Naval Air Station Squantum
Encyclopedia
Naval Air Station Squantum was an active naval aviation facility during 1917 and from 1923 until 1953. The original civilian airfield that preceded it, the Harvard Aviation Field, dates back to 1910. The base was sited on Squantum Point in the city of Quincy
, Massachusetts
. It also abutted Dorchester Bay, Quincy Bay, and the Neponset River.
from the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
and named it Harvard Aviation Field. They used the airfield to hold the 1910 and 1911 Harvard-Boston Aero Meets. In addition, other groups used the Harvard Aviation Field for the first Intercollegiate Glider Meet in 1911 as well as for the ill-fated 1912 Boston Air Meet.
The airfield location area on the Harvard 1910 meet posters was then given as Atlantic, Massachusetts and the railroad station nearest was also called Atlantic, which was nearest the Squantum peninsula. This station was just after the old Neponset station on the New Haven Railroad line
(Old Colony Railroad
branch) and right before the modern day Red Line
North Quincy Station
.
In 1915, after the lease expired with the Harvard Aeronautical Society, the New Haven Railroad rented the former Harvard Aviation Field to Harry M. Jones, who used the site to provide flight instruction. W. Starling Burgess also made occasional use of the former Harvard Aviation Field around this time for flight testing purposes and to provide flight instruction to buyers of his company's aircraft.
In 1916 the former Harvard Aviation Field was leased to the Sturtevant Aeroplane Company of Hyde Park in Boston for flight testing and flight instruction purposes. At the time, Sturtevant Company, which later in 1945 became part of Westinghouse
, had been the first builder of airplane engines in Massachusetts, the first to produce all-metal fuselage planes for the US Navy and Army, and the only large scale aircraft manufacturer in the Boston area.
Early military usage of the airfield dates to the early months of America's involvement in World War I
when the Massachusetts Naval Militia
(a forerunner to the US Naval Reserve) built a small wooden seaplane hangar and pier on the Dorchester Bay shoreline adjacent to the former Harvard Aviation Field. Primary flight instruction was provided at the Massachusetts School for Naval Air Service, as the tiny seaplane base was originally called, to members of the Massachusetts Naval Militia who would subsequently go on to take advanced flight training at the Navy's flying school at Pensacola, Florida. In May 1917 the Navy took the seaplane base over and evicted the Sturtevant Aeroplane Company from the former Harvard Aviation Field as well. The Navy continued to use the U. S. Naval Air Station Squantum as a primary flight training facility until the end of September 1917 when all naval flight training activity was consolidated in areas of the country with better year-round flying weather.
Thereafter, much of land surrounding the former seaplane base and Harvard Aviation Field was taken over by the Navy Department for the construction of a new shipyard called the Victory Plant. The Victory Plant, which was owned by the government but operated by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, was designed specifically to mass-produce one type of ship, the Clemson-class destroyers. A total of 35 were built at the Victory Plant before the shipyard was closed on June 1, 1920.
During the summer of 1923 then-LT Richard E. Byrd
, with the assistance of a group of volunteer Navy veterans of the First World War, helped found the NRAS (Naval Reserve Air Station) at Squantum Point using the disused First World War seaplane hangar, which had remained more-or-less intact after the Victory Plant shipyard was built. NRAS Squantum, which was commissioned on August 15, 1923, is considered to have been the first air base in the Naval Reserve program.
In 1927 a small civilian airfield, the Dennison Airport, was established at Squantum near the intersection of East Squantum Street and Quincy Shore Drive. Amelia Earhart
when she lived in Medford, Massachusetts
helped finance the construction of the Dennison Airport (she served as a share-holding director). She also flew on the first official flight out of the airport on September 3, 1927.
During October 1929 a small turf airfield was opened at NRAS Squantum. Up to this point, NRAS Squantum was a seaplane base only though occasional naval landplane operations were conducted using the airfield at the nearby Dennison Airport. In early 1930, possibly because of the addition of the airfield, Squantum was redesignated a Naval Reserve Air Base or NRAB.
