"I see an air base."
Laura Thane Whipple
The creation
of Moffett Field
is a story linked
to the birth of
a new period in
American aviation
- the lighter-than-air
craft era - which
began with an
idea about 70
years ago.
Germany had found
success in using
giant airships
for scouting purposes
during World War
I, and the U.S.
did not want to
be left behind.
These were the
days before radar,
and dirigibles
had the capacity
to scout large
areas of land
or sea for long
periods, longer
than any other
aircraft at the
time.
At first, the
Navy had just
two rigid dirigibles,
the most famous
being the USS
Shenandoah. But
the career of
the Shenandoah,
as with many of
its predecessors,
was short-lived.
The cigar-shaped
airship was torn
apart in a severe
thunderstorm over
Ohio on Sept.
3, 1925, claiming
the lives of 14
officers and crewmen.
The demise of
the ship added
fuel to a growing
controversy about
the military effectiveness
of the dirigibles.
"When I first
came in contact
with rigid airships,
I couldn't
see anything to
them," said
Rear
Admiral William
A. Moffett,
chief of the Navy's
Bureau of Aeronautics
in 1926. "It
is noteworthy
that every officer
who has anything
to do with these
ships...is in
favor of them
and thinks they
will be of great
value to the Navy."
The advocates
of this new-found
technology won
out. In 1926,
the Navy announced
that it was going
to build two new
airships, both
larger and stronger
than the Shenandoah.
They would become
the Akron and
the Macon.
The Navy quickly
launched a search
for a West Coast
place to base
one of the two
ships. Navy officials
initially appeared
to favor Camp
Kearney in San
Diego. But when
word about the
search reached
Northern California,
local communities
banned together
to bring it to
the Bay Area.
San Francisco
Mayor James T.
Rolph made a public
appeal for property
large enough for
a Naval base.
A young real
estate agent named
Laura Thane Whipple
of the Alameda
County community
of Niles heard
about a large
parcel of land
known as the Ynigo
Ranch between
Mountain View
and Sunnyvale
that might be
available for
such a purpose.
Accompanied by
her mother, Whipple,
one of only a
handful of women
real estate agents
in those days,
paid the 1,700-acre
site a visit.
Whipple reportedly
was convinced
the moment she
gazed in silence
at the spread
of broccoli, cauliflower
and hay fields.
When asked what
she saw, she responded,
"an air base."
Whipple went
to work recruiting
the help of the
San Jose Chamber
of Commerce and
Bay Area newspapers.
Soon just about
all of the Peninsula
communities were
taking part in
this regional
campaign which
would not be equaled
until 1937 when
cities came together
in a similar fashion
to build the Golden
Gate Bridge.
In an attempt
to better their
chances of receiving
the base, Santa
Clara, San Mateo,
San Francisco
and Alameda counties
set up a financing
program to buy
the land and donate
it to the Navy
for the purposes
of building an
air base.
San Francisco
raised $330,000,
while Santa Clara
County communities
contributed most
of the remaining
$100,000 to buy
the land.
The communities
eventually purchased
1,000 acres of
the bayside property
for $476,066.
Still, the Navy
had not made up
its mind. After
discarding dozens
of possible West
Coast sites, the
choice was between
Camp Kearney and
the Bay Area.
The competition
between the two
regions was fierce.
San Diego newspapers
claimed the Bay
Area site was
too foggy. Camp
Kearney was criticized
for having too
much heavier-than-air
traffic and being
vulnerable to
attack from many
directions.
The competition
ended in December.
Two months later,
President Herbert
Hoover, himself
a product of Stanford
University, signed
the bill that
authorized the
Navy to accept
the Mountain View
property for one
dollar and appropriated
$5 million for
construction on
the base to begin
as soon as possible.
Noted a San Francisco
Chronicle editorial
at the time: "What
has been done
with Sunnyvale
is an example
of what Northern
and Central California
can do when they
play the game."
This game, the
Bay Area had won
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