Naval Air Base San Pedro, NAS Terminal Island was a

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 ...

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 ...

410-acre airfield on

Terminal Island Terminal Island, historically known as Isla Raza de Buena Gente, is a largely artificial island located in Los Angeles County, California, between the neighborhoods of Wilmington and San Pedro in the city of Los Angeles, and the city of Long Be ...

San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; Spanish: " St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...

part of the

City of Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Before the Navy took control of the airfield, the airstrip was the civilian Allen Field. Allen Field was built in 1927 by filling with sand the

Port of Los Angeles The Port of Los Angeles is a seaport managed by the Los Angeles Harbor Department, a unit of the City of Los Angeles. It occupies of land and water with of waterfront and adjoins the separate Port of Long Beach. Promoted as "America's Port", t ...

and enlarging Terminal Island. Terminal Island is located between

San Pedro Harbor San Pedro ( ; Spanish: " St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located w ...

and

Long Beach Harbor The Port of Long Beach, also known as the Harbor Department of the City of Long Beach, is a container port in the United States, which adjoins Port of Los Angeles. Acting as a major gateway for US–Asian trade, the port occupies of land with ...

. Allen Field was serviced by the

Pacific Electric The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...

and

pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...

ferries 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 tax ...

. The

air terminal An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from an Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft. Within the terminal, passengers purchase ...

has three runways in a triangle shape, two short runways and one 4,200 foot runway. A large seaplane ramp was also built at the Terminal. A Naval Air Reserve Training Facility was built next to Allen Field in 1927 and used the runway - ramp. Civilian use ended in 1935 and the site began an Air Base, later it was renamed Reeves Field San Pedro, after Rear Admiral

Joseph M. Reeves Joseph Mason "Bull" Reeves (November 20, 1872 – March 25, 1948) was an admiral in the United States Navy and an early and important supporter of U.S. Naval Aviation. Though a battleship officer during his early career, he became known as the ...

. On on 25 September 1941 Naval Air Base San Pedro became part of Naval Operating Base Terminal Island. In 1942 many Reserve troop were trained at Naval Air Base. In 1943 the Naval took over operations and the Reserve was moved to Naval Air Base Los Alamitos. The base was renamed Naval Air Station Terminal Island and continued as training base till the end of the war in 1945. Along with training troop, the base was used to test new planes that were built in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

at the plant of: Lockheed,

Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated as ...

and &

Vultee Aircraft The Vultee Aircraft Corporation became an independent company in 1939 in Los Angeles County, California. It had limited success before merging with the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation in 1943, to form the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporati ...

. Naval Air Ferry Command unit, part of the Naval Air Transport Service was started to test and deliver these new planes. The base work 24/7 testing and shipping out planes, at about 200 a month. In 1942, NAB San Pedro, now NAS Terminal Island, was now relegated to the task of equipping and perform flight-tests on a large number of military aircraft produced at the nearby plants of Lockheed, Douglas & Vultee. To facilitate delivery of these aircraft, the U.S. Navy established the Naval Air Ferry Command (NAFC) (VRF-3) in 1943. During the war the base was commander was Captain Kneflar "Socko" McGinnis. Due to a shortage to service men during the war, stationed at the base was a unit of WAVES (

Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service Waves most often refers to: *Waves, oscillations accompanied by a transfer of energy that travel through space or mass. *Wind waves, surface waves that occur on the free surface of bodies of water. Waves may also refer to: Music * Waves (band ...

). The 200 strong WAVES served as mechanics, air traffic controllers, radio operators, trainers and air navigators. After the war the Base was closed in 1947 and the base turned over to the

Bureau of Yards and Docks The Bureau of Yards and Docks (abbrev.: BuDocks) was the branch of the United States Navy responsible from 1842 to 1966 for building and maintaining navy yards, drydocks, and other facilities relating to ship construction, maintenance, and repair. ...

. The nearby Naval Air Base Long Beach continued to use the Air Field till 1997 at which time the base was abandoned, there is no trace of the base today.livingnewdeal.org, Reeves Field – Long Beach Naval Complex – San Pedro CA
/ref>

References

{{US Navy navbox 1940s in California History of California United States in World War II

See also

References