Throughout the 1930s decade NRAB Squantum was greatly improved and expanded. This was due in large part to the ingenuity of executive officer John J. Shea, a man who knew how to leverage and make the most out of volunteer labor, salvaged materials, and Depression-era public works programs like the WPA. The greatest expansion efforts on the base took place between 1939 and 1941 when, among other things, three "proper" paved runways were built and the old Victory Plant Shipyard buildings (many of which had been gutted during a previous fire) were razed. On March 5, 1941 the base at Squantum was redesignated a Naval Air Station or NAS.
During the Second World War NAS Squantum served as a maritime patrol and training base. Regular Navy squadrons VJ-4 and VS-1D1/VS-31 flew anti-submarine patrols over Massachusetts Bay and the Gulf of Maine using Grumman Ducks, Consolidated PBY Catalinas, Vought-Sikorski Kingfishers, Douglas Dauntlesses, and Curtiss Helldivers. In addition, the base provided elimintation and primary flight instruction for Naval Aviation Cadets as well as advanced training to Royal Navy torpedo and dive-bomber squadrons, and U.S. Navy fighter, torpedo, and dive-bomber squadrons.
After the war ended, NAS Squantum became an important component of the new Naval Air Reserve Training Command. The base served as the focus of Navy and Marine Corps reserve aviation training actitvity in New England until December 1953 when the reserve program was moved to nearby NAS South Weymouth and Squantum was closed.
"Modern" NAS Squantum had a couple of problems. First, its proximity to Boston's Logan International Airport
resulted in increasing airspace conflicts in the postwar era. In fact, the Boston Logan Instrument Landing System was lined up almost perfectly with Runway 2 of Squantum. In one case, an Air France Lockheed Constellation bound for Boston actually landed at Squantum by mistake. The base's second problem was its short and landlocked (water locked?) runways. These were not long enough to support routine jet operations and because of the base's position on the Squantum peninsula they could not be lengthened. The 1946 and 1949 USGS topo maps labeled the property as “U.S. Naval Reservation”, but did not depict an airfield. The base's third problem was that it was old and that many of its facilities had been jury-built using scrap materials and re-used structures salvaged from the Victory Plant Shipyard during the depths of the Great Depression when funds were hard to come by. It was said of NAS Squantum in the January 1949 issue of Naval Aviation News that it "grew like topsy" and was more the result of having to make do with what was available instead of careful planning.
Today a marina sits on its northern end; the air station's main hangar was its main building into the 1990s. Boston Scientific
is also located on the site. A 2700 feet (823 m) portion of the primary northwest runway was opened to the public in 2001 as Squantum Point Park
. Other than that, condominiums and other buildings forming the Marina Bay
development dot the landscape of the former naval air station. A local veterans' organization, the Association of Naval Aviation Patriot Squadron, operates and maintains a small museum called the Shea Field Naval Aviation Historical Museum dedicated to preserving the heritage of NAS Squantum and NAS South Weymouth in the former Navy gymnasium (The Shea Fitness Center) located on CDR Shea Boulevard at former NAS South Weymouth (the SouthField Development) in Weymouth, Massachusetts.
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. It also abutted Dorchester Bay, Quincy Bay, and the Neponset River.
History
In 1910 The Harvard Aeronautical Society leased an undeveloped 500 acres (202.3 ha) parcel of marshland and upland located on the Squantum PeninsulaSquantum Point Park
Squantum Point Park is a park located on the Squantum peninsula of Quincy, Massachusetts. It is located on the site of the former Squantum Naval Air Station. All that remains of the former air station is part of a runway which runs for 2,700 feet....
from the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
and named it Harvard Aviation Field. They used the airfield to hold the 1910 and 1911 Harvard-Boston Aero Meets. In addition, other groups used the Harvard Aviation Field for the first Intercollegiate Glider Meet in 1911 as well as for the ill-fated 1912 Boston Air Meet.
