Naval Air Station Port Lyautey is a former United States Navy Naval Air Station in Morocco, about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north-northwest of Kenitra and about 120 kilometres (75 mi) northeast of Casablanca. The Naval Air Station was turned over to the Royal Moroccan Air Force and the last of US military personnel departed the base in 1977. The airport was later reopened as Kenitra Airport after it was closed.
The facility was established as an Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) shortly after the Operation Torch landing at the former Vichy France airfield at Mehdiya–Port Lyautey. The facility was captured by one American destroyer and a U.S. Army Raider team. The destroyer USS Dallas came up the Sebou River, silenced the shore batteries with its guns and landed the Raider team which in turn captured the airfield.
Naval Air Station Port Lyautey
Location of Naval Air Station Port Lyautey, Morocco
After being secured, the airfield was upgraded by Seabees and used by the United States Army Air ForcesTwelfth Air Force33d Fighter Group, flying P-40 Warhawks. The group took part in initial landings in French Morocco, arriving with the invasion force on 8 November. Remaining aircraft and ground echelon arrived shortly afterward. The Group moved to Casablanca Airfield on 13 November. The 1st Troop Carrier Squadron (10th Troop Carrier Group) operated C-47 Skytrains from the airfield from 11 March to 25 November 1943.
Two USN K-class blimps completed the first transatlantic crossing by non-rigid airships when they landed at Craw Field, Port Lyautey on the evening of 1 June 1944.[1] Blimp Squadron 14 airships K-123 and K-130 were followed by K-109 and K-134 on 15 June and K-101 and K-112 on 1 July 1944. The K-ships flew nighttime antisubmarine patrols using MAD while the PBY Catalinas from Fleet Air Wing 15 flew the dayshift, creating a 24/7 magnetic fence across the Straits of Gibraltar.[2]
In addition, the airfield was used by Air Transport Command. It functioned as a stopover en route to Tafarquay Airport, near Oran, Algeria or to Casablanca Airfield, on the North African Cairo–Dakar transport route for cargo, transiting aircraft and personnel.[3] After the end of the war in Europe, Air Transport Command was assigned several heavy bombardment squadrons by XII Tactical Air Command to transport key personnel back to the United States. Known units assigned were:
During the years 1966–69 Kenitra NAS was used also as a training facility by the Royal Moroccan Air Force (RMAF). Personnel from the Moroccan United States Liaison Office (MUSLO), made up of USAF ATC support and flight personnel prepared for the first delivery of Northrop F-5A/B aircraft. Most of the MUSLO team members had previously been assigned to Williams Field, Arizona where the Moroccan pilots and technicians were initially trained.[citation needed]
Starting in the 1960s, the base was called a United States Naval Training Command, and would be called that until it closed in 1977. The base was closed in September–October 1978 and transferred to the RMAF.[citation needed]
^Kaiser, Don (2011). "K-Ships Across The Atlantic"(PDF). Naval Aviation News. Vol. 93 (2). Archived from the original(PDF) on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
