Hitchcock Naval Air Station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hitchcock Naval Air Station was a Naval Air Station built by the United States Navy during World War II to accommodate lighter-than-air aircraft, more commonly known as blimps. Located in the small town of Hitchcock, Texas, about fifteen miles northwest of Galveston, it was commissioned on May 22, 1943. The most prominent feature of the base was the 1,000 foot long, 200 foot tall largely wooden blimp hangar. The purpose of the base and its aircraft was to search for Axis power submarines in the Gulf of Mexico.
Because of damage sustained from Hurricane Carla in 1961, the wooden parts of the hangar were demolished in 1962. The only part of the hangar still extant are the four tall concrete corner supports and the concrete foundation.
[edit] External links
- Images of Hitchcock Naval Air Station, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
- Hitchcock Naval Air Station from the Handbook of Texas Online
 |
This United States Navy article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This military aviation article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
