Naval Air Station Alameda
Encyclopedia : N : NA : NAV : Naval Air Station Alameda
Naval Air Station Alameda (NAS Alameda) was a United States Navy Naval Air Station in Alameda, California, on San Francisco Bay. Built on reclaimed land at the west end of Alameda Island, the site was acquired by the USAAC in 1930 but turned over to the navy in 1936. During World War II, the USS Hornet (CV-8) was loaded with the 16 B-25s that would take part in the Dolittle Raid at NAS Alameda. After the base closed on April 25, 1997, the USS Hornet (CV-12), was given to the former air station to be used as a museum ship. Following its closure, much of NAS Alameda's land was gradually transferred to the city of Alameda.
NAS Alameda had two runways: 07-25 (8000x200') and 13-31 (7200x200'). Two helicopter pads and a control tower were also part of the facilities.
From 1949 to 1953, the Navy based the Lockheed Constitution—the largest airplane ever listed on the Navy inventory—at NAS Alameda. The two prototypes regularly flew between nearby NAS Moffett Field and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
The Alameda Terminal of the First Transcontinental Railroad (California Historical Landmark #440) is located on its grounds at the Naval Air Station Mall, as is the departure point of the China Clipper (CHL #968).
See also
Sources
Trivia
- The MythBusters have occasionally conducted some of their more destructive experiments in the grounds of the station, due to the extensive safety zone it affords them. Also, a small granite cannonball shot from their "Tree Cannon" experiment was never found and is possibly still somewhere on the grounds, if it didn't land in the bay.
- A two-mile highway loop was constructed on the base for the filming of a lengthy car chase sequence for the movie The Matrix Reloaded.
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.