Former USAAF North Field Airbase

 air force base, Second World War 1939-1945, building/structure currently being renovated/restored/reconstructed, United States Air Force, historic site

Encompassing much of the Northern portion of Tinian Island, the North Field Airbase was initially constructed by Imperial Japanese forces in 1939 when the island was Japanese Protectorate. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, the Ushi Point Airfield, as it was known, was used to support Japanese invasion operations on Guam before assuming the role of a rear-area airfield, becoming home to the reconnissance aircraft of the 121st Kokutai.

Remaining largely out of major action until the Spring of 1944, the Ushi Point Airfield and its assigned aircrews did their part to repel American advances in the Marianas Islands but following the fall of Guam and Saipan to American forces in July 1944 it became clear that Tinian would be attacked next. Almost totally destroyed by American naval bombardment and air attack prior to the July 24th American invasion, Ushi Point airfield fell to US forces on July 26th and was almost immediately handed over to the care of US Navy Construction Battallions, or Seabees for massive repair and expansion.

Operating for over 45 days and nights, often while under fire, the SeaBees had repaired and extended the existing 4,380ft runway and added a further two ruways, each 8,000ft long and lying in an East-West direction. In between the runways over eleven miles of taxiways linked 265 hardstands and support facilities to the airfield, which began receiving its first B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers in December 1944. Coming under the operational control of the US Army Air Force's Twentieth Air Force, XXI Bomber Command, North Field became home to the 313th Bombardment Wing and its operational groups; the 6th Bombardment Group, 9th Bombardment Group, 504th Bombardment Group and 505th Bombardment Group.

Immediately beginning offensive bombing operations against the Empire of Japan in late December 1944, B-29's flying from Tinian wasted little time in proving the worth of the new and expansive airbase, as they conducted strikes against Iwo Jima, Truk and finally mainland Japan itself. As traditional high-altitude daylight bombing raids were thwarted by the as-yet unknown effects of the Jet Stream on the high-flying aircraft, B-29's based on Tinian began conducting low-level incendiary bombing missions on Japanese cities from North Field in 1945, a mission which destroyed numerous Japanese cities and industrial centers. Low-level aerial mining operations of Japanese and Korean waters carried out by B-29's from North Field dealt what many historians see as the death blow to a Japanese Merchant Marine Fleet already decimated by the US Navy Submarine force.

Expanded in May 1945 by the addition of a fourth and final runway, North Field became the world's largest airport and busiest airfield of the Second World War, two titles which alone guaranteed its place in the history books. However, it was the arrival of the 509th Composite Group, North Fields final bomb wing, which would cement its legacy in world history. Flying specially modified "Siverplate" B-29 Superfortresses, the 509th aircrews and aircraft were veiled in a cloak of secrecy from the moment of their arrival, even going so far as to paint their aircraft in the markings of other assigned bomb groups. The nature of this secretive groups mission became clear on the mornings of August 6th and 9th 1945, when B-29's Enola Gay and Bocks Car flew out of North Field and dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

North Field continued routine bombing operations against mainland Japan through the official surrender on August 15th, 1945, after which the B-29's switched their payloads to emergency relief supplies which were dropped over known Allied POW camps. With the war officially over on the 2nd of September 1945, the winddown of operations at North Field began, culminating with the departure of the last B-29's of the 505th Bombardment Group on June 30th, 1946. With the majority of its wartime infrastructure either returned to the United States or scrapped onsite, North Field was officially closed on March 30th, 1947.

Seeing no official use after 1947, the airfield has been steadily reclaimed by the Tinian jungle, with only the runways and a few taxiways remaining exposed. On the North side of the airfield the two pits used to load the Enola Gay and Bocks Car have been preserved as memorials, and are regularly visited by Veteran groups from both sides of the conflict.

www.pacificwrecks.com/airfields/marianas/ushi/index.htm...

In late 2023 the U.S. Air Force began work on more extensive vegetation removal and pavement restoration, as part of a program to create dispersal bases for aircraft in the event of a confrontation with China. $78 million was budgeted in the Air Force's 2024 budget request for work at North Field. Work will also take place at Tinian International Airport.

A five-year, $409 million contract has been awarded in 2024 to upgrade the airfield.