Richmond Naval Air Station

RICHMOND NAVAL AIR STATION

The Richmond Naval Air Station was an active World War II, "lighter-than-air" blimp base that operated between 1942 and 1945. The Gold Coast Railroad Museum calls a part of the former Naval Air Station home. Upon visiting GCRM's historic rail cars, you can also expect to see a full exhibit of the Richmond Naval Air Station, including images, detailed maps, and videos.

The U.S. Navy began constructing Naval Air Station Richmond in 1942 as a Lighter-Than-Air blimp base. The approximately 2,108-acre base was designed to be entirely self-sufficient and included a mess hall, medical clinic, recreational areas, barracks, and water and sewer systems.

Today, you can drive around the perimeter of the 2,108-acre base – on the north by 152nd ST, on the east by SW 117 Ave., on the south by SW 184th ST., and on the west by 137th Ave. The perimeter is 8 miles in length.

The Navy also constructed three blimp hangars; mooring-out sites; a helium plant; and maintenance, propeller, battery, welding, plating, and paint shops, along with other support facilities. The hangars were more than 1,000 feet long, 175 feet high and 297 feet wide with an interior floor space of approximately seven acres.

Richmond NAS was officially commissioned on September 15, 1942, and the impact on the war effort was quickly felt. With the blimps from Richmond, combined with the improvement to the Civil Air Patrol and the use of convoys for coastal freighters, successful torpedo attacks near Florida fell from 114 in 1942 to just 4 in 1943. In a stretch from November 1943 through May 1945, airships from Richmond NAS logged 730 days on continuous patrol without the loss of a single ship.

On September 15, 1945, three years to the day after the base was commissioned, a large hurricane came ashore and made a direct strike on the hangers and buildings of the Richmond NAS. Winds over 125 miles per hour hammered the base, causing minor damage, but during the storm, a fire broke out in one of the hangers. The fire quickly spread to the three hangars.

In 1961, after many tries and much dynamite, eleven of the twelve hangar towers were felled. The remaining tower was part of hangar #1, and can still be seen today by the Museum Store!

The Gold Coast Railroad Museum began using part of the base's railroad tracks in 1956 and moved to the location of Hangers #1 and #2 in 1984. In addition to its extensive railroad history, the museum also has an exhibit of photos, information, and memorabilia of the Richmond Naval Air Station.