|
For the Peninsula,
the construction
of the Naval base
was a boon in
bad times. It
meant an average
of 500 construction
jobs a month in
a time when jobs
were hard to come
by. Merchants
in local communities
also looked forward
to the purchasing
power that would
come with the
500 people expected
to be stationed
at the base upon
its completion.
As excited as
the Bay Area was
to see the massive
airships, the
local interest
in the construction
of its storage
hangar - Hangar 1 - was almost
as great.
The hangar, 211
feet high, would
be taller than
all the buildings
in the South Bay
except one, the
Bank of America
tower in San Jose.
The base also
would be equipped
with a massive
nine-story mooring
mast responsible
for grabbing the
giant airship
by the nose and
leading it in
and out of the
hangar on tracks.
The hangar was
still under construction
when the Bay Area
got its first
glimpse of the
kind of monster
for which it was
intended.
Despite a veil
of fog that had
settled on the
San Francisco
Peninsula, it
was a carnival-like
scene at the Mountain
View-Sunnyvale
border on the
morning of May
13, 1932.
 More
than 100,000 people
- enough to fill
Stanford Stadium
- packed the bayside
fields where they
huddled in cars
and sat in bleachers
set up by concessionaires.
Vendors sold hot
dogs, sandwiches
and pies. Sixty-five
state troopers
were called in
to handle the
traffic on the
still-uncompleted
Bayshore Freeway
where cars inched
ahead four abreast
en route to the
site. The crowd
had assembled
by the Bay to
greet a Navy aircraft
carrier that was
due to dock any
time that morning.
But This new ship
would not be arriving
by water.
Suddenly, about
7 a.m., the recently
completed USS
Akron, which would
be based in Lakehurst,
NJ, dropped ghostlike
out of the clouds.
The silver dirigible
stretched across
the sky, two and
a half times the
length of a football
field.
The crowed cheered.
"It was a
never-to-be-forgotten
sight..."
noted a Palo Alto
Times story. This
would be the first
and last time
the Akron would
visit the base.
Less than a year
later on April
4, 1933, the "sky-queen"
got caught in
heavy storm winds
and crashed off
the Atlantic Coast,
killing 73 of
the 76 officers
and crew on board.
Among those lost
was Admiral
William Moffett.
Eight days later,
a somber crowd
gathered at the
base, and Sunnyvale
Naval Air Station
was commissioned.
Acting Commanding
Officer M.J. Walker
concluded the
ceremonies by
giving the now-famous
orders to a deputy
officer named
D.M. Mackey, "Enter
in the log that
Sunnyvale station
is placed in commission
at 11:30 a.m.
Set the watches
and pipe down."
Given that the
base was located
in two Peninsula
communities, the
original name
of the air base
was supposed to
be the Mountain
View-Sunnyvale
Naval Air Station.
In fact, most
of the base actually
rests in Mountain
View. But Naval
officials in Washington,
D.C. reportedly
feared that the
"mountain"
in the title would
create more safety
concerns among
Congressional
leaders already
jittery about
the lighter-than-air
craft program.
In the end, the
Mountain View
portion was left
off in favor of
just "Sunnyvale"
which gave East
Coast officials
an image of vast,
wide-open areas
with plenty of
room for massive
airships.
Sunnyvale Naval
Air Station now
awaited the Macon.
+ Jump to the top of the page.
Moffett Field History Tour: + BACK + Moffett History Home + FORWARD
For a text only version, please contact: access@mail.arc.nasa.gov
|
