History Naval Air Station Squantum

oj-2s , sbus of vs-2r lined inspection, in 1938.

throughout 1930s decade nras squantum improved , expanded, in manner of aerodrome, without defined runways. due in large part ingenuity of executive officer john j. shea, man knew how leverage , make out of volunteer labor, salvaged materials, , depression-era public works programs works progress administration. greatest expansion efforts on base took place between 1939 , 1941 when, among other things, 3 proper paved runways built (in contrast earlier aerodrome design) , old victory plant shipyard buildings (many of had been gutted during previous fire) razed. on 5 march 1941 base @ squantum redesignated naval air station or nas.

during second world war nas squantum served maritime patrol training base american , british naval aviators. regular navy squadrons vj-4 , vs-1d1/vs-31 flew anti-submarine patrols on massachusetts bay , gulf of maine using grumman j2f ducks, consolidated pby catalinas, vought-sikorsky os2u kingfishers, douglas sbd dauntlesses, , curtiss sb2c helldivers. in addition, base provided elimination , primary flight instruction naval aviation cadets advanced training fleet air arm (royal navy) torpedo , dive-bomber squadrons, , u.s. navy fighter, torpedo, , dive-bomber squadrons. @ squantum baseball legend ted williams did paperwork join aviation cadet pilot during war.

after war ended, nas squantum became important component of new naval air reserve training command, of types based there in numbers being consolidated pby-5a/6a catalinas, curtiss sb2c-5/ccf sbw-4e helldivers, vought f4u-4 , goodyear fg corsairs, douglas r4d skytrains, north american snj texans , grumman f6f-5 hellcats. base served focus of navy , marine corps reserve aviation training activity in new england until december 1953 when reserve program moved nearby nas south weymouth longer runways available , squantum closed. co s snb made official last flight squantum when aircraft transferred en masse south weymouth, however, avenger maintenance problems became last plane depart few days later. squantum s base housing continue used, however, decades military housing boston area.

modern nas squantum had couple of problems. first, proximity boston s logan international airport resulted in increasing airspace conflicts in postwar era; boston logan instrument landing system in alignment runway 2 of squantum. in 1 case, air france lockheed constellation bound boston landed @ squantum mistake. base s second problem short , landlocked (water locked?) runways. these not long enough support routine jet operations , because of base s position on squantum peninsula not lengthened. 1946 , 1949 usgs topographic maps labeled property u.s. naval reservation , did not depict airfield. base s third problem was old , many of facilities had been jury-built using scrap materials , re-used structures salvaged victory plant shipyard during depths of great depression when funds hard come by. said of nas squantum in january 1949 issue of naval aviation news grew topsy , more result of having make available instead of careful planning.