The airfield location area on the Harvard 1910 meet posters was then given as Atlantic, Massachusetts and the railroad station nearest was also called Atlantic, which was nearest the Squantum peninsula. This station was just after the old Neponset station on the New Haven Railroad line
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
(Old Colony Railroad
Old Colony Railroad
The Old Colony Railroad was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island. It operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, New Bedford, Newport, Providence, Fitchburg, Lowell and Cape Cod...
branch) and right before the modern day Red Line
Red Line (MBTA)
The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the MBTA running roughly north-south through Boston, Massachusetts into neighboring communities. The line begins west of Boston, in Cambridge, Massachusetts at Alewife station, near the intersection of Alewife Brook Parkway and Route 2...
North Quincy Station
North Quincy (MBTA station)
North Quincy is a station on the Red Line subway at East Squantum Street between Hancock Street and Newport Avenue in Quincy, Massachusetts, and serves North Quincy High School, the State Street Bank complex, and the North Quincy and Montclair neighborhoods. Its other facilities include bus...
.
In 1915, after the lease expired with the Harvard Aeronautical Society, the New Haven Railroad rented the former Harvard Aviation Field to Harry M. Jones, who used the site to provide flight instruction. W. Starling Burgess also made occasional use of the former Harvard Aviation Field around this time for flight testing purposes and to provide flight instruction to buyers of his company's aircraft.
In 1916 the former Harvard Aviation Field was leased to the Sturtevant Aeroplane Company of Hyde Park in Boston for flight testing and flight instruction purposes. At the time, Sturtevant Company, which later in 1945 became part of Westinghouse
Westinghouse Electric (1886)
Westinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
, had been the first builder of airplane engines in Massachusetts, the first to produce all-metal fuselage planes for the US Navy and Army, and the only large scale aircraft manufacturer in the Boston area.
Early military usage of the airfield dates to the early months of America's involvement in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
when the Massachusetts Naval Militia
Naval militia
A naval militia in the United States is a reserve military organization administered under the authority of a state government. It is often composed of Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard reservists, retirees and volunteers. They are distinguishable from the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, which is a...
(a forerunner to the US Naval Reserve) built a small wooden seaplane hangar and pier on the Dorchester Bay shoreline adjacent to the former Harvard Aviation Field. Primary flight instruction was provided at the Massachusetts School for Naval Air Service, as the tiny seaplane base was originally called, to members of the Massachusetts Naval Militia who would subsequently go on to take advanced flight training at the Navy's flying school at Pensacola, Florida. In May 1917 the Navy took the seaplane base over and evicted the Sturtevant Aeroplane Company from the former Harvard Aviation Field as well. The Navy continued to use the U. S. Naval Air Station Squantum as a primary flight training facility until the end of September 1917 when all naval flight training activity was consolidated in areas of the country with better year-round flying weather.
Thereafter, much of land surrounding the former seaplane base and Harvard Aviation Field was taken over by the Navy Department for the construction of a new shipyard called the Victory Plant. The Victory Plant, which was owned by the government but operated by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, was designed specifically to mass-produce one type of ship, the Clemson-class destroyers. A total of 35 were built at the Victory Plant before the shipyard was closed on June 1, 1920.
During the summer of 1923 then-LT Richard E. Byrd
Richard Evelyn Byrd
Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd, Jr., USN was a naval officer who specialized in feats of exploration. He was a pioneering American aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics...
, with the assistance of a group of volunteer Navy veterans of the First World War, helped found the NRAS (Naval Reserve Air Station) at Squantum Point using the disused First World War seaplane hangar, which had remained more-or-less intact after the Victory Plant shipyard was built. NRAS Squantum, which was commissioned on August 15, 1923, is considered to have been the first air base in the Naval Reserve program.
