Military | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

November 21, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Brats

“To be born and grow up the child of a serving soldier gives one a unique background and upbringing, an observation that applies just as much during the twenty-first century as it did when Britain’s standing army officially came into being in 1689.” (TACA)

“Over the hills, and over the main,
To Flanders, Portugal, or Spain:
The queen commands, and we’ll obey –
Over the hills and far away.

We all shall lead more happy lives,
By getting rid of brats and wives,
That scold and brawl both night and day –
Over the hills and far away.”

These are some of the lines to a song in the comedy ‘The Recruiting Officer’ by the Irish writer George Farquhar. “This comedy was first produced on April 8, 1706, at Drury Lane, and was very successful. “

“It is one of the liveliest plays in our language: the plot carefully constructed and held together by amusing yet probable incidents, the scenes illustrative of certain phases of social life ignored by the historian, and the dialogue, is not supremely witty, always genial and vivacious.”

“It is the truest picture we have of the recruiting service at the close of the seventeenth century, and shows the arts that were once used to fire the ambition and appeal to the ignorance of our country bumpkins. The swagger and sentiments of the rival captains serve as excellent foils to each other.” (Farquhar)

The play “described soldier life and that of their dependents. Back then, married soldiers were divided into two categories: the lucky few who were allowed to have their families live in the barracks and be taken care of by regimental funds, and those whose families had to live outside the barracks. The song referenced the latter as being ‘brats and wives.’” (Lange, DoD News)

‘War slang: American fighting words and phrases since the Civil War’ defines ‘Army brat. A child of an Army officer’ and ‘G.I. brat. A child of a member of the armed forces’. (Dickson)

Some suggest that ‘brat’ is a conjunction of ‘barrack rat’. At the end of the eighteenth century, the term ‘barrack rat’ was used in the United Kingdom.

“‘Barrack rat’ also surfaced in ‘A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English.’ It cited the book ‘Old Soldier Sahib’ written in 1936 by Frank Richards, a British soldier who detailed his experiences while stationed in India and Burma during the early 20th century.” (Lange, DoD News)

“It is entirely possible that the term ‘barrack rat’ was constricted to become the term ‘brat’ that we know and use today.” (Clifton)

Still looking at the UK, some suggest that ‘brat’ is an acronym for British Regiment Attached Traveller’ (an administrative term used to classify the families of service personnel deployed abroad). (ArmyBratJourney)

The reference apparently crossed the pond and got into the American lexicon. The October 1941 listing in “American Speech’ notes the ‘Glossary of Army Slang’ – which defines, ‘Army Brat. Son or daughter of Army officer.’

Another definition suggests “Army Brat. (slang) a child of an army officer. This is a term applied in fondness to the officers’ progeny by officers, soldiers and the families themselves …”

“… including the young sons and daughters who are proud of the fact that they form part of an army post’s everyday life as ‘army brats.’”

Other wording for the acronym are also suggested … such as, ‘Bold Responsible Adaptable Tolerant’ and ‘Born Raised And Trained’.

A little while ago, some suggested in a Washington Post article to drop the BRAT reference and replace it with CHAMP (Child Heroes Attached to Military Personnel), asking, ‘Would you rather be called a brat or a champ?’ (Kelly, Washington Post)

A follow-up to that noted, “‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ category, the acronym CHAMPs (Child Heroes Attached to Military Personnel) doesn’t describe a child of the military.”

“I grew up the daughter of a US Navy officer. We were always called ‘Navy juniors,’ which was unmentioned in the article. I had numerous friends who were children of the other services, and they called themselves ‘brats.’”

“No one thought anything negative about it. The word champ or champions is widely used in the sports world and is not historic to the military. ‘Brats’ is a nickname of honor that doesn’t need fixing.” (McLean, Washington Post)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

041127-N-3019M-004 Marine Corps Air Base Kaneohe, Hawaii (Nov. 27, 2004) – A family member of a Sailor assigned to the “Skinny Dragons” of Patrol Squadron Four (VP-4), waves goodbye to her father as he departs aboard an C-40A Clipper assigned to the “Lonestar Express” of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron Five Nine (VR-59) for a scheduled deployment to the 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operations in the Western Pacific. A total of 390 Sailors from VP-4 are scheduled to deploy over the next week in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom (OIF). U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 3rd Class Ryan C. McGinley (RELEASED)

November 14, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Endicott – Taft

William Endicott was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in November 1826, to a prominent family with deep colonial roots. He studied at Harvard College, graduating from Harvard Law School in 1850. He then established his own law practice.

