodiak AFRTS-TV. Note the fridge -- the cooks stocked this reefer [refrigerator] at the close of the day's galley operation with leftovers and other snack items. By the time the cooks came down in the morning to prepare breakfast, there wasn't much left in the reefer of any value. The hall on the right led to the half of the building which included the ladder to topside; a recreation room (movies, shuffle board, pool table), the bar, quarters for the OIC and AOIC and the communications center.


Photo #11 --

This shot was taken from the little reefer in Photo #10. The hall on the right led to that half of the building which included Admin (on other side of the bulletin board wall), OIC's office (opposite Admin on right) and Electronic Maintenance (end of the hallway.


Photo #12 --

This shot of our library and stereo center was taken from the TV corner of the mess deck [see Photo #10].



Photo #13 --

As I recall, we had a movie every night. Of course, eve- and mid-watches sort of got in the way for some of us. That's Hugh Epley sizing up a nasty leave by his opponent;. 8-ball by his hand, cue ball in the opposite corner, and he's got the solids. I've been there! The shuffleboard ran down the wall on the left. The board we had when I first arrived had a surface that resembled a dirt road. Most of the time we didn't have any wax. Admiral Caldwell (District Commandant) visited us and played a game. He promptly arranged for us to have a new board and a case of wax. It took us a long time to learn how to play on a level and fast board.

 

This page last updated: September 13, 2004