NAS Queenstown was commissioned on 22 February 1918 with LCDR Paul J. Peyton, USNRF, Naval Aviator 47 in command.

[1][2] At the start of America's involvement in the First World War, five sites in Ireland - Queenstown, Wexford, Lough Foyle, Whiddy Island and Berehaven - were identified to be operated by the United States Navy in support of allied operations against enemy submarines.

[3] This station supplied patrols and convoys from Cape Clear on the west, south into the English Channel to the sector covered by the aerial patrols from the north coast of France, and southeast and east to the sectors covered by the stations in the southwest of Wexford and England.

[6][7] It operated as a seaplane base, assembly and repair location for aircraft, and as a training station for pilots.

Naval Air Station anti-submarine warfare patrols in Ireland were discontinued, with all aircraft grounded and disarmed.