Kiska: Alaska's Underwater Battlefield

Mission Overview

The Aleutian campaign was the sole World War II campaign fought on North American soil, and Kiska Island, along with Attu Island to the west, are the only United States territories occupied by foreign forces in the last 200 years. Kiska remains one of the best preserved historic battlefields from World War II, being one of only two in the world where neither previous nor later settlement obscure military developments. While the terrestrial component is well documented, the maritime component remains largely unexplored. The exception is a short eight-day survey of Kiska Harbor in 1989. During this expedition, the team built on existing archaeological and historical data to explore one of the least studied, yet most significant sites of World War II.