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. ..Sand Point, ..Washington ...........98115 |
It is hoped that the NAVY SUPPORT MUSEUM can be housed here in Building 2 - Click this immage
Building 2, viewed from the west on Aug. 19, 2009 - Seaplane and words above hangar door were added for this proposal.
AREN'T THOSE DOORS BEAUTIFUL? JUST MADE FOR A MOVIE SET.
| Building
No.2 is the oldest surviving hangar at Sand Point. The first hangar was prefabricated and moved
from the University of Washington in 1922. Hangar No.1 (now
removed) is shown complete in a 1930 photo.
This photo shows hangar No.2 under construction. A 1941 photo shows that hangar No.2 is still
incomplete. A 1946 image does show it
complete with No.1 still in place also. It is hard to pin down where the first hangar of this type was first built. The first hangars at Ford Island were built in 1919 but were not big. Meigs Field in Chicago was built in 1922 but never had large hangars. The largest hangars built were for lighter than air ships like Lakehurst Hangar #1 built in 1920-21. The web page "Abandoned & Little Know Airfields", probably has the answer. |
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Navy, Army and
Marine fliers asked King County to establish
the field at Sand Point, listing six advantages. 1. Its
location on Lake Washington makes it easily discernible from the air.
2. Being on fresh water, it is free from the rise and fall of tides and
is well back from all Puget Sound fortifications. 3. No overflow from
floods such as is usual on level ground in the Puget sound country. 4.
Extending as it does into the lake, it is and always will be free from
roads, telephone poles, commercial and building activities of all
kinds. 5. It is accessible ny ship to all parts of the world, and by
rail to every part of the North American continent. 6. The favorable
air currents over this area make it possible to take off or land in
perfect safety in any direction from the field.
Pioneer aviator Ernest Hubbard made the first landing on June 19, 1920 as he delivered mail in his Boeing C-4 from his terminal on Lake Union. World
War II turned Sand Point into a SUPPORT Station
From the start of WWII, Sand Point was the supply point for all aircraft materials throughout the 13th Naval District. It's 150 plus assembly and repair shops within the complex covered everything from propellers to painting. The shops were full of damaged carrier planes needing repairs, patrol bombers requiring modification, and flying boats in for maintenance and overhaul. At the same time, the station was charged with filling aviation needs for the carriers being built within the 13th Naval District, basically in Tacoma and Vancouver, Wash. Needs of the carriers ranged from every conceivable spare part for aircraft, to specialized tools and equipment, and even parachutes. This incredible demand severely stressed the storage capability of the station, not to mention the administrative functions that that kept the right material in the right quantities moving to the right locations. The station had to SUPPORT an average aircraft load of 1,223 planes. In March 1930, the Supply Department payroll included six Navy officers, 25 enlisted and approx. 70 civilian employees. At the start of the war, that had climbed to 178, and by the beginning of 1945 to 610. "SUPPORT"
The
museum will first
include airplanes, (real and model) of the type that served at Sand
Point.
This Navy Support Museum needs NOT to be about this one location. It can to be about every kind of support component required to keep the war ships located in working condition, where they are needed. There is not many sites in the United States that memorialize military items other than actual fighting tools. If this museum can display and educate the public about how ships transfer supplies while they are in motion, it could then be called a National Museum. The museum can also describe the hospital ships, or the now antiquated tools used to make all naval support functions work. View just a few: SUPPORT COMPONENT EXAMPLES |
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Building 2, view from east - Aug. 19, 2009 - See how the building appeared in 1930. This building has a lot of space and if used wisely can be filled with many teaching devices.  |
Sand Point in 1930. The ramp for the world trip was not yet there.
Rev. April 14, 2010