In 1927 a small civilian airfield, the Dennison Airport, was established at Squantum near the intersection of East Squantum Street and Quincy Shore Drive. Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean...
when she lived in Medford, Massachusetts
Medford, Massachusetts
Medford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States, on the Mystic River, five miles northwest of downtown Boston. In the 2010 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 56,173...
helped finance the construction of the Dennison Airport (she served as a share-holding director). She also flew on the first official flight out of the airport on September 3, 1927.
During October 1929 a small turf airfield was opened at NRAS Squantum. Up to this point, NRAS Squantum was a seaplane base only though occasional naval landplane operations were conducted using the airfield at the nearby Dennison Airport. In early 1930, possibly because of the addition of the airfield, Squantum was redesignated a Naval Reserve Air Base or NRAB.
Throughout the 1930s decade NRAB Squantum was greatly improved and expanded. This was due in large part to the ingenuity of executive officer John J. Shea, a man who knew how to leverage and make the most out of volunteer labor, salvaged materials, and Depression-era public works programs like the WPA. The greatest expansion efforts on the base took place between 1939 and 1941 when, among other things, three "proper" paved runways were built and the old Victory Plant Shipyard buildings (many of which had been gutted during a previous fire) were razed. On March 5, 1941 the base at Squantum was redesignated a Naval Air Station or NAS.
During the Second World War NAS Squantum served as a maritime patrol and training base. Regular Navy squadrons VJ-4 and VS-1D1/VS-31 flew anti-submarine patrols over Massachusetts Bay and the Gulf of Maine using Grumman Ducks, Consolidated PBY Catalinas, Vought-Sikorski Kingfishers, Douglas Dauntlesses, and Curtiss Helldivers. In addition, the base provided elimintation and primary flight instruction for Naval Aviation Cadets as well as advanced training to Royal Navy torpedo and dive-bomber squadrons, and U.S. Navy fighter, torpedo, and dive-bomber squadrons.
After the war ended, NAS Squantum became an important component of the new Naval Air Reserve Training Command. The base served as the focus of Navy and Marine Corps reserve aviation training actitvity in New England until December 1953 when the reserve program was moved to nearby NAS South Weymouth and Squantum was closed.
"Modern" NAS Squantum had a couple of problems. First, its proximity to Boston's Logan International Airport
Logan International Airport
General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport is located in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts . It covers , has six runways, and employs an estimated 16,000 people. It is the 19th busiest airport in the United States.Boston serves as a focus city for JetBlue Airways...
resulted in increasing airspace conflicts in the postwar era. In fact, the Boston Logan Instrument Landing System was lined up almost perfectly with Runway 2 of Squantum. In one case, an Air France Lockheed Constellation bound for Boston actually landed at Squantum by mistake. The base's second problem was its short and landlocked (water locked?) runways. These were not long enough to support routine jet operations and because of the base's position on the Squantum peninsula they could not be lengthened. The 1946 and 1949 USGS topo maps labeled the property as “U.S. Naval Reservation”, but did not depict an airfield. The base's third problem was that it was old and that many of its facilities had been jury-built using scrap materials and re-used structures salvaged from the Victory Plant Shipyard during the depths of the Great Depression when funds were hard to come by. It was said of NAS Squantum in the January 1949 issue of Naval Aviation News that it "grew like topsy" and was more the result of having to make do with what was available instead of careful planning.
Closure
The location of the airport doomed it to be closed in 1953. Operations were moved to the nearby South Weymouth NAS. In 1957, the Navy transferred 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) to the Air Force for an electronic research annex, the Squantum Electronics Research Annex. By 1960, the site was labeled "Abandoned Airport."Present-Day Usage
Boston Scientific
The Boston Scientific Corporation , is a worldwide developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical devices whose products are used in a range of interventional medical specialties, including interventional cardiology, peripheral interventions, neuromodulation, neurovascular intervention,...
is also located on the site. A 2700 feet (823 m) portion of the primary northwest runway was opened to the public in 2001 as Squantum Point Park
Squantum Point Park
Squantum Point Park is a park located on the Squantum peninsula of Quincy, Massachusetts. It is located on the site of the former Squantum Naval Air Station. All that remains of the former air station is part of a runway which runs for 2,700 feet....
