Historic California Posts, Camps,
Stations and Airfields
Naval Air Station,
Livermore
NAS Livermore circa
1944
NAS Livermore
by Richard E. Osborne
This station was built in 1942 four miles
east of Livermore to relieve overcrowding of the naval air facilities
at Oakland Municipal Airport. The primary mission of the base
was to train pilots. Up to October 1944 some 4000 cadets trained
here in N2S trainers known as "Yellow Perils". By late
1944 the Navy needed fewer pilots, so training operations ended
and the station was given several new tasks; servicing fleet air
units preparing for overseas operation, storing aircraft, repairing
aircraft and the training of Navy and Marine air reservists.After
the war the station closed down in stages and was decommissioned
altogether in 1946. NAS, Livermore had the following outlying
fields during the war:
Abel Field, 1 mile
northeast of Milpitas Brown Airport, 7 miles northwest of Tracy
Source: World War II Sites
in the United States: A Tour Guide and Directory by Richard E.
Osbourne
-
Aviation Cadets standing
formation circa 1942-1943
NAS Livermore
by M.L. Shettle, Jr. with
additional information added by SGM Dan Sebby, California Military
Dpeartment
In order to present the history of Naval
Air Station Livermore, we first must present the reason for its
founding as a facility to relieve the overcrowding of Naval Aviation
facilities in Oakland. On August 1, 1928, a Naval Reserve Aviation
Base (NRAB) was established at the Oakland Municipal Airport (now
Oakland International Airport [OAK]). In 1935, the station began
conducting the 30-day Elimination Training Course and in 1941,
full primary pilot training. Eleven days after Pearl Harbor, the
Commanders of all the NRABs held a conference in Pensacola, the
subject being the increase of primary training at their respective
bases. Among the commanders with a problem, was Commander R. L.
Johnson of NRAB Oakland. With the addition of Army Air Corps interceptor
aircraft at the Oakland Municipal Airport and the crowded airspace
in the area, an increase of primary training would be impossible.
After returning to Oakland, Commander Johnson and his staff set
to work to find a site for a new base.
Surveyors traveled 25 miles east of Oakland,
near the town of Livermore, and surveyed the farm of W.G. Wagoner.
However, nobody had requested the permission of the owner, Mr.
Wagoner, and when he discovered surveyors on his property. Mr.
Wagoner was a patriotic American, but he justifiably objected
to the survey crew stomping around in his crops without asking
permission. The next morning he pulled up all the surveying stakes
and piled them under a tree. When the survey party returned and
asked him where the stakes were, Wagoner replied: "They're
under that tree. If you want them, get them, and get the hell
out of here!"
Once the U.S. Navy properly contacted Wagoner
and stated its intentions, he was very cooperative and willingly
sold 629 acres of his farm for $75,260. Construction got under
way on 30 January 1942, with a $1.565 million initial allocation.
Just 20 days later, an aircraft made a test landing on the proposed
airfield. On 25 March 1942, training flights from Oakland began
using the field on a regular basis. At the end of May 1942, personnel
arrived to start operations at Livermore.
On 24 September 1942, an additional 50.005
acres was gained through condemnation proceedings (Declaration
of Taking Civil 22334-R) against Louis Madsen, John and Dora Bargman,
and Charles and Sue Nissen. This property was located across East
Avenue from the station proper and known as the Gunnery
Range Area. In addition to the small arms ranges, this portion
of the station also had athletic fields, supply and public works
areas, water supply facilities and barracks for female enlisted
sailors (known as Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service
[WAVES]) By the end of November 1942, all primary training activities
moved aboard. Since administrative control remained at NRAB Oakland,
Livermore was not yet commissioned.
By the beginning of 1943, Livermore was
operating 144 Stearman N2S “Kaydet” and 15 Naval Air
Factory N3N “Yellow Peril” primary training aircraft.
The next month, the Navy allocated an additional $1 million for
new construction and improvements. Livermore finally separated
from Oakland on June 1, 1943, and commissioned as an NAS. Aircraft
present had increased to 162 Stearman N2S and 18 Timm N2T “Tudors”.
By the end of the year, the station reached peak utilization with
234 Kaydets and 24 Tudors. During 1944, primary training was reduced
throughout the U.S. Navy and NAS Livermore was no exception. On
October 15, 1944, primary training ended as the last of over 4,000
aviation cadets left the station. On that date, NAS Livermore
was placed under the command of NAS Alameda's Naval Air Center.
