Exploring Attu’s Underwater Battlefield and Offshore Environment

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In 1943, the U.S. military launched an assault against the Aleutian Island of Attu, beginning the first and only World War II battle fought on North American soil. The skirmish marked the climax of Attu’s wartime history, which included the Japanese army’s invasion, the imprisonment of Native Unangan people, and months of aerial harassment by U.S. forces. Eight decades later, the Battle of Attu, and by extension, the North Pacific Theatre, remains the least studied campaign of World War II. To rectify this situation, a team of archaeologists and remote sensing experts conducted the first-ever underwater survey associated with Attu. This project utilized a combination of synthetic aperture sonar and photogrammetric documentation to ascertain images of Attu’s submerged heritage, with archival research into the island’s past making site identification possible. These initial results are intended to shine a light on the “Forgotten Battle” and the people whose lives were affected.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow