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Pillar Point Air Force Station, formerly Pillar Point Military Reservation, is a U.S. Department of Defense, Pillar Point Air Force Station, 2009
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Pillar Point and Half Moon Bay.jpg, Pillar Point (top) and
Pillar Point Air Force Station, formerly Pillar Point Military Reservation, is a United States Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
facility on 48 acres overlooking Pillar Point Harbor
Pillar Point Harbor is a boat harbor created by a riprap breakwater in San Mateo County, California immediately north of Half Moon Bay. It is used by both pleasure craft and small commercial fishing boats.
The Ohlone people inhabited the regio ...
, California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. Pillar Point is 15 miles south of the City of San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, 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 List of Ca ...
in 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 facility was built and founded on October 10, 1940, as part of the World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
harbor defenses of San Francisco, as there was concern that Japan might attack San Francisco. Large artillery, .50-caliber machine gun
The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, w ...
s for anti-aircraft defense
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
, searchlight
A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...
s, barracks, concrete bunkers, cyclone fences, and an electric system were installed for defensive measures. In June 1944, a short-range UHF Surface Craft Detection Radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
System, model SCR-296, built by Western Electric Company
The Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company officially founded in 1869. A wholly owned subsidiary of American Telephone & Telegraph for most of its lifespan, it served as the primary equipment ma ...
was installed. The SCR-296 could detect and track seagoing surface craft.
After the war, on January 17, 1946, the radar system was removed. In 1949 the Military Reservation was closed. The US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
opened the base on September 4, 1959, as a missile tracking station in support of Naval Air Station Point Mugu
Naval Air Station Point Mugu was a United States naval air station near Oxnard, California, which operated as an independent base from 1941 to 2000, when it merged with nearby Naval Construction Battalion Center Port Hueneme to form Naval Base V ...
's Regulus missile
The SSM-N-8A Regulus or the Regulus I was a United States Navy-developed ship-and-submarine-launched, nuclear-capable turbojet-powered second generation cruise missile, deployed from 1955 to 1964. Its development was an outgrowth of U.S. Navy ...
program and later Minuteman missiles. In the 1960s the base was transferred to the US Air Force, who took over the missile tracking station. From 1967 to 1972, the station tracked Minuteman II missiles. The current tracking units are AN/FPQ-6 and AN/MPS-36 radars systems, which are C-band radar from the Western Range (USSF)
The Western Range (WR) is the space launch range that supports the major launch head at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Managed by the Space Launch Delta 30, the WR extends from the West Coast of the United States to 90° East longitude in t ...
of Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg may refer to:
* Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name
* USS General Harry Taylor (AP-145), USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in K ...
. Pillar Point is presently used by the United States Space Force
The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and the world's only independent space force. Along with its sister branch, the U.S. Air Force, the Space ...
for tracking polar-orbiting space satellite and operational intercontinental ballistic missiles launched from Vandenberg, the United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
, and the United States Air Force Special Operations Command
Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida, is the special operations component of the United States Air Force. An Air Force major command (MAJCOM), AFSOC is also the U.S. Air Force component command ...
. Breakwaters were installed in 1961 and a second in 1982 to protect the area from erosion, with mixed results.
The peninsula is wide and long, with an elevation from . It is connected to the coast by a narrow isthmus on the northeastern side. In the 19th century, the land where Pillar Point Air Force Station now resides was part of Rancho Corral de Tierra Rancho Corral de Tierra (Guerrero y Palomares) was a Mexican land grant in present-day coastal western San Mateo County, northern California.
The larger northern part of Rancho Corral de Tierra was given in 1839 by Governor Pro-Tem Manuel Jimeno ...
. It was given to Francisco Guerrero y Palomares by Mexico before California became a US state in 1850. The area was used for farming and grassland pasture until World War II. Just north of the base was Half Moon Bay Flight Strip
Eddie Andreini Sr. Airfield, officially Half Moon Bay Airport is a public airport in San Mateo County, northwest of Half Moon Bay, California, United States. The airport is on the Pacific Coast, south of San Francisco.
History
The Half Moon ...
, an auxiliary airfield for Salinas Army Air Base
Salinas Municipal Airport is an airport in Monterey County, California, United States, three miles (4.8 km) southeast of Downtown Salinas. It is included in the 2017–21 National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems as a regional general a ...
training used during the war. The Half Moon Bay Flight Strip is now Eddie Andreini Sr. Airfield. There is a prehistoric artifact site, CA-SMA-151, at the station, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
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Half Moon Bay
Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, United States, approximately south of San Francisco. Its population was 11,795 as of the 2020 census. Immediately at the north of Half Moon Bay is Pillar Point Harbor and the un ...
, looking north, 2009
Pillar Point Harbor aerial view.jpg, Aerial view of Pillar Point Harbor looking east. The 1967 breakwater extension is at the center right; the 1982 inner breakwater is at the upper left
Boats in front of the Pillar Point Air Force Station.jpg, Boats in front of the Pillar Point Air Force Station in the Pillar Point Harbor, 2012
See also
*California during World War II
California during World War II was a major contributor to the World War II effort. California's long Pacific Ocean coastline provided the support needed for the Pacific War. California also supported the war in Europe. After the Japanese attack ...
*American Theater (1939–1945)
The American Theater was a theater of operations during World War II including all continental American territory, and extending into the ocean.
Owing to North and South America's geographical separation from the central theaters of ...
*United States home front during World War II
The United States home front during World War II supported the war effort in many ways, including a wide range of volunteer efforts and submitting to government-managed Rationing in the United States, rationing and price controls. There was a gen ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pillar Point Air Force Station California in World War II Installations of the United States Air Force in California 1940 establishments in California Half Moon Bay, California