Although, the station's runways had not been designed for carrier
aircraft, Carrier Air Group (CAG) 33 arrived for operational training
with Detachment A of NAS Alameda's Carrier Aircraft Service Unit
(CASU) 6 in support. CAG 40's fighter and torpedo squadrons followed
in December with 17 F6F “Hellcat” fighters and 10 TBM/TBF
“Avenger” torpedo bombers.
During early 1945, Composite Squadrons (VC)
33 and 7 passed through the station. In mid-1945, Livermore reached
its second peak of operation with the four squadrons of CAG 13
plus VC-77, a total of 107 aircraft. One torpedo squadron completed
training and received orders to embark onto its aircraft carrier.
At the squadron's scheduled hour for departure, their lucky mascot
dog could not be located and the squadron refused to leave without
it. The situation was beyond the control of the base's commander.
A frantic search was conducted all over the base and the City
of Livermore until the dog was found. Once the dog was safely
aboard one of the squadron's aircraft, they took off.
The Navy-owned acreage at Livermore totaled
681. The airfield proper consisted of a 3000 x 2700-ft. macadam
(a mixture of crushed rock and asphalt or tar) mat. This unique
airfield layout suggests that primary training was meant to remain
here throughout the war. There were a total of 12 Outer Landing
Fields (OLF) during the station's primary training days. All the
OLFs, including the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) Intermediate
Field north west of town, were sod fields. In March 1944, station
personnel stood at 228 officers, 800 cadets, 1828 enlisted men,
and 25 civilians. Barracks existed for 159 officers, 864 cadets,
and 1947 enlisted. The station usually operated a Beech GB “Traveler”
for light transport, a Howard GH “Nightingale” air ambulance,
and a Vultee SNV “Valiant” for proficiency.
Livermore remained in use by carrier units
until the end of 1945. For the first six months of 1946, the station
served as the Naval Air Reserve facility for the San Francisco
Bay area, until that activity moved to NAS Oakland. On 10 October
1946, the Navy decommissioned the station opening it to civilian
aircraft, although the airfield saw very little use. Unlike other
military installations closed after World War II, the U.S. Navy
retained ownership of the facility and did not transfer control
of the station to the War Assets Administration. In early 1947,
the airfield was used for a model airplane meet and later for
a stock car race. From late 1947 to 1950, the Livermore Elementary
School system utilized some of the base's buildings. In 1950,
the local community suggested the site for the proposed Air Force
Academy. When the Air Force indicated it desired a total of 9,000
acres, the offer was withdrawn. On 2 April 1950, Permit NOy(R)-451133
was issued by the Bureau of Yards and Docks to the U.S. Atomic
Energy Commission (AEC) for the building of an Atomic Partial
Accelerator at the former NAS.
On 5 January 1951, the Bureau of Yards and
Docks, U.S. Navy, formally transferred the former NAS Livermore
in its entirety to the AEC for use by the University of California's
Radiation Laboratory. Although the Public Buildings Service, General
Services Administration, was informed that the facility was surplus,
documentation supports the direct transfer of the former NAS Livermore
from the U.S. Navy to the AEC.
Among the atomic weapons developed here
over the years were warheads for the Navy's Regulus II, Terrier,
and the Polaris missile systems. In 1980, the facility's name
was changed by Congress to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
in memory of the late Dr. Ernest O. Lawrence (1901-1958), co-founder
(along with Dr. Edward Teller [1908-2003], father of the Hydrogen
Bomb) and first director of the laboratory. Lawrence received
the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1939 for the invention of the cyclotron.
In 1995, the laboratory had a staff of 8,000 and a budget of $950
million. The former Gunnery Range Area currently operates as an
annex of the Albuquerque, New Mexico-based Sandia National Laboratories.
Today, both Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories
continue their work on nuclear weapons, as well as developing
new defense and homeland security technologies. Several former
U.S. Navy buildings are still in use, the most notable being the
drill hall that houses atomic accelerators.
