Dutch Harbor is located approximately 800 miles west of Anchorage.  It is part of Amaknak Island on Unalaska Bay.  An Army base and Naval operating base were under construction there in 1940 and were under the Alaskan Naval Sector which was part of the 13th Naval District which was headquartered in Seattle, Wa.  The first American troops arrived at the facilities at Dutch Harbor during May of 1941.  On 1 September 1941, the Naval Operating Base was commissioned and 10 days later the Army Base which was named Fort Mears.  On 1 January 1943, Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base was commissioned to have ship repair facilities, fleet provisioning facilities, submarine docking facilities, and air facilities.  Eventually, there would be 5,680 Navy personnel and 10,000 Army personnel stationed at the Dutch Harbor facilities.
          The personnel at the Dutch Harbor facilities came upon the intelligence that Japan would attack Dutch Harbor some time between the first and the tenth of June.  As it was, Rear Admiral Kakuta's Second Carrier Strike Force was heading toward them.  His strike force consisted of the aircraft carriers  Ryujo and Junyo, the heavy cruisers Takau and Maya, and three destroyers.  On 3 June, the Japanese dropped fourteen bombs on Fort Mears.  They managed to destroy five buildings and killed 25 soldiers, as well as wounding another 25.  Their second air strike accomplished nothing, but the third aerial bombardment  damaged the radio station and killed one sailor and one soldier.  The 4 June attack on Dutch Harbor consisted of 9 Japanese fighters, 11 dive bombers, and 6 level bombers.  They destroyed four brand new steel fuel tanks and 22,000 barrels of oil.  43 Americans were killed .  However, 8 P-40's from a secret air base at Umnak shot down 4 Val dive bombers and one zero.  The U.S. lost a handful of Army aircraft and 6 PBY Catalinas, whereas the Japanese reported a total loss of 11 airplanes.  At the peak of preparedness, Dutch Harbor boasted 10 Catalinas, and 10 S-boats (in Unalaska Bay).  During all of the war patrols  which were based out of Dutch Harbor, there were only four enemy casualties which were Japanese Merchant Ships.