Click on the image to see an enlarged version.
Original entrance to the Air Station from White Street opened
in 1942. The Navy relocated the main gate to Route 18 in 1987. |
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The colossal structure of Hangar 1 was 956
feet wide, 191 feet high and covered more than eight acres of
land. Construction was completed in November 1942. The Hangar
was capable of holding up to six blimps and stood as one of
the world's largest hangars. |
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In the Summer of 1944, six blimps flew out
of South Weymouth and completed the first crossing of the Atlantic.
These airships became the first "Blimp Barrier" in the Mediterranean,
flying anti-submarine patrols around the Straits of Gibralter. |
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ASG radar allowed the blimps to search for
enemy submarines throughout the night and maintain position
in the night skies with the convoys that they were protecting.
The "Airship Patrol Squadron Eleven was established in 1942. |
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In 1961 the Navy celebrated 50 years of Naval
Aviation. In that Autumn, the last operating blimp squadron
was disestablished. Navy blimps over New England became a thing
of the past. The last vestige of the blimp era at NAS South
Weymouth disappeared in 1967 with the demolition of the huge
blimp hangar, a landmark at the station since WWII. . |
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Memorial Jet |