Grumman F7F "Tigercat"
of Maring Fighter Squadron (VMF) 314, circa 1946
NAS Livermore
by Justin Ruhge
Combat aircrew refresher training unit,
NAS. On January 13, 1942, the Bureau of Aeronautics authorized
the purchase for $85,000 of 629 acres of pastureland from the
family of W. Gatzmer Wagoner. After Wagoner's Rancho Las Positas,
located about thirty-five miles southeast of Oakland, had been
acquired the Bureau of Yards and Docks allowed the Dinwiddie
Construction Co. a year and half to build at Livermore a facility
that would supplant the small hangar leased from the City of
Oakland since 1928. The Naval Air Station was built at a cost
of $1,565,000.
In November 1942 all training activities
were moved from the Oakland Municipal Airport. On January 1,
1943 the site at Livermore was officially designated a Naval
Air Station even though officially it was a naval auxiliary air
station under the jurisdiction of the Naval Air Center, Alameda
until upgraded to a Naval Air Station on June 1, 1943.
The primary mission of NAS Livermore from
June 1943 to October 1944 was the instruction of aviation cadets.
Using the N2S "Yellow Peril" trainer, more than 4,000
cadets completed the course. With fewer pilots needed in late
1944, Livermore was relieved of its duties as a primary training
command and sent off its last cadets in October 1944. On October
15, 1944, under the control of NAS Alameda, its mission was changed
to house and service fleet air units preparing for combat operation,
store aircraft, and undertake assembly and repair work especially
for NAS Alameda. It also served many carrier groups and planes
from such auxiliary fields as Monterey and Fallon, Nevada.
On December 1, 1944, Livermore became
part of the Reserve Air Training Command, to provide refresher
training for inactive air reservists. After ten months of performing
this duty, the Chief of Naval Operations on February 1, 1946
placed Livermore on reduced operational status, its sole remaining
mission was to retain physical possession of U.S. property. Deactivation
began on October 1 while negotiations began to lease its outlying
field and to turn Livermore over to groups for use as a flying
school and canning factory.
The Selected Reservists training function
still at Livermore was moved to NAS Alamitos. The move was completed
on September 30, 1946, thus ending the history of NAS Livermore
except for the formal statement of decommissioning on December
15, 1946.
Flightline of NAS
Livermore, circa 1945-1946
US Army Corps
of Engineers History
by Dan Sebby, Military Historian, California
Military Department (2005)
On August 1, 1928, a Naval Reserve Aviation
Base (NRAB) was established at the Oakland Municipal Airport
(now Oakland International Airport [OAK]). In 1935, the station
began conducting the 30-day Elimination Training Course and in
1941, full primary pilot training. Eleven days after Pearl Harbor,
the Commanders of all the NRABs held a conference in Pensacola,
the subject being the increase of primary training at their respective
bases. Among the commanders with a problem, was Commander R.
L. Johnson of NRAB Oakland. With the addition of Army Air Corps
interceptor aircraft at the Oakland Municipal Airport and the
crowded airspace in the area, an increase of primary training
would be impossible. After returning to Oakland, Commander Johnson
and his staff set to work to find a site for a new base.
Surveyors traveled 25 miles east of Oakland, near the town of
Livermore, and surveyed the farm of W.G. Wagoner. However, nobody
had informed the owner, Mr. Wagoner, and one day he discovered
surveyors on his property. Mr. Wagoner was a patriotic American,
but he justifiably objected to the survey crew stomping around
in his crops without asking permission. The next morning he pulled
up all the surveying stakes and piled them under a tree. When
the survey party returned and asked him where the stakes were,
Wagoner replied: "They're under that tree. If you want them,
get them, and get the hell out of here!"
Once the U.S. Navy properly contacted Wagoner and stated its
intentions, he was very cooperative and willingly sold 629 acres
of his farm for $75,260. Construction got under way on 30 January
1942, with a $1.565 million initial allocation. Just 20 days
later, an aircraft made a test landing on the proposed airfield.
On 25 March 1942, training flights from Oakland began using the
field on a regular basis. At the end of May 1942, personnel arrived
to start operations at Livermore. By the end of November 1942,
all primary training activities moved aboard. Since administrative
control remained at NRAB Oakland, Livermore was not yet commissioned.
By the beginning of 1943, Livermore was
operating 144 Stearman N2S "Kaydet" and 15 Naval Air
Factory N3N "Yellow Peril" primary training aircraft.
