" /> " /> " /> Collinson Point DEW Line Station History, Alaska

Do you have a correction, comment, or story you would like to share about this location? Please tell us about it in the comments below.

Collinson Point DEW Line Station, Alaska

Map showing location of Collinson Point DEW Line Station, Alaska
Map 1: Showing location of Collinson Point DEW Line Station, Alaska
Latitude: 69.974722
Longitude: -144.837222

View on Google Maps

Base Opened August, 1957
Base Decommissioned July 21, 1963


Site Number: POW-D

Current Role: Former Collinson Point radar camp; gravel runway and pads remain.

Collinson Point was the operating site of POW-D, the easternmost intermediate station in the Point Barrow sector of the Distant Early Warning Line. Air Force records listed the station as Brownlow Point, but the radar camp stood at Collinson Point near Simpson Cove. Its AN/FPS-23 Doppler equipment helped detect low-flying aircraft between larger search-radar stations. It entered service in August 1957 and the Air Defense Command recorded its inactivation on July 21, 1963. [1] [2] [3]

Illustrative reconstruction of a five-module DEW Line camp beside a linear Doppler radar fence on the Arctic coast
Interpretive view of the operating Collinson Point camp. The five-module building and Doppler radar fence are documented; the exact arrangement, tower shapes and airstrip position are illustrative. [3]
DEW Line code
POW-D; sometimes listed under Brownlow Point.
Station type
Intermediate low-altitude gap-filler.
Radar
AN/FPS-23 Doppler system.
Operating period
August 1957 to July 21, 1963 in Air Defense Command records.
Camp
Five-module building and support facilities.
Location
Simpson Cove, Camden Bay; approximate DEC coordinate 69.974722, -144.837222.

Two Places, One Warning Project

Early DEW Line planning identified Brownlow Point and Simpson Cove as separate locations. The Brownlow Point parcel received a building and foundations before work stopped because the location had been chosen incorrectly. The completed intermediate radar station was established farther east at Collinson Point, on the eastern shore of Simpson Cove. Later records often used Brownlow Point as a name for POW-D as a whole, which explains the differing labels in station lists. [2] [4] [5] [7]

The operational site was in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, southwest of Kaktovik. Its position between Bullen Point POW-3 and Barter Island BAR-Main put it on the eastern end of the Alaska coastal warning chain. The remote coast required an on-site camp, fuel supply, maintenance space and an airstrip for access. [1] [3] [7]

Map-style diagram distinguishing the abandoned Brownlow Point construction parcel from the operating Collinson Point POW-D radar station
The former Brownlow Point construction parcel and the operating Collinson Point radar camp were separate locations. Points are approximate and are not parcel boundaries. [3] [4]

Radar and Communications

POW-D was an intermediate station rather than a main or auxiliary radar post. Its AN/FPS-23 continuous-wave Doppler system formed part of a low-altitude detection fence between the larger rotating search radars. The equipment could indicate that an aircraft had crossed the monitored gap, giving the wider network another warning cue. Collinson Point did not need a large search-radar radome to carry out that role. [1] [3] [6]

State site records describe a Doppler-type radar fence, a single five-module building and support facilities. The modules placed radar work and the necessities of a small remote camp together. Power and communications were essential to turn a local detection into a warning for the sector network. [3] [6]

Camp and Daily Life

Collinson Point's five-module building provided the core working and living space. Later site records also identify a garage and shop area, fuel-system remnants and other support structures. Aircraft and seasonal surface shipments connected this isolated coast with the rest of the DEW Line. In a place with continuous summer daylight, winter darkness and permafrost, crews had to keep power, heating, communications and radar equipment running through difficult weather. [2] [3] [7]

The station's scale set it apart from a main DEW Line center. Its compact camp and linear radar installation served a single gap-filling task. The Air Force relied on larger stations for broad-area surveillance and sector reporting, while Collinson Point contributed the local crossing alert. [1] [3] [6]

Closing the Station

The Air Defense Command ended POW-D's intermediate radar mission on July 21, 1963, along with the other Alaska AN/FPS-23 intermediate posts. The larger DEW Line network remained in service. At Collinson Point, the abandoned camp endured for decades; the Corps removed its structures and radar-related debris in 2000. The gravel runway and building pads remained visible after demolition. [1] [3] [5]

Chronology

  • 1953: The federal government obtains the separate Brownlow Point parcel during early DEW Line preparations. [4]
  • 1955: Planning records list Brownlow Point and Simpson Cove as distinct proposed locations. [7]
  • August 1957: The Collinson Point intermediate station enters the operating DEW Line as POW-D. [1] [2]
  • July 21, 1963: The Air Defense Command inactivates the intermediate radar mission. [1] [2]
  • 2000: The Corps demolishes the former Collinson Point station structures. [3]
Current Google Satellite Image of Collinson Point DEW Line Station, Alaska
Aerial View 1: Current Google Satellite Image of Collinson Point DEW Line Station, Alaska Source: Google Maps - Click to View
Information sources (7)
  1. PDFAerospace Defense Command, Historical Data of the Aerospace Defense Command, 1946-1973, DEW Line station table

    Source for the POW-D Brownlow Point listing, August 1957 opening, AN/FPS-23 equipment and July 21, 1963 inactivation.

  2. PDFU.S. Army Corps of Engineers, The Cold War in Alaska: A Management Plan for Cultural Resources, 1994, pp. 187 and 192-193

    Source for the POW-D operating dates, Brownlow support site, Collinson Point station and Arctic setting.

  3. WEBAlaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Collinson Point DEW Line Sitewide report, hazard ID 1679

    Source for the Simpson Cove location and coordinates, five-module building, Doppler radar fence, support facilities and 2000 demolition.

  4. WEBAlaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Brownlow Point DERP site report, hazard ID 737

    Source for the separate Brownlow parcel, May 1953 acquisition, siting error, unfinished building and foundations, and later erosion.

  5. PDFU.S. Geological Survey, Historical Shoreline Change Analysis of the Alaska Beaufort Sea Coast, 2015, p. 31

    Source for the Collinson Point location, POW-D naming overlap, 1963 abandonment and surviving gravel runway and pads.

  6. PDFF. Robert Naka and William W. Ward, Distant-Early-Warning Line Radars: The Quest for Automatic Signal Detection, Lincoln Laboratory Journal, 2000

    Source for the AN/FPS-23 continuous-wave Doppler gap-filler mission.

  7. PDFDEW Line Coordinating Committee, Minutes and Progress Reports, 1955-63, compiled by P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Matthew Farish, 2019, planning site lists

    Source for the 1955 planning lists that identify Brownlow Point and Simpson Cove as separate proposed locations.


Do you have a correction, comment, or story you would like to share about this site? Please tell us about it in the comments below.