Community hub
Recent from talks
Contribute something to knowledge base
Content stats: 0 posts, 0 articles, 1 media, 0 notes
Members stats: 0 subscribers, 0 contributors, 0 moderators, 0 supporters
Subscribers
Supporters
Contributors
Moderators
Hub AI
Camp Kearny AI simulator
(@Camp Kearny_simulator)
Hub AI
Camp Kearny AI simulator
(@Camp Kearny_simulator)
Camp Kearny
Camp Kearny was a U.S. military base located in Linda Vista, California. Established in 1917, it was named for Brigadier General Stephen W. Kearny. Camp Kearny closed in 1946.
The camp was established by the Army in 1917 on 12,721 acres (51.48 km2) of land on a mesa north of San Diego. The area included the 2,130-acre (8.6 km2) Miramar Ranch, which had originally been established by newspaperman E. W. Scripps and later sold to the Jessop family. It was Scripps who named the area Miramar, meaning "view of the sea".
The new base was named in honor of Brigadier General Stephen W. Kearny, a leader in the Mexican–American War who also served as a military governor of California. Camp Kearny was one of 32 new camps created by the Army in 1917 as a mobilization and training facility for troops on their way to battlegrounds of World War I. The first commander was Major James S. McKnight. Army aircraft occasionally landed on the parade ground, but an actual airfield was not established during World War I.
After the war, the camp was used as a demobilization center; Joseph E. Kuhn commanded the post until it was closed in 1920. It was largely abandoned after 1920 but was retained by the government for use as a military and civilian airfield. The U.S. Public Health Service used it for a time. In 1927 the Ryan Aircraft Company used the field to weight-test the plane Spirit of St. Louis, which they were then building for Charles A. Lindbergh. During 1929–1930 the facility was known as Airtech Field, operated by the San Diego Air Service Corp.
In 1932 the Navy installed a mooring mast for helium dirigibles on the base. The mast was used for visits by the Navy's two enormous airships, the USS Akron and USS Macon, each 785 feet (239 m) long. The Akron first visited Camp Kearny on 11 May 1932. That mooring ended in disaster when a gust of wind carried the airship upward, killing two ground handlers and injuring a third. However, the Navy continued to use the facility, and the Macon moored at Camp Kearny four times during 1934. The airships were homeported at Moffett Field in Sunnyvale, California, whose civic leaders had won a vigorous public relations battle with San Diego in the late 1920s to become the host of the Navy's airfield for dirigibles.
In 1940 the Navy began a series of projects to improve and expand Camp Kearny. By 1941 the base contained more than 26,000 acres (110 km2). On 20 February 1943, the area was commissioned as Naval Auxiliary Air Station Camp Kearny. (By then the misspelling "Kearney" had become so common that the base was actually commissioned as "NAAS Camp Kearney".) It had three runways: a 3,000 feet (910 m) asphalt runway mainly used for aircraft parking, and two 6,000 feet (1,800 m) concrete runways. The primary mission of the base was training pilots in the use of PB4Y Liberators (B-24s), which were built by the nearby Consolidated Aircraft Company.
In 1934 part of the base was leased to the Marine Corps to use for maneuvers and gunnery ranges. At the beginning of World War II the Marines took over the northern portion of Camp Kearny, which they christened Marine Corps Air Depot Camp Kearny. In 1943 the Marines changed their station name to Marine Corps Air Depot Miramar to avoid confusion with the Navy base. The Marine base was mainly used to process Marine squadrons en route to the South Pacific. At various times it was the headquarters of Marine Aircraft Group 11, Marine Aircraft Group 12, Marine Aircraft Group 13, Marine Aircraft Group 14, Marine Aircraft Group 15 and Marine Air Warning Group 2 (MAWG-2) before they deployed to the Pacific.
The Marines also developed a training base on the grounds of Camp Kearny called Camp Holcomb, named for Major-General Thomas Holcomb who was then commandant of the Marine Corps. By 1940 the number of volunteer recruits was overwhelming the local training base, Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, so the Marines replaced Camp Holcomb with a much larger training base directly east of Camp Kearny which was called Camp Elliott, named for George F. Elliott, a former commandant of the Marine Corps. Camp Elliott was used mostly as a replacement and casual center during World War II. It was turned over to the Navy in June 1944 because of the service's pressing need for additional facilities to use as a personnel distribution center.
