Naknek Packing/Red Salmon Cannery and WWII

This is the Naknek Packing/Red Salmon Cannery dock, in the fall of 1941, during the construction of Naknek Army Base. The military had requisitioned all cannery tenders and power scows for their use. These were used to haul freight and building materials from Ships Anchorage, which is out seven miles in the Bay, up the river to the base site. These scows and barges were used because they are better suited to navigate shallow water and strong currents. At that time there was no road between Naknek and King Salmon.

Naknek Army Base was later renamed King Salmon Air Force Base and was in existence until the early 1990s. It is now closed.

On the bluff in the foreground, beyond the barrels, you can also see a steeple. It was from the sun porch on the superintendent's house, which had recently been torn down . The flag pole from the superintendent's house is still standing and the weather vane at the top is visible, with (most likely) a seagull sitting on it. The weather vane was possibly a carved wooden fish. You can see portion of the Monsen dog kennel on the right and the child's swing on the deck.

Below is a detail from the first picture, enlarged to show more detail of the activity on the dock.

The tugs and power scows were mostly crewed by local fishermen and tug boat men, with a few GI's as cooks and deckhands. The skippers got $400 a month and the crew mostly received $240 a month.

©Photo from the Monsen Family Collection

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