Naval Air Station Grosse Ile: Difference between revisions
Ken keisel (talk | contribs) updated entry |
Ken keisel (talk | contribs) updated entry |
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After the War the base's runways were too short for use by the new generation of Navy jet fighters, and efforts to expand their lengths were met with disapproval by township citizens, so in the 1950s the base would see use as an ASW training base, which would continue until the base closed. During this time the base was principally supplied with [[Douglas Skyraider]]s, [[S2F]] anti-submarine warfare aircraft, as well as Marine [[R4Q]] and [[R5D]] cargo aircraft. |
After the War the base's runways were too short for use by the new generation of Navy jet fighters, and efforts to expand their lengths were met with disapproval by township citizens, so in the 1950s the base would see use as an ASW training base, which would continue until the base closed. During this time the base was principally supplied with [[Douglas Skyraider]]s, [[S2F]] anti-submarine warfare aircraft, as well as Marine [[R4Q]] and [[R5D]] cargo aircraft. |
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The base would also receive a small number of helicopters in the late 1950s, beginning with the [[Piasecki H-25]], also known as the HUP-1. Later the crews converted to the larger [[HSS-1 Seabat]]. With no Coast Guard station nearby, the helicopters were a highly useful addition to NASGI, and were soon earning their keep performing rescue operations for stranded boaters on Lake Erie and along the Detroit River. On one occasion the base's HUP-1's retrieved 17 fishermen stranded on an ice flow during a snowstorm. |
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The air station entered the 1960s on a {{convert|604|acre|km2|adj=on}} installation training over 2,000 Navy and Marine Reservists. The principal aircraft remained the Skyraider and S2F, the Marines converted to [[OV-10 Bronco]]s. Many of the men stationed at Naval Air Station Grosse Ile would serve in Vietnam. The base closed in the fall of 1969, with its function and squadrons being moved to NAF Detroit, located north of the city of Detroit at what was then [[Selfridge Air Force Base]]. |
The air station entered the 1960s on a {{convert|604|acre|km2|adj=on}} installation training over 2,000 Navy and Marine Reservists. The principal aircraft remained the Skyraider and S2F, the Marines converted to [[OV-10 Bronco]]s. Many of the men stationed at Naval Air Station Grosse Ile would serve in Vietnam. The base closed in the fall of 1969, with its function and squadrons being moved to NAF Detroit, located north of the city of Detroit at what was then [[Selfridge Air Force Base]]. |
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* [[Douglas Skyraider]] |
* [[Douglas Skyraider]] |
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* [[S2F]] |
* [[S2F]] |
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* [[Piasecki H-25]] |
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* [[HSS-1 Seabat]] |
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* [[Lockheed P-2 Neptune]] |
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* [[R4Q]] |
* [[R4Q]] |
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* [[R5D]] |
* [[R5D]] |
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Revision as of 21:52, 15 April 2011
Naval Air Station Grosse Ile was commissioned 7 September 1929 as Naval Reserve Air Base Grosse Ile at Grosse Ile, Michigan. Though that was the official beginning, the air station traces its roots back to July 1925 when four US Naval reservists started an aviation unit near Detroit. At first they had no aircraft, and for over a year had to operate using only classroom instruction. The first aircraft assigned to the Detroit Naval Air Reserves was a single Consolidated NY-1, and would remain their sole aircraft for another year. The base at Grosse Ile began with a single tin hanger floated down the Detroit River from the unit's former home near downtown Detroit. By 1927 a large hanger had been built on Olds Bay at the southern tip of the island for use by Navy seaplanes. By 1935 the Navy had acquired all the property formerly owned by The Detroit Aircraft Corporation and a Curtiss-Wright flying school, and had occupied the former Curtiss-Wright hanger, which became the base's primary hanger.
The airship ZMC-2, the Navy's only all-metal airship, was constructed on the site from 1925 to 1929 by the Detroit Aircraft Corporation. The hanger where the airship was constructed measured 140' high, 140' wide, and 160' long, and remained the largest structure on the base until it was disassembled in 1960, and its roof reused in the construction of a bowling alley in nearby Trenton, Michigan.
During the depression money was hard to come by, but NRAB Grosse Ile, MI continued to grow, many of its reservist drilling without pay. By the end of 1930 the first Marine unit had been commissioned and based at Grosse Ile.
World War II would come only 30 years after the Navy had acquired its first aircraft and 14 years after naval aviation had come to Grosse Ile, it would face a war that would change the world and base forever. During the war over 5,000 pilots received training at Grosse Ile, mostly Navy cadets, along with over a thousand British RAF pilot trainees. With this rapid expansion the base gained the new designation of Naval Air Station. The primary aircraft stationed at Naval Air Station Grosse Ile during the war years were Consolidated PBY Catalina, Vought F4U Corsairs, Curtiss SB2C Helldivers, and Grumman TBM Avengers. Training was conducted using SNJ, and Boeing Stearman. Immidately following the end of WWII the base was equipped with several squadrons of the huge Martin AM Maulers, and for a short time six McDonnell FH-1 Phantoms, the only jets ever based on the island.
After the War the base's runways were too short for use by the new generation of Navy jet fighters, and efforts to expand their lengths were met with disapproval by township citizens, so in the 1950s the base would see use as an ASW training base, which would continue until the base closed. During this time the base was principally supplied with Douglas Skyraiders, S2F anti-submarine warfare aircraft, as well as Marine R4Q and R5D cargo aircraft.
The base would also receive a small number of helicopters in the late 1950s, beginning with the Piasecki H-25, also known as the HUP-1. Later the crews converted to the larger HSS-1 Seabat. With no Coast Guard station nearby, the helicopters were a highly useful addition to NASGI, and were soon earning their keep performing rescue operations for stranded boaters on Lake Erie and along the Detroit River. On one occasion the base's HUP-1's retrieved 17 fishermen stranded on an ice flow during a snowstorm.
The air station entered the 1960s on a 604-acre (2.44 km2) installation training over 2,000 Navy and Marine Reservists. The principal aircraft remained the Skyraider and S2F, the Marines converted to OV-10 Broncos. Many of the men stationed at Naval Air Station Grosse Ile would serve in Vietnam. The base closed in the fall of 1969, with its function and squadrons being moved to NAF Detroit, located north of the city of Detroit at what was then Selfridge Air Force Base.
Immediately following its closing the base was transformed into the Grosse Ile Municipal Airport. There are still some signs of the old NAS there. The former Hangar 1 is now the Township Hall and offices. A museum is located in the township offices, and a memorial garden dedicated to the old base and the men and women that served there is located on the old flight ramp attached to hanger 1. The original Curtiss-Wright flying school hanger still remains, and is used to house civilian aircraft, and a dance studio. The airport averages 24,000 takeoffs and landings a year.
Aircraft
- ZMC-2
- Consolidated NY-1
- Loening OL-9
- Curtiss TS-1
- Naval Aircraft Factory TS-1
- Boeing F4B-4
- Martin T4M
- Grumman FF-2
- Vought O2U Corsair
- Naval Aircraft Factory N3N Canary
- SNJ
- Boeing Stearman
- Consolidated PBY Catalina
- Curtiss SB2C Helldiver
- Grumman TBM Avenger
- Vought F4U Corsair
- Martin AM Mauler
- McDonnell FH-1 Phantom
- Douglas Skyraider
- S2F
- Piasecki H-25
- HSS-1 Seabat
- Lockheed P-2 Neptune
- R4Q
- R5D
- North American-Rockwell OV-10 Bronco