Fort Fisher Air Force Station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fort Fisher Air Force Station was a US Air Force installation located on the Atlantic coast near Kure Beach, North Carolina. Its primary mission was as a radar complex. It closed in the late 1980s.
[edit] History
During the Civil War, Fort Fisher was a Confederate stronghold. It fell to Union forces on January 15, 1865.
In late December 1940, a new military facility was built as an Army anti-aircraft artillery training facility. It was named Camp Davis, and was manned by about 20,000 officers and men. Camp Davis was attached to the First Army, Fourth Corps Area. It was an expansive facility consisting of more than 3,000 buildings on 45,538 acres with access provided by newly-built railroad spurs leading into the camp.
Two 5,000' paved runways were built by the Army at Camp Davis at some point between 1942-43. This section was named Camp Davis Army Air Field (AAF). Part of the runway for the airfield was built through one of the old Civil War fort's walls.
Camp Davis AAF's Runway 5/23 was wider, and was intended for use by transports, while Runway 18/36 was narrower and intended for use by single-engine aircraft. Most of the aircraft operated from Camp Davis runways were single-engine aircraft used to tow targets for the anti-aircraft artillery units.
In 1944 the anti-aircraft training facility was transferred to another base and Camp Davis was closed.
In 1945, a portion of the Camp Davis area formerly used by the Army as the Coastal Artillery Anti-Aircraft Firing Range (and is the location of the present-day town of Surf City) was transferred to the US Navy. The site was used by the Navy for the development and testing of early surface-to-air missiles under the name "Operation Bumblebee".
In 1948, the Navy closed down operations. Camp Davis was declared surplus and was dismantled in the late 1940’s for salvage and sale. At that time the Navy apparently gave up the leases on the land and it was returned to the original landowners.
The Air Force retained Fort Fisher AAF, renamed it Fort Fisher Air Force Station (AFS) and transformed it into a radar facility. It was in this role that the base operated for most of the Cold War, being logistally supported by nearby Myrtle Beach AFB, South Carolina. During this time it was home to the 701st Aircraft Control and Warning Squardon.
After its closure, a portion of the base was returned to the state of North Carolina which turned much of it into a recreation area and historic site. The remaining portion of the base remains under Air Force control as a recreation area known as Fort Fisher Air Force Recreation Area. This facility is supported by Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
In recent years, the Marine Corps have used Fort Fisher AFS as as a satellite airfield for helicopter units based at nearby New River MCAS. Runway 18/36 was resurfaced with concrete in 1997, possibly for use by New River V-22 Ospreys. The Marines refer to Fort Fisher AFS as Greater Sandy Run Training Area.
[edit] External links
- Fort Fisher Air Force Recreation Area web site
- Information on Fort Fisher's military uses
- North Carolina's Fort Fisher Recreation Area web site
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