When Massachusetts expanded its supreme court, Endicott was named to one of the new seats in 1873; he served on the high court for nine years. Endicott resigned in 1882, citing ill health. (UVA)

During the 1870s, several advances took place in the design and construction of heavy ordnance, including the development of breech-loading, longer-ranged cannon, increasingly made of steel rather than iron. Coupled with these developments was a growing alarm over the obsolescence of existing seacoast defenses.

In 1883, the navy began a new construction program for the first time since the Civil War. The navy’s new ships were to be used offensively rather than defensively. This naval policy, along with the advances in weapon technology, required a new system of seacoast defenses which would safeguard America’s harbors and free the navy for its new role. (Coastal Defense Study Group)

In 1885 President Cleveland made Endicott his secretary of war. A joint army, navy, and civilian board was formed, headed by Endicott, to evaluate proposals for new defenses.

The Endicott Board of Fortifications, created by Congress in March 1885, recommended a major improvement program for the modernization of port defenses along the Eastern seaboard and Great Lakes. (UVA)

From 1890 to 1905, the United States undertook a massive program to modernize its coastal defenses. Known as the Endicott era; the huge construction program resulted in all the major harbors being fortified with newly designed steel guns ranging in size from 3 to 12 inches in diameter of bore and 12-inch, breech-loading mortars.

The gun emplacements were constructed with reinforced concrete and had huge earthen or sand parapets in front. Bombproof magazines were placed far underground.

Electrically controlled submarine mine defense projects were developed for the harbors, and fire control systems for locating targets and directing artillery fire were developed.

Improvements in design and construction techniques were made as the program moved forward and those batteries constructed toward the end of the period were more efficient than the early works. Hawaii’s coastal defenses, coming after those on the mainland, would be the beneficiary of these improvements.

As construction wound down on the mainland in 1905, concerns about the state of the nation’s defenses were still heard. A few
important harbors, such as Los Angeles, still lacked fortifications, as did the new American overseas interests, including Hawaii, the Philippines, and the Panama Canal, then under construction.

President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Secretary of War William H. Taft to head a new National Coast Defense Board to review the state of the defenses and to further their effectiveness technically. (Thompson)

In January 1905 Roosevelt instructed Secretary of War William H. Taft to convene the National Coast Defense Board (Taft Board) ‘to consider and report upon the coast defenses of the United States and the insular possessions.’ (Dorrance)

The improvements resulting from the Taft Board’s work included organization of coastal searchlights in batteries for the illumination of harbor entrances, electrification of the fortifications (lighting, communications, ammunition handling), and development of a modern system of aiming.

Since these advances coincided with the construction of Oahu’s fortifications, the new gun and mortar batteries and the mine defense may be said to be from the Taft period. (Thompson)

The Taft Board report recommended in 1906 that O’ahu’s defenses consist of fortifications that defended Honolulu Harbor and Pearl Harbor. The recommendations were refined by a joint Army and Navy board in 1908, and the harbor defense buildup on O’ahu followed the refinements until the onset of World War I.

In 1908 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was in the midst of constructing O‘ahu armored fortifications in accordance with the recommendations of the joint board.

These weapons were to be emplaced within new military reservations that were eventually named Forts Armstrong, Kamehameha, DeRussy and Ruger.

Fort Armstrong (Battery Tiernon) got two 3-inch cannons in 1909; Fort Kamehameha got two 12-inch cannons at Battery Salfridge in 1907 and eight 12-inch mortars at Battery Hasbrouck in 1909); Fort DeRussy got two 14-inch cannons at Battery Randolph and two six-inch cannons at Battery Dudley; and Fort Ruger got eight 12-inch mortars at Battery Harlow in 1907. (Dorrance)

The forts and battery emplacements were constructed according to the concepts of the times. The batteries were dispersed for concealment and to insure that a projectile striking one would not thereby endanger a neighbor. They were open to the rear to facilitate ammunition service at a rapid rate.

