Coast Guard Air Station Salem
Coast Guard Air Station Salem was a United States Coast Guard air station located in Salem, Massachusetts from 1935 to 1970. Its area of coverage extended from New York City to the Canada–United States border. Mission The air station's missions included search and rescue, law enforcement, counting migratory waterfowl for the U.S. Biological Survey, and assisting icebound islands by delivering provisions. During World War II anti-submarine patrols were also conducted from the air station. History With little room to expand at Coast Guard Aviation Station Ten Pound Island in Gloucester, a new air station was established at Salem in 1935. CGAS Salem was built with a barracks, hangar, a radio shack, an apron, and a seaplane ramp; it never had facilities for fixed-wing landplanes. The station was built on Winter Island, on land adjacent to the War of 1812 vintage Fort Pickering, and on or near the site of the construction of the sail frigate by one of Enos Briggs' shipyards in 1799. The station performed 26 medevac missions in its first year of operation. During World War II anti-submarine patrols were conducted from the air station. In October 1944 the station was the first on the eastern seaboard to