The next month, the Navy allocated an additional $1 million for
new construction and improvements. Livermore finally separated
from Oakland on June 1, 1943, and commissioned as a Naval Air
Station (NAS). Aircraft present had increased to 162 Stearman
N2S and 18 Timm N2T "Tudors". By the end of the year,
the station reached peak utilization with 234 Kaydets and 24
Tudors. During 1944, primary training was reduced throughout
the U.S. Navy and NAS Livermore was no exception. On October
15, 1944, primary training ended as the last of over 4,000 aviation
cadets left the station. On that date, NAS Livermore was placed
under the command of NAS Alameda's Naval Air Center. Although,
the station's runways had not been designed for carrier aircraft,
Carrier Air Group (CAG) 33 arrived for operational training with
Detachment A of NAS Alameda's Carrier Aircraft Service Unit (CASU)
6 in support. CAG 40's fighter and torpedo squadrons followed
in December with 17 F6F "Hellcat" fighters and 10 TBM/TBF
"Avenger" torpedo bombers.
During early 1945, Composite Squadrons (VC) 33 and 7 passed through
the station. In mid-1945, Livermore reached its second peak of
operation with the four squadrons of CAG 13 plus VC-77, a total
of 107 aircraft. One torpedo squadron completed training and
received orders to embark onto its aircraft carrier. At the squadron's
scheduled hour for departure, their lucky mascot dog could not
be located and the squadron refused to leave without it. The
situation was beyond the control of the base's commander. A frantic
search was conducted all over the base and the City of Livermore
until the dog was found. Once the dog was safely aboard one of
the squadron's aircraft, they took off.
The Navy-owned acreage at Livermore totaled 681. The airfield
proper consisted of a 3000 x 2700-ft. macadam (a mixture of crushed
rock and asphalt or tar) mat. This unique airfield layout suggests
that primary training was meant to remain here throughout the
war. There were a total of 12 Outer Landing Fields (OLF) during
the station's primary training days. All the OLFs, including
the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) Intermediate Field
north west of town, were sod fields. In March 1944, station personnel
stood at 228 officers, 800 cadets, 1828 enlisted men, and 25
civilians. Barracks existed for 159 officers, 864 cadets, and
1947 enlisted. The station usually operated a Beech GB "Traveler"
for light transport, a Howard GH "Nightingale" air
ambulance, and a Vultee SNV "Valiant" for proficiency.
Livermore remained in use by carrier units
until the end of 1945. For the first six months of 1946, the
station served as the Naval Air Reserve facility for the San
Francisco Bay area, until that activity moved to NAS Oakland.
On 10 October 1946, the Navy decommissioned the station opening
it to civilian aircraft, although the airfield saw very little
use. Unlike other military installations closed after World War
II, the U.S. Navy retained ownership of the facility and did
not transfer control of the station to the War Assets Administration.
In early 1947, the airfield was used for a model airplane meet
and later for a stock car race. From late 1947 to 1950, the Livermore
Elementary School system utilized some of the base's buildings.
In 1950, the local community suggested the site for the proposed
Air Force Academy. When the Air Force indicated it desired a
total of 9,000 acres, the offer was withdrawn. On 2 April 1950,
Permit NOy(R)-451133 was issued by the Bureau of Yards and Docks
to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) for the building of
an Atomic Partial Accelerator at the former NAS.
On 5 January 1951, the Bureau of Yards and Docks, U.S. Navy,
formally transferred the former NAS Livermore in its entirety
to the AEC for use by the University of California's Radiation
Laboratory. Although the Public Buildings Service, General Services
Administration, was informed that the facility was surplus, documentation
supports the direct transfer of the former NAS Livermore from
the U.S. Navy to the AEC.
Among the atomic weapons developed here over the years were warheads
for the Navy's Regulus II, Terrier, and the Polaris missile systems.
In 1980, the facility's name was changed by Congress to the Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory in memory of the late Dr. Ernest
O. Lawrence (1901-1958), co-founder (along with Dr. Edward Teller
[1908-2003], father of the Hydrogen Bomb) and first director
of the laboratory. Lawrence received the Nobel Prize for Physics
in 1939 for the invention of the cyclotron. In 1995, the laboratory
had a staff of 8,000 and a budget of $950 million. Today, Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory continues its work on nuclear weapons,
as well as developing new defense and homeland security technologies.
Several former U.S. Navy buildings are still in use, the most
notable being the drill hall that houses atomic accelerators.
-.jpg)
