Naval Facility Cape Hatteras (NAVFAC Cape Hatteras) was a

Sound Surveillance System The Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) was a submarine detection system based on passive sonar developed by the United States Navy to track Soviet submarines. The system's true nature was classified with the name and acronym SOSUS themselves classi ...

(SOSUS) shore terminal, one of the nine initial systems installed, located on Cape Hatteras near

Buxton, North Carolina Buxton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) on Hatteras Island (part of the Outer Banks) near Cape Hatteras. It is located in Dare County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, it had a population ...

and adjacent to the old location of the

Cape Hatteras lighthouse Cape Hatteras Light is a lighthouse located on Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks in the town of Buxton, North Carolina and is part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The lighthouse’s semi-unique pattern makes it easy to recognize and famou ...

. NAVFAC Cape Hatteras, eighth of the initial nine Atlantic systems to be activated, was in commission 11 January 1956 to 30 June 1982. Watch floor

The system and shore facilities, in which output of the array at sea was processed and displayed by means of the

Low Frequency Analyzer and Recorder (LOFAR) Low or LOW or lows, may refer to: People * Low (surname), listing people surnamed Low Places * Low, Quebec, Canada * Low, Utah, United States * Lo Wu station (MTR code LOW), Hong Kong; a rail station * Salzburg Airport (ICAO airport code: LO ...

, were officially described as being engaged in oceanographic research. The actual function of undersea surveillance was declassified in 1991 long after the facility had closed. In military construction hearings during 1964 before the Senate Committee on Armed Services the request for funding of recreational and other support buildings for the Naval Facility the Navy noted it was part of a program supporting continental air and missile defense forces without mention of its role in tracking Soviet missile submarines. On 26 June 1962 NAVFAC Cape Hatteras made the first SOSUS detection of a Soviet diesel submarine. Due to its location on Cape Hatteras, when the facility initially opened, it was only accessibly via

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

from the Oregon Inlet. The ferry discontinued service at night during winter months and there were frequent interruptions due to weather and sea conditions. By 1963 there were 122 Navy personnel and 180 dependents resident at the facility.

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

Group Cape Hatteras occupied some of the facility buildings from 1981 to 2005. The Coast Guard demolished remaining buildings and the site is desirable as beach access and possible construction of changing and rest rooms but contaminated soil requires environmental clean up.

References

1956 establishments in North Carolina 1982 disestablishments in North Carolina Closed installations of the United States Navy {{US-navy-stub