The mortars were emplaced four to a pit and were secure when exposed to the flat naval fire of the time. The guns were mounted on disappearing carriages that remained concealed behind a frontal parapet until elevated to fire. (Dorrance)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Battery_Randolph-Fort_DeRussy-(army-mil)

From 1908 until 1917 most of the troops at Fort DeRussy lived under canvas-(CoastDefenseJournal)

Target Practice by the 10th Company, CAC, with the 14-inch guns of Battery Randolph in July 1915-(CoastDefenseJournal)

Target Practice at Battery Dudley-(CoastDefenseJournal)-1938

One of Battery Randolph’s 14-inch M1907M1 guns on its disappearing carriage-(CoastDefenseJournal)

Fort_Ruger-Battery_Harlow-(NPS)-1982

Fort_Armstrong-colorized-(Hammatt)-1911-1920

Fort Kamehameha 12-inch railroad mortars-1930s

Fort Kamehameha 8-inch railway guns, 1930s

Fort DeRussy is nearly complete – area north (right) is still generally undeveloped-Battery Dudley in lower center-CoastDefenseJourna)-1919

Encampment of the 3rd Balloon Company at Fort Ruger on back side of Diamond Head.

October 30, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The Lost Battalion

The War Department announced that it was forming an all-Nisei combat team. (Nisei are the second-generation Japanese in Hawaiʻi and the first generation of Japanese descent to be born and receive their entire education in America, learning Western values and holding US citizenship).

The call for volunteers for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was made. The Territory of Hawaiʻi raised a total of 10,000-volunteers and so its quota was increased to 2,900 while the mainland quota was lowered proportionately to 1,500.

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was activated on February 1, 1943 at Camp Shelby Mississippi; the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce held a Farewell Ceremony for Hawaiʻi 442nd soldiers on March 28, 1943, at ʻIolani Palace. By April 1943, the recruits arrived for training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Following their training, on April 22, 1944, the 442d packed up and were bound for Europe.

As the soldiers of the 36th Infantry Division, including the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT), pushed toward Germany in late-1944, they faced some of their heaviest resistance and harshest terrain in the Vosges Mountains of eastern France.

“It was in this dense forest and mountainous landscape that the 1st Battalion of the 141st Regiment, 36th Division, became ‘The Lost Battalion.’”

“On the front lines of the Allied assault, Major General John E. Dahlquist, commander of the 36th Division, pushed the unit – which was made up primarily of soldiers from Texas – forward to liberate more French territory.”

“The men of the 141st moved quickly through the trees taking advantage of significant gains made by the Allies during the previous days and weeks of fighting.”

“In their haste to recapture more territory, they unknowingly separated themselves from their fellow soldiers and became surrounded by German units.”

“The 1st Battalion, under the leadership of Lt. Marty Higgins, lost contact with headquarters and the 2nd and 3rd Battalions made little headway in their attempts to reach their comrades.”

“Members of the 405th Fighter Squadron of the 371st Fighter Group dropped supplies and food to the men, but as temperatures fell, rations decreased and the wounded deteriorated; the situation grew desperate for the men of the 1st Battalion.”

“Members of the 1st Battalion of 141st Texas Regiment found themselves cut off and surrounded behind enemy lines with limited food and water.”

“General Dahlquist recalled the Japanese American soldiers of the 100th /442nd RCT from their rest behind the lines and they attempted to reach the surrounded unit, slogging through rain and mud for miles towards the Texans.”

“The 100th Infantry and the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 442nd RCT fought diligently for five days with the help of the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion to break through or surround the Germans who entrapped the Texans.”

“Pvt. George Sakato reported that the lines were often so close that when the American artillery was active, ‘we jumped into any hole that was open to keep from getting hit.’”

“Members of their Antitank units joined in the effort as did soldiers from the 232nd Combat Engineer Company, all of whom hoped to break the stalemate that encircled the men of the 36th.”

