"
Franklin Roosevelt visited the area aboard the
USS Tuscaloosa on 8 Dec. 1940. The US Navy built a Naval Air Station at Reduit in 1941 under the Destroyers for Bases Agreement for the Battle of the Caribbean, and used the island as a communication station. A squadron of 18 PBY-5 Catalinas patrolled for German submarines. The station was deactivated on 1 June 1947."
It was determined at this time that the United States would build several installations throughout the Caribbean to monitor for German U-Boat operations. This signal station was built on the site of an 18th-century British Fort Rodney used by the British to spy on French Ships from neighboring Martinique.
The historical marker placed by Saint Lucia National Trust states:
"Nearly two centuries after Rodney recognized its importance, Pigeon Island was again used as a strategic base, during World War II. This U.S. Signal Station was built over Rodney’s existing mortar battery dating from 1780, and Pigeon Island served as a U.S. naval communications signal station until 1947.
The inclined cable lift, to the east was used to haul up diesel fuel to power the generators. The wireless and transmitter receiving mast was atop Fort Rodney."
It is a substantial hike to get to the top of the mountain where the signal station was constructed atop Fort Rodney. There are a few traces remaining of the American involvement here.
Construction details from
Building the Navy's Bases During World War II:
"The naval air station on St. Lucia, in the Windward Islands, was constructed under the San Juan contract, on a 221-acre site on Gros Islet Bay at the extreme northwest tip of the island. It was equipped to support the operation of a patrol squadron of seaplanes with tender support, having as its principal features a timber seaplane ramp, a concrete parking area, a tender pier, and a compact complement of supporting buildings. Construction began in February 1941 and was carried forward at a rate permitting occupancy by the using forces during the fall of that year.
The buildings, which had previously been fabricated and assembled by the San Juan contractor, included barracks for 200 men, quarters for 25 officers, a 10-bed dispensary, a power plant, ten 5000-gallon steel tanks for gasoline storage, three magazines, a cold-storage plant, and two industrial buildings. Concrete floors, prefabricated lightweight steel frames, and stucco exteriors were used for all buildings.
Rainfall collected on a 60,000-square-foot concrete catchment area furnished the fresh-water supply for the station. It was stored in two 80,000-gallon steel tanks and chlorinated before use.
The waterfront layout, as prepared by the Bureau, centered about a 40-foot timber seaplane ramp, a concrete parking apron, 300 by 800 feet, and a 40-by-350-foot tender pier with a timber deck supported on steel piles. A 500,000-cubic-yard dredging operation was necessary to deepen the water of the bay for the seaplane runways and the approach channel to the tender pier.
With exception of a few minor additions and improvements made at various times during 1942, the station was completed in December 1941. No Seabee personnel participated in its development other than to make a few minor repairs and alterations during the early summer of 1943. These men were drawn temporarily from battalions stationed at Trinidad.
The air station on St. Lucia was decommissioned on September 1, 1943, and placed in a caretaker status by Coast Guard personnel."