Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco is a United States Coast Guard Air Station located 13 miles south of downtown

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

at the San Francisco International Airport in an unincorporated area of

San Mateo County San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City is the county seat, and the third most populated city following Daly ...

. The air station sits adjacent to the airport which consists of its own ramp, one hangar, an administration building and several other support structures.

Operations and missions

Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco (CGAS) located at the San Francisco International Airport is one of five air stations in the Eleventh Coast Guard District. Currently, Air Station San Francisco operates four MH65 Dolphin

helicopters A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

that provides its primary mission search and rescue. CGAS San Francisco also supports a wide range of other Coast Guard operations such as

Maritime Law enforcement Admiralty law or maritime law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between priva ...

port security Port security is part of a broader definition concerning maritime security. It refers to the defense, law and treaty enforcement, and counterterrorism activities that fall within the port and maritime domain. It includes the protection of the se ...

, Aids to Navigation support and Marine Environmental Protection to approximately 300 miles of coastline from

Point Conception Point Conception (Chumash: ''Humqaq'') is a headland along the Gaviota Coast in southwestern Santa Barbara County, California. It is the point where the Santa Barbara Channel meets the Pacific Ocean, and as the corner between the mostly north ...

to Fort Bragg 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

History

HH-3F Pelican from Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco

Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco was completed on February 15, 1941, making it one of the longest tenured tenants at SFO. The air station operated a

PBY-5 Catalina The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served wit ...

and two RD-4 Dolphins. On November 1, 1941 the aircraft and personnel were placed under Navy command where they continued to conduct Search and Rescue and Coastal Patrols through the end of World War II. Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco was also tasked with aiding in the construction of the highly classified and secret Long Range Navigation (LORAN) stations in the North Pacific in 1943. Proving an invaluable asset in this important mission, the San Francisco-based PBY-5 Catalina was instrumental in the completion of the Aleutian LORAN chain by transporting personnel, supplies and building materials. World War II the base was called Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Mills Field and Coast Guard Air Station, San Francisco. After World War II, the Air Station resumed normal operations under Coast Guard control after release from the Navy on June 30, 1946. The first helicopter stationed here in San Francisco was the HO3S-1 Dragonfly in 1947. In the early fifties the

Grumman HU-16 Albatross The Grumman HU-16 Albatross is a large, twin–radial engined amphibious seaplane that was used by the United States Air Force (USAF), the U.S. Navy (USN), and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), primarily as a search and rescue (SAR) aircraft. Origi ...

replaced the air stations aging World War II fixed wing inventory. This general purpose amphibian, affectionately known as the "Goat", proved to be a highly adaptable platform for SAR and LE. Eventually, the Air Station received the HH-52A Sea Guard helicopter in 1963 which was a significant improvement over its predecessor with its improved flight characteristics and capabilities. Also stationed at San Francisco were the C-130s which when they were moved to the newly constructed Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento in 1978, ended 37 years of Coast Guard fixed wing aviation in San Francisco. In 1991, Air Station San Francisco received its first HH-60 J-Hawk to replace the HH-3F Pelican as the medium range Search and Rescue Helicopter. Restructuring in Coast Guard Aviation lead to a short stay of the HH-60 in San Francisco and in June 1996, four HH-65s were moved to San Francisco from San Diego. In the fall of 2001, the Air Station transitioned to the HH-65B, an upgrade in the avionics package. In the spring of 2006, the HH65B was upgraded to the HH65C after the installation of Turbomeca Arriel 2C2-CG engines. While the airframes have evolved, the primary mission of Air Station San Francisco has remained unchanged for six decades, maritime Search and Rescue along 300 miles of coastline from Point Conception to Fort Bragg. In addition to SAR, Air Station San Francisco has expanded its missions to include Homeland Security, Maritime Law Enforcement, Environmental Protection, Aids to Navigation, Logistics, and Cliff Rescue.sfomuseum.org, Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco
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References

, coordinates= {{Airports in the San Francisco Bay Area United States Coast Guard Air Stations Buildings and structures in San Mateo County, California San Francisco International Airport de:Coast Guard Air Station

Operations and missions

History

See also

References