Information About

Amchitka Island

Amchitka Island

Quick Facts
Region:
  • Aleutians West (CA)
Nearest City:
Length:
  • 35 mi (56.33 km)
About

One of the Rat Islands; Aleutian Islands. 35 miles long and 3 miles wide.

Amchitka Island, part of the Rat Island Group in the Aleutian chain, lies 1,340 miles west-southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, and 870 miles east of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. The island spans 42 miles in length and 1 to 4 miles in width, covering 74,240 acres. Its rugged coastline features sea cliffs and grassy slopes, while the terrain transitions from low-lying tundra with lakes in the east to higher elevations and a rocky plateau in the west. The island has a cool, windy, and cloudy climate, with temperatures ranging from an average of 31°F in January to 48°F in August.

Formed 50 million years ago from volcanic activity, Amchitka consists mainly of igneous rock with sparse soil cover. It has no active volcanoes and is currently uninhabited but was intermittently occupied by the Aleuts for thousands of years until the late 1700s. Designated part of the Aleutian Island Reservation in 1913 and later included in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge in 1980, the island is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Getting To Amchitka Island

If you go there be on the lookout for screw pickets/Rommel spikes. Sharp metal spikes sticking out of the ground with the intent to impale feet, used during WWII.

History of Amchitka Island

Aleut name reported by early Russians as "Ostrov Amchitka." Baker (1906, p. 96), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), indicates that this may be the island named "St. Makarius (St. Markiana)" by Vitus Bering on October 25, 1741 (Old Style (O.S.) calendar). Golder (1922, p. 199-200), however, was of the opinion that Amchitka is too low to have been seen by Bering, and thus it is more probable that Kiska as the island so named.Amchitka served as a strategic military site during World War II, hosting an airbase used to launch assaults on Japanese-held territories. Military presence peaked at 15,000 troops, and infrastructure included roads, buildings, and airstrips. Post-war, the island hosted various military facilities, including a weather station, radar installations, and communication systems, until the final decommissioning in 1993.

The U.S. government conducted three underground nuclear tests on Amchitka Island. The first, Long Shot, was a nuclear detection research experiment in October 1965, detonated at a depth of 2,297 feet with an 80-kiloton yield. The second, Milrow, was a high-yield weapons calibration test in October 1969, detonated at a depth of 4,003 feet with a yield of about 1 megaton. The third, Cannikin, was conducted in November 1971 at a depth of 5,873 feet, with a yield of less than 5 megatons, making it the largest underground nuclear test in U.S. history.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages the surface of Amchitka Island, with access restricted under federal regulations requiring authorization from the Service and the U.S. Navy. The Department of Energy (DOE) oversees radioactive and hazardous materials at the site under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and must be notified of activities involving surface disturbances. Federal laws also protect endangered species and cultural resources on the island.

A portion of Amchitka is designated as a wilderness area under Public Law 96-487, which also allows Alaska Native Tribes to claim portions of the island for potential return to Native populations. Although several claims exist, none have been finalized, and any awarded claims would require a review of institutional controls.