“Despite their best efforts and teamwork, the fighting was difficult, forcing the Nisei to fight tenaciously for every yard of ground gained. The men would later learn that Adolf Hitler himself had heard of the trapped unit and ordered that they not be rescued no matter what the cost on the German side.” (Grubb)

“Moving quickly, the 3d and 100th Battalions pushed off from Belmont in pitch darkness at 0400, 27 October. By 1000 hours they had passed through the remainder of the 141st, which had been trying to break through to its besieged troops. The 442d launched its attack, battalions abreast, with the 100th on the right.”

“Progress was slow on the 27th. The terrain was next to impossible, heavily forested and carpeted with a dense growth of underbrush. Fighting went back to the days of America’s Indian wars; every tree and every bush were carefully investigated before the troops passed on.” (442)

“Ordered to rescue them, the 100th/442nd RCT, engaged in nearly nonstop combat for six days, eventually reaching the Lost Battalion on October 30. The 442nd suffered hundreds of casualties in rescuing 211 men.”

“Finally, six days after the Texans were surrounded, the Nisei approached from two sides, pushed back the German troops, and drew near the Lost Battalion.”

“At some points during the battle the Nisei had been outnumbered by as many as four to one; one particular hill that witnessed a fierce bayonet charge led by Private Barney Hajiro came to be known as ‘Suicide Hill’ due to the casualty rate of the advancing troops.”

“According to Pfc. Ichigi Kashiwagi of K Company, ‘We yelled our heads off and charged and shot the head off everything that moved… we didn’t care anymore… we acted like a bunch of savages.’”

“Companies I and K of the 3rd Battalion emerged with only seventeen and eight infantrymen respectively and both were led by sergeants because all higher ranking officers and non-commissioned officers had been killed or wounded.”

“Following the strenuous hand-to-hand combat of October 29 and an artillery bombardment the morning of October 30, the battles finally eased for the 100th/442nd RCT, but the situation was still tense for the trapped Texans.”

“As the rescuers came closer, the German artillery focused more on the Lost Battalion itself, which was already lacking supplies and losing soldiers every day. By midafternoon the Nisei were able to penetrate the German lines and caught sight of soldiers in American uniforms.”

“In what has become a famous exchange, Mutt Sakumoto, the first Japanese American to reach the trapped soldiers, offered a cigarette to the men of the 36th when he found them. Ed Guy, one of the rescued soldiers recalled, ‘I might have hugged [Sakumoto], I don’t know… I was just excited to get out of there.’” (Grubb)

“On the 30th, although the back of the German resistance had been broken and infantry action was sporadic, the artillery kept pouring in.”

“Finally, at 1500 hours that day, with the 3d and 100th Battalions moving as much abreast as possible, a patrol from I Company, led by Technical Sergeant Takeo Senzaki, made contact with the ‘Lost Battalion.’ Shortly thereafter, the main bodies linked up.”

“The impossible had been accomplished.” (442)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

442nd taking part in rescuing the Lost Battalion

September 4, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Marion Eugene Carl

Carl’s imposing list of “firsts.” Beginning with his World War II career, he gained such commendations as

• First Marine Corps ace (at Midway and Guadalcanal)
• Among the first Marines ever to fly a helicopter
• First Marine to land aboard an aircraft carrier
• First U.S. military aviator to wear a full pressure suit
• As a brigadier general, commanded the first Marines to land in Vietnam
• Test pilot in the pioneer days of jet aviation
• The world’s altitude and speed records
• Retired as Inspector General of the Marine Corps
• First living Marine admitted to the Naval Aviation Hall of Honor
• First Marine to be named to the Navy Carrier Aviation Test Pilots Hall of Honor (Carl & Tillman)

Marion Carl was born into a farming family in the Willamette Valley on November 1, 1915, the second of four children of Herman Lee Carl, a dairy farmer, and Ellen Lavine Ellingsen Carl.

He graduated from Oregon State University in 1938 with a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering. He entered the U.S. Army Engineer Corps Reserve on May 31, 1938, and enlisted in the US Marine Corps Reserve on August 17, 1938.

Carl then entered the Aviation Cadet Program of the Marine Corps on September 27, 1938, beginning active duty on November 15, 1938, and was commissioned a 2d Lt and designated a Naval Aviator on December 1, 1939.

