page_title: 206th Field Artillery Regiment
section_title: Battle of Dutch Harbor
hierarchical_section_title: 206th Field Artillery Regiment / History / World War II / Battle of Dutch Harbor
caption_attribution_description: English: An Imperial Japanese Navy Zero aircraft piloted by Tadayoshi Koga is damaged by anti-aircraft fire over Dutch Harbor, Alaska on 4 June 1942. Koga later crashed the Zero on nearby Akutan island and was killed in the crash. The Zero was recovered by US forces and used for intelligence purposes.
context_page_description: The 206th Field Artillery Regiment is a United States artillery regiment, currently represented in the Arkansas Army National Guard by the 1st Battalion, 206th Field Artillery, Headquartered at Russellville, Arkansas. The 1–206th FA is an element of the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.
  The regiment's history begins with the creation of the 3rd Arkansas Infantry in 1917 as a part of the expansion of the guard following the Mexican Expedition and just before World War I. The unit was reorganized for World War I as the 141st Machine Gun Battalion, an element of the 39th Infantry Division. The unit deployed to France but did not see combat before the end of the war. Between World War I and II, the unit was reorganized as the 206th Coast Artillery and many of its units were stationed at state colleges. The 206th CA was mobilized for World War II and participated in the Battle of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, on 3 and 4 June 1942. Following World War II the unit was reorganized as the 206th Artillery and served as the Division Artillery for the 39th Infantry Division.
context_section_description: The 206th Coast Artillery Regiment was deployed to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska and had been on station for approximately four months when the Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. The 206th CA was equipped with the M1918 3-inch Gun (an older model with a vertical range of 8,200 m), .50-caliber machine guns, and 60-inch (1.5 m) Sperry searchlights.
  In June 1942, as part of the Japanese operations against Midway Island, the Japanese attacked the Aleutian Islands, starting with the Battle of Dutch Harbor, beginning what would become known as the Aleutian Islands Campaign. A Japanese task force led by Admiral Kakuji Kakuta bombed Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island twice, once on 3 June and again the following day. Many members of the 206th were awakened on 3 June by the sound of bombs and gunfire. While the unit had been on alert for an attack for many days, there was no specific warning of the attack before the Japanese planes arrived over Dutch Harbor. With no clear direction from headquarters, other than an initial cease fire order which was quickly withdrawn, gun crews from every battery quickly realized the danger, ran to their guns stationed around the harbor and began to return fire. In addition to their 3-inch guns, 37mm guns and .50 caliber machine guns, members of the unit fired their rifles and one even claimed to have hurled a wrench at a low flying enemy plane. Several members reported being able to clearly see the faces of the Japanese aviators as they made repeated runs over the island. The highest casualties on the first day occurred when bombs struck barracks 864 and 866 in Fort Mears, killing seventeen men of the 37th Infantry and eight from the 151st Engineers. 
   The 206th CA spent much of the night of 3 to 4 June moving their guns down off the mountain tops surrounding the harbor and into the city. Civilian contractor's offered to help and were put to work filling sandbags to protect the new gun positions. When the Japanese returned on 4 June, the Zero's concentrated on strafing the gun positions while their bombers destroyed the fuel tanks located at the harbor. After the fuel tanks, the enemy concentrated on the ships in the harbor, the Fillmore and the Gillis. Driven away from these two targets by intense anti aircraft fire, they finally succeeded in destroying the Northwestern which was mistaken for a warship because of its large size. The Northwestern was actually a transport ship that was beached and its power plant was being used to produce steam and electricity for the shore installations.
  The damage caused to the Dutch Harbor Naval facilities and nearby Fort Mears, including the destruction of gas storage facilities and the destruction of the Northwestern, was strategically insignificant. The significant outcomes of the battle were the discovery of a secret U.S. airbase in the Aleutian Islands, previously unknown to the Japanese, and the recovery of a Japanese Zero aircraft by U.S. forces following the battle. The regiment sustained seven killed in action during the bombing of Dutch Harbor. 
  Members of the 206th CA claimed credit for the shoot down of the Akutan Zero flown by Flight Petty Officer Tadayoshi Koga, which was captured intact following the battle and became the second flyable Zero acquired by the United States during the war. Following its capture the aircraft was repaired, and then flown by American test pilots. As a result of information gained during these tests American tacticians were able to devise tactics to defeat the Zero, which was the Imperial Japanese Navy's primary fighter plane throughout the war. The Akutan Zero has been described as "a prize almost beyond value to the United States".
  Following the bombing, Admiral Kakuta utilized his invasion force to occupy the Islands of Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian Island chain. Attu was eventually retaken by U.S. forces on 29 May 1943 after a spectacular Banzai charge by Japanese forces. Only 28 of the estimated 2500 Japanese defenders survived the battle. Kiska was retaken on 15 August 1943 by U.S
caption: An Imperial Japanese Navy Zero aircraft piloted by Tadayoshi Koga is damaged by anti-aircraft fire over Dutch Harbor, Alaska on 3 June 1942.
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