Camp Kearny
Camp Kearny was a U.S. military base located in Linda Vista, California. Established in 1917, it was named for Brigadier General Stephen W. Kearny. Camp Kearny closed in 1946.
The camp was established by the Army in 1917 on 12,721 acres (51.48 km2) of land on a mesa north of San Diego. The area included the 2,130-acre (8.6 km2) Miramar Ranch, which had originally been established by newspaperman E. W. Scripps and later sold to the Jessop family. It was Scripps who named the area Miramar, meaning "view of the sea".
The new base was named in honor of Brigadier General Stephen W. Kearny, a leader in the Mexican–American War who also served as a military governor of California. Camp Kearny was one of 32 new camps created by the Army in 1917 as a mobilization and training facility for troops on their way to battlegrounds of World War I. The first commander was Major James S. McKnight. Army aircraft occasionally landed on the parade ground, but an actual airfield was not established during World War I.
After the war, the camp was used as a demobilization center; Joseph E. Kuhn commanded the post until it was closed in 1920. It was largely abandoned after 1920 but was retained by the government for use as a military and civilian airfield. The U.S. Public Health Service used it for a time. In 1927 the Ryan Aircraft Company used the field to weight-test the plane Spirit of St. Louis, which they were then building for Charles A. Lindbergh. During 1929–1930 the facility was known as Airtech Field, operated by the San Diego Air Service Corp.
In 1932 the Navy installed a mooring mast for helium dirigibles on the base. The mast was used for visits by the Navy's two enormous airships, the USS Akron and USS Macon, each 785 feet (239 m) long. The Akron first visited Camp Kearny on 11 May 1932. That mooring ended in disaster when a gust of wind carried the airship upward, killing two ground handlers and injuring a third. However, the Navy continued to use the facility, and the Macon moored at Camp Kearny four times during 1934. The airships were homeported at Moffett Field in Sunnyvale, California, whose civic leaders had won a vigorous public relations battle with San Diego in the late 1920s to become the host of the Navy's airfield for dirigibles.
In 1940 the Navy began a series of projects to improve and expand Camp Kearny. By 1941 the base contained more than 26,000 acres (110 km2). On 20 February 1943, the area was commissioned as Naval Auxiliary Air Station Camp Kearny. (By then the misspelling "Kearney" had become so common that the base was actually commissioned as "NAAS Camp Kearney".) It had three runways: a 3,000 feet (910 m) asphalt runway mainly used for aircraft parking, and two 6,000 feet (1,800 m) concrete runways. The primary mission of the base was training pilots in the use of PB4Y Liberators (B-24s), which were built by the nearby Consolidated Aircraft Company.
In 1934 part of the base was leased to the Marine Corps to use for maneuvers and gunnery ranges. At the beginning of World War II the Marines took over the northern portion of Camp Kearny, which they christened Marine Corps Air Depot Camp Kearny. In 1943 the Marines changed their station name to Marine Corps Air Depot Miramar to avoid confusion with the Navy base. The Marine base was mainly used to process Marine squadrons en route to the South Pacific. At various times it was the headquarters of Marine Aircraft Group 11, Marine Aircraft Group 12, Marine Aircraft Group 13, Marine Aircraft Group 14, Marine Aircraft Group 15 and Marine Air Warning Group 2 (MAWG-2) before they deployed to the Pacific.
The Marines also developed a training base on the grounds of Camp Kearny called Camp Holcomb, named for Major-General Thomas Holcomb who was then commandant of the Marine Corps. By 1940 the number of volunteer recruits was overwhelming the local training base, Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, so the Marines replaced Camp Holcomb with a much larger training base directly east of Camp Kearny which was called Camp Elliott, named for George F. Elliott, a former commandant of the Marine Corps. Camp Elliott was used mostly as a replacement and casual center during World War II. It was turned over to the Navy in June 1944 because of the service's pressing need for additional facilities to use as a personnel distribution center.
Recent media
Recent media