He ended up fighting in flying in WWII (including at Midway and Guadalcanal), Korean conflict and Vietnam. He logged more than 13,000 hours of military flight time, and for 30 years was thought by many to be the Marines’ finest pilot. (Tillman)

In a vicious dogfight at Midway the Americans lost plane after plane. After the ‘all clear,’ the Midway radio called: “Fighters land, refuel by divisions….” No fighters landed. Then came the call, “All fighters land and reservice,” only ten planes came back, and only two would ever fly again.

It was the heaviest loss the Marines suffered in a single air battle during the entire war. Capt. Carl flew one of only two planes sent up in the second defensive sortie from Midway.

On August 7, 1942, at Guadalcanal, two months after Midway, Marines stormed ashore in the Solomons during the first American offensive of World War II. He became an ace on August 26, 1942.

During an aerial fight off the coast of Guadalcanal on September 9, he was forced to bail out of his shot-up Wildcat and was losing his battle to swim ashore against the tide, when he was picked up by friendly natives in a canoe. After five days with the natives, he finally made his way back to his base.

A year later, he returned to combat in the Solomons. By the end of 1943, Major Carl’s total of enemy aircraft destroyed was 18½ with 3 damaged, making him the seventh highest-scoring Marine fighter pilot of World War II.

After the War, Marion Carl was assigned as a test pilot at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, testing jet aircraft on aircraft carriers. He was also the first Marine Corps pilot to fly a helicopter. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel August 7, 1947.

At Muroc Army Air Field (now Edwards Air Force Base) Marion Carl tested the Douglas D-558-I Skystreak and D-558-II Skyrocket, setting world records for speed and altitude.

(Chuck Yeager, the Air Force’s top test pilot, wrested away the title of world’s fastest human by breaking the sound barrier two months later, also at Muroc. He flew a Bell X-1 rocket plane at Mach 1.07 – 700 mph – on October 14, 1947.)

In 1955, Colonel Carl commanded Marine Photo Reconnaissance Squadron One and flew on secret missions over the People’s Republic of China.

By 1962, Colonel Carl was Director of Marine Corps Aviation. He was promoted to brigadier general, June 1, 1964. He commanded the First Marine Brigade during the Vietnam War and flew combat missions in jet fighters and helicopter gun ships.

Carl was promoted to major general in August 1967, with his date of rank retroactive to June 1, 1964. Carl commanded the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, then served as Inspector General of the Marine Corps from 1970 until 1973.

During his military career, Major General Carl was awarded the Navy Cross with two gold stars (three awards); The Legion of Merit with valor device and three gold stars (four awards); The Distinguished Flying Cross with four gold stars (five awards); and the Air Medal with two gold and two silver stars (twelve awards).

Tragically, General Carl was murdered in Roseburg, Oregon, June 28, 1998, as he defended his wife, Edna, during a home-invasion robbery. Mrs. Carl was wounded, but survived.

In 2009, the Marine base at Kāne’ohe Bay was designated Marine Corps Air Station Kāne’ohe Bay (it was formerly an “air facility,” the new “air station” title denotes greater activity than “air facility.”)

At that time, the name the airfield was named in honor of retired Maj. Gen. Marion E. Carl. (Lots of information here is from Tillman, Willetts, This Day in Aviation, Swops, Veteran Tributes and Lemoore Mud Run.)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

CARL-Marion-E.-Major-USMC-with-Vought-F4U-Corsair-1943

CARL-Marion-E.-Captain-USMC-with-Grumman-F4F-3-Wildcat

CARL-Marion-E.-MAY-Gene-CALDWELL-Turner-F.-Jr.

MarionECarl

Marion E Carls speed Record attempt-Skystreak-Acrylic

Douglas-D-558-I-Skystreak-low-pass

CARL-Marion-E.-MAJ-USMC-and-CALDWELL-Turner-F.-Jr.-CDR-USN-with-Bu.-No.-37970

mecarl-gravesite-photo

February 17, 2017 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Quonset

The Narragansett were a northeastern Algonquian Native American people. In 1709, the Narragansett quit-claimed New England tribal lands under pressure from the British government. By 1717 the area had been divided into farming plots purchased by European settlers.

A place there is named Quonset Point – Quonset appears to translate either as ‘long-place,’ ‘round shallow cove’ or ‘boundary.’

