San Francisco Defense Area (original) (raw)

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San Francisco Defense Area

Nike air defense area, consisting of several Nike missile batteries to defend urban, industrial, and military targets from Soviet bomber attacks.

By the late 1950s, a dozen Nike sites ringed the bay area:

(SF-08)San Pablo Ridge (SF-59) Fort Funston/Mt. San Bruno

(SF-09) San Pablo Ridge/Berkeley (double site) (SF-87) Fort Cronkhite/Sausalito

(SF-25) Rocky Ridge (SF-88) Fort Barry/Sausalito

(SF-31) Lake Chabot/Castro Valley (SF-89) Fort Winfield Scott

(SF-37) Coyote Hills/Newark (SF-91) Angel Island

(SF-51) Milagra/Pacifica (SF-93) San Rafael.

In addition, during 1955 and 1956, temporary Nike Ajax sites were placed at Benicia and Parks AFB. Headquarters facilities were located at the Presidio, Fort Winfield Scott, and Fort Baker.

Responsibility for the acquisition of land and the installation of Nike batteries plus support facilities in the San Francisco region fell to the Corps of Engineers San Francisco District. The missiles often replaced gun batteries that had been quickly constructed around the Golden Gate vicinity in the early 1950s. Fort Baker became the home of the Western Army Antiaircraft Command in July 1951. By 1958, this organization evolved into the 6th Region, U.S. Army Air Defense Command. Since the Corps took advantage of abandoned coastal fortifications to site the missiles, before construction commenced on underground magazines, many of the old forts received temporary above-ground launchers.

San Francisco's defenders included both Regular Army and National Guard units. Site SF-88 received the first Nike Hercules Battery in 1959. Other sites that were upgraded to host the new missile included sites SF-31, SF-51, SF-87, and SF-93. Target designation functions were handled from a "Missile Master" facility located at Mill Valley AFS. With the deactivation of Nike Ajax sites, a "Missile Mentor" system took over the command and control duties.

Sites SF-87 at Fort Cronkhite/Sausalito and SF-93 at San Rafael were deactivated in 1971. Three years later, the U.S. Army Air Defense Command deactivated the remaining three missile batteries at SF-31, SF-51, and SF-88.

When the Army abandoned the launch area of SF-88 at Fort Barry in 1974, the National Park Service assumed custody of the site, incorporating it into the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Through the efforts of various volunteer groups, as of 1995, this is the only Nike site in the country that has been preserved and is open for public viewing.

Subtopics

Nike SF-08 12 Nike Ajax launchers.. Operational 1956 - Mar 1963 . Control site obliterated; Wildcat Canyon Regional Park. Launch site obliterated; Wildcat Canyon Regional Park.

Nike SF-09 12 Nike Ajax launchers.. Operational 1955 - Jun 1963. Control site obliterated; Wildcat Canyon Regional Park. Launch site obliterated; Wildcat Canyon Regional Park.

Nike SF-25 12 Nike Ajax launchers.. Operational 1956 - Jul 1959. Control site partially intact; Las Trampas Regional Park and microwave communications facility. Launch site intact; TRACOR Aerospace, Expendable Technology Center Las Trampas Regional Park Office.

Nike SF-31 8 Nike Ajax/Nike Hercules launchers.. Operational 1956 - Mar 1974 . Control site intact; Communications facility. Launch site partially intact; East Bay Regional Park District, Lake Chabot Park Department of Public Safety, service yard.

Nike SF-37 12 Nike Ajax launchers.. Operational 1955 - Mar 1963. Control site partially intact; East Bay Regional Park District, Coyote Hills Regional Park Alameda County Sheriff's Department radio transmitter. Launch site obliterated; Coyote Hills Regional Park.

Nike SF-51 8 Nike Ajax/Nike Hercules launchers.. Operational 1956 - Mar 1974 . Control site National Park Service Sweeny Ridge Skyline Preserve. Launch site obliterated; Milagra Ridge County Park.

Nike SF-59 12 Nike Ajax launchers.. Operational 1956 - Mar 1963 . Control site transferred from DoD control to another party. Launch site partially intact; Park Picnic Area, launcher now a parking lot.

Nike SF-87 8 Nike Ajax/Nike Hercules launchers.. Operational 1955 - June 1971 . Control site partially intact; Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Launch site intact; Marine Mammal Center.

Nike SF-88 8 Nike Ajax/Nike Hercules launchers.. Operational Mar 1958 - Mar 1974. Control site partially intact; NPS-GGNRA campsite, YMCA facility. Launch site intact; National Park Service Restored Nike Site, open for tours.

Nike SF-89 12 Nike Ajax launchers.. Operational 1955 - Mar 1963 . Control site Television/communications facility. Launch site intact; Salvageyard.

Nike SF-91 12 Nike Ajax launchers.. Operational 1955 - 1961. Control site partially intact; abandoned. Launch site partially intact; NPS-GGNRA Angel Island State Park.

Nike SF-93 12 Nike Ajax/Nike Hercules launchers.. Operational 1957 - June 1971 . Control site partially intact; Harry P. Barbier Memorial Park. Launch site partially intact; Martin County Waste Water Treatment Plant.

Country: USA. Launch Vehicles: Nike Ajax, Nike Hercules. Bibliography: 13403.

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