Naval Air Station Halifax
The Naval Air Station Halifax, also NAS Halifax, was a United States Navy Naval Air Station located in Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia, Canada.
History
NAS Halifax was established in August 1918 by Richard E. Byrd in the months following the United States' entry into World War I.[1] United States Naval Aviation briefly operated the base on the shores of Halifax Harbour, adjacent to RCAF Station Dartmouth, to stage its Curtiss HS-2L flying boats used in coastal and anti-submarine patrols along North America's eastern seaboard.
NAS Halifax was transferred to the Royal Canadian Naval Air Service (RCNAS) at the end of World War I and the facility was renamed HMCS Shearwater. The flying boat facility was merged with the land-based airfield at RCAF Station Dartmouth to form RCAF Station Shearwater (also known as RCNAS Shearwater).
In 1968 the entire facility (airfield and shore-based former flying boat base) was merged into the Canadian Forces and the base was renamed CFB Shearwater. The flying boat base has been redeveloped as a shore-side pier to the air force base and is occasionally used for transferring aircraft to and from warships, as well as being a secure dock outside of Downtown Halifax for visiting nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed NATO warships.