. Other than that, condominiums and other buildings forming the Marina Bay
Marina Bay (Quincy, Massachusetts)
Marina Bay is a mixed-use development neighborhood of condominium, commercial and entertainment facilities in Quincy, Massachusetts. It includes five housing complexes and one assisted living complex, office complexes, numerous restaurants, a 685-slip marina and a seaside boardwalk...
development dot the landscape of the former naval air station. A local veterans' organization, the Association of Naval Aviation Patriot Squadron, operates and maintains a small museum called the Shea Field Naval Aviation Historical Museum dedicated to preserving the heritage of NAS Squantum and NAS South Weymouth in the former Navy gymnasium (The Shea Fitness Center) located on CDR Shea Boulevard at former NAS South Weymouth (the SouthField Development) in Weymouth, Massachusetts.
Squadrons Based There
- VS-4 (Administratively assigned to Squantum but based in Boston)
- VF-11 (Administratively assigned to Squantum but based in Boston)
- VN-1RD1 (Formerly VS-4)
- VN-2RD1 (Formerly VF-11)
- VF-6MR
- SC-5MR
- VO-1MR (Formerly VF-6MR)
- SS-5MR (Formerly SC-5MR)
- VS-1R (Formerly VN-1RD1)
- VS-2R (Formerly VN-2RD1)
- VMS-1R (Formerly VO-1MR and SS-5MR combined)
- VJ-4 (Detachment of squadron based at NAS Norfolk, VA)
- VS-1D1 (Inshore Patrol squadron established at NAS Squantum)
- VR-1 (Detachment of squadron based at NAS Norfolk, VA)
- VS-31 (Formerly VS-1D1)
- SPU Cast (Supported various electronic systems projects)
- 848 Squadron (Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm torpedo squadron)
- 849 Squadron (Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm torpedo squadron)
- 850 Squadron (Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm torpedo squadron)
- 851 Squadron851 Naval Air Squadron851 Naval Air Squadron was a Fleet Air Arm squadron of the Royal Navy, first formed in October 1943 at Squantum Naval Air Station in the USA as a MAC-ship escort squadron...
(Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm torpedo squadron) - 852 Squadron (Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm torpedo squadron)
- 853 Squadron (Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm torpedo squadron)
- 854 Squadron854 Naval Air Squadron854 Naval Air Squadron was first formed on 1 January 1944, at Squantum Naval Air Station in the USA. It was later disbanded in December 1945. It was reformed December 2006 as a helicopter squadron designed for Airborne Surveillance and Control.- History :...
(Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm torpedo squadron) - 855 Squadron (Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm torpedo squadron)
- 856 Squadron (Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm torpedo squadron)
- 857 Squadron (Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm torpedo squadron)
- SPU Dove (Supported Project Dove infra-red guided anti-shipping bomb)
- 820 Squadron (Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm dive-bomber squadron)
- CASU-22-5 (Detachment of CASU based at NAS Quonset Point, RI)
- VF-45 (CAG-45)
- VT-45 (CAG-45)
- VF-48 (CAG-48)
- VT-48 (CAG-48)
- VT-89
- VF-21 (CAG-21)
- VT-21 (CAG-21)
- VT-151
- VF-39 (CAG-39)
- VT-39 (CAG-39)
- VT-44
- VF-29 (CAG-29)
- VT-29 (CAG-29)
- SPU Cadillac (Supported Project Cadillac AEW system)