The birthplace of the US Navy, Quonset Point goes back to the Revolutionary War, when a guard was placed there to watch for British warships that might sail up Narragansett Bay to raid coastal Rhode Island cities. (QuonsetAirMuseum)

With growing tension and anticipation of war, a few days after Christmas 1938, Secretary of the Navy Claude Swanson submitted a report to Congress, making recommendations for naval air-base development at various locations.

A subsequent $65-million legislative authorization included naval air stations at Kāne’ohe, Midway, Pearl Harbor and several other facilities, including the nation’s first northeastern air station to be located at Quonset Point in Rhode Island.

Commissioned on July 12, 1941, and encompassing what was once Camp Dyer, NAS Quonset Point was a major naval facility throughout World War II and well into the Cold War.

At that time, the Navy needed an all-purpose, lightweight, standardized housing unit that made efficient use of shipping space, could be easily transported anywhere and could be quickly and easily assembled without skilled labor.

The housing unit needed to be adaptable to any geographic or climatic condition, without extensive reliance on local resources of material or labor.

Two construction companies, George A Fuller and Company and Merritt-Chapman had been hired to build the Quonset Point base. In March 1941, the Military asked Peter Dejongh and Otto Brandenberger of George A Fuller Company to design and produce a hut to US specification … and, do it within two months.

Designed in response to specific demands generated by the deteriorating world situation in 1941, the hut moved swiftly from concept design to construction and use.

They modeled a structure after the British Nissen. Lt Colonel Peter Nissen, a Canadian officer in the Royal Engineers during the First World War, developed the Nissen Hut in mid-1916 to house troops in the build-up for the Battle of the Somme. (Rogers)

Dejongh and Brandenberger adapted the Nissen design using corrugated steel and semi-circular steel arched ribs. The Anderson Sheet Metal Company of Providence, RI solved the technical problem of bending the corrugated sheets into a usable form. These were attached with nuts and bolts.

The two ends were covered with plywood, which had doors and windows. Major improvements over the Nissan Hut were an interior Masonite (pressed wood) lining, insulation and a one-inch tongue-in-groove plywood floor on a raised metal framework.

A production facility was quickly set up – but would they call the structure? Since they were being developed at Navy Seabee Base Quonset Point, Rhode Island, the new design was called a Quonset Hut. (SeabeeMuseum)

Over time, improvements and changes were made and the “Quonset Stran-Steel Hut” was the most produced; it was larger, (20 by 48-feet – the original Fuller version was 16 by 36 feet) and lighter, using 3 ½ tons of steel instead of 4 tons and required 270 to 325-cubic feet of shipping space.

The 20 x 48 kit was intended to house 25-men; 10-Seabees could assemble a Quonset 20 in less than one day. (The final design required less shipping space than tents with wood floors and frames for the same occupancy.) (Rogers)

The Quonset 40 by 100-feet (‘Elephant Huts,’) developed for use at ‘advance (supply) bases,’ were used as warehouses, machine shops, power and pump plant enclosures, etc.

The Fuller Company couldn’t produce a sufficient quantity of the new huts, so Stran-Steel, a subsidiary of the Great Lakes Steel Corporation in Detroit, was retained to fabricate the thousands of Quonset Huts that were needed.

Stran-Steel also came up with an efficient system that allowed simple nailing of the corrugated steel skins and interior Masonite liner sheets to the arched frames (further reducing the erection time and eliminating most of the nuts and bolts used in the early model.)

Originally, all huts had unpainted galvanized exteriors; later, olive drab camouflage paint was added to exposed panels at the factory to reduce reflectance. Later the color was changed to flat light grey. (Rogers)

A total of 153,200 Quonset Huts and 11,800 Warehouse units were produced or procured by the US Navy during World War II.

When the war ended, Quonset Huts were too good a resource to throw away. So the military sold them to civilians for about a thousand dollars each – many continue to be used for housing, storage and other uses.

Quonset Point Naval Air Station decommissioned on June 28, 1974; today, it is home of the 143rd Airlift Wing of the Rhode Island Air National Guard. The base also hosts an annual air show every June, as well as a small airstrip for commercial purpose. (Lots of information here is from Navy, Rogers, Amaral, Seabee Museum and LOC-HABS.)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger