The Russian vessel Saint Peter and Paul wrecked at Shemya in 1762. Most of the crew survived.
In 1943, a United States Air Forceradar, surveillance, and weather station and aircraft refueling station, including a 10,000-foot-long (3,000 m) runway, opened on Shemya and is still in operation. At its peak in the 1960s, the station, originally Shemya Air Force Base or Shemya Station, had 1,500 workers. In 1956, Northwest Airlines leased Shemya Island from the U.S. government to use as a refueling station on their North Pacific route. According to Northwest's website, that made them "the first airline to operate its own airport."[2] Northwest was operating Lockheed ConstellationL-1049G model propliners on its "Orient Express" service between the U.S. and Asia in 1956.[3]
The station still operates as a radar station and aircraft refueling station with a staff of about 180 people. The 2000 census reported an official resident population of 27 persons on the island.
One of the most recognizable features of the island is the COBRA DANE radar system. This radar was built in 1976 and brought on-line in 1977 for the primary mission of intelligence gathering in support of verification of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) II agreement.
Shemya was an important outpost during the Cold War. As part of Project Bluegrass, the White Alice Communications System provided a vital tropospheric scatter communications link to the mainland during the early-1960s to late-1970s. Its two 120-foot (37 m) parabolic reflectors and 50 kW transmitter output bridged the nearly 400 miles (640 km) gap to Adak, Alaska.
Cathay Pacific Flight 884 from Hong Kong to Los Angeles made an emergency landing at the island's airbase due to smoke detection on July 29, 2015.[citation needed]
Reeve Aleutian Airways (RAA) operated scheduled passenger service into Shemya for many years. During the 1970s and 1980s, Reeve operated nonstop flights to Anchorage (ANC) with Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprop aircraft.[7] By 1989, the airline was operating nonstop jet service to Anchorage with Boeing 727-100combi aircraft which were capable of transporting passengers and freight on the main deck of the aircraft.[8] Reeve's 727 service from Anchorage continued during the 1990s as did 727 flights from Adak Island, AK and Cold Bay, AK.[9] Reeve Aleutian ceased all flight operations in 2000.
Climate
The weather on Shemya is very drastic, though the temperatures only vary between single digits to the mid fifties. The climate is perhaps the most equatorward low-altitude occurrence of a polar climate (ET) in the world, though it is extremely close to a subpolar oceanic climate (Cfc), or a subarctic climate if the 0 degree Celsius isotherm is used. The island weather is most likely to be cloudy with a mist. The wind ranges from 30 to 40 miles per hour (48 to 64 km/h).
The Japanese current in the Pacific to the south of the island regulates the temperature and gives it the pronounced temperature lag. August and September are the warmest months. The island's record low occurred in April. Despite it being a tundra climate, it is spared the vicious cold of places like Utqiagvik, Alaska where temperatures in winter can rival those of interior Alaska in winter.
Climate data for Shemya (1961–1990 normals, extremes 1943–1995)