- VJ-15 (Detachment of squadron based at NAS Quonset Point, RI)
- VF-723 (CVG-723)
- VBF-723 (CVG-723)
- VB-723 (CVG-723)
- VT-723 (CVG-723)
- VF-796 (CVEG-796)
- VT-796 (CVEG-796)
- VF-797 (CVEG-797)
- VT-797 (CVEG-797)
- VP-919
- VMF-217 (Marine Corps Reserve)
- CASU-713 (Reserve Carrier Aircraft Support Unit)
- VMF-235 (Marine Corps Reserve, activated for Korean War)
- VF-77A (CVG-77, formerly VF-723)
- VF-78A (CVG-77, formerly VBF-723)
- VA-77A (CVG-77, formerly VB-723)
- VA-78A (CVG-77, formerly VT-723)
- VF-56A (CVG-56, formerly VF-796)
- VA-56A (CVG-56, formerly VT-796)
- VF-57E (CVG-57, formerly VF-797)
- VA-57E (CVG-57, formerly VT-797)
- VP-ML-69 (Formerly VP-919)
- VR-57
- FASRON-71 (Reserve Fleet Aircraft Support Squadron, formerly CASU-713)
- FASRON-171 (Reserve Fleet Aircraft Support Squadron, formerly CASU-713)
- VR-59
- MGCIS-21 (Marine Corps Reserve Ground Control Intercept unit)
- VF-58L (CVLG-58)
- VA-58L (CVLG-58)
- AVUA-1 (Drilled at NAF Brunswick, ME)
- AVUA-2 (Drilled at New Bedford Airport in New Bedford, MA)
- AVUA-3 (Drilled at Barnes Airport in Westfield, MA)
- AVUA-4 (Transferred from NAF South Weymouth to NAS Squantum)
- AVUA-5 (CIC unit drilling at NAS Squantum)
- AWS-91 (Air Wing Staff 91)
- FASRON-911 (Formerly FASRON-71 and FASRON-171)
- VC-911 (Composite attack squadron)
- VC-912 (Composite anti-submarine warfare squadron)
- VC-913 (Composite anti-submarine warfare squadron)
- VF-911
- VF-912
- VF-913
- VF-914
- VF-915
- VF-916 (Activated for Korean War, became VF-83 then VFA-83)
- VF-917
- VP-911 (Formerly VP-ML-69)
- VR-911 (Formerly VR-57)
- VR-912 (Formerly VR-59)
- AVUA-6 (Drilled at NAS Squantum)
- ZP-911
- VA-911 (Formerly VC-911)
- VA-912
- VA-913
- VS-911
- VS-912 (Formerly VC-912)
- VS-913 (Formerly VC-913, activated for Korean War, became VS-39)
- AAU-911 (Formerly AVUA-2)
- AAU-912 (Formerly AVUA-3)
- AAU-913 (Formerly AVUA-4)
- AAU-914 (Formerly AVUA-5)
- AAU-915 (Formerly AVUA-6)
- AGU(L)-911 (Large auxiliary ground unit)
- VMF-322 (Replacement for VMF-235)
- HU-911
Famous people
- Amelia EarhartAmelia EarhartAmelia Mary Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean...
flew from and had financial interests in the airfield (Dennison Airport). - Harriet QuimbyHarriet QuimbyHarriet Quimby was an early American aviator and a movie screenwriter. In 1911 she was awarded a U.S. pilot's certificate by the Aero Club of America, becoming the first woman to gain a pilot's license in the United States. In 1912 she became the first woman to fly across the English Channel...
and William A.P. Willard were killed there in a plane crash on July 1, 1912.
External links
- Harvard Aviation Field / Squantum Naval Air Station, Quincy, MA
- "Squantum NAS (Quincy Massachusetts)" - Google EarthGoogle EarthGoogle Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency funded company acquired by Google in 2004 . It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite...
- "Naval Flying Fields in the USA" - Squantum entry
- "History of USAG Air Service" - mention of Squantum
- "Squantum Point Park" - Louisburg Square South Community website
- "NAS Squantum, Massachusetts History" - VP Navy website
- "VP Association" - VP Association website
- "Association of Naval Aviation Patriot Squadron" - Association of Naval Aviation Patriot Squadron website