Naval Auxiliary Air Station Charlestown
Encyclopedia
Charlestown Naval Auxiliary Air Station is located in Charlestown
, Rhode Island
. It was a satellite airfield to the nearby Quonset Naval Air Station
. It is located within the boundaries of the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge
.
. Former US President George Herbert Walker Bush aviation trained here before going to Japan in World War II
and named his airplane Barbara for his girlfriend Barbara Walker who became his wife Barbara Bush
. The airport was used for the Navy Air Navigation Project, which developed & tested navigation aids & traffic control systems. It was host to a CASU (Carrier Aircraft Service Unit) and later to a NACTU (Night Aircraft Training Unit. The runways were used for drag racing between 1958 and 1959. In 1974, the base was disestablished. It probably closed in conjunction with Quonset Naval Air Station
, which closed around the same time that it did.
in Rhode Island
. This idea was shot down by local residents and it remained unused until it was incorporated into the nearby Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge
. Until the 1980s, the hangars remained at the airport. In the late 1990s, the runways and taxiways were torn up and native grasses and plants were planted. Recent aerial photos show a track for bicycle racing and time trials at the northern portions of runways In 2002, a memorial was built at the site commemorating the use of the field. According to a recent New York Times article,
Charlestown, Rhode Island
Charlestown is a town in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 7,827 at the 2010 census.-History:Charlestown is named after King Charles II, and was incorporated in 1738. The area was formerly part of the town of Westerly...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
. It was a satellite airfield to the nearby Quonset Naval Air Station
Naval Air Station Quonset Point
Naval Air Station Quonset Point was a United States Naval Base in Quonset Point, Rhode Island that was deactivated in 1974. Next to NAS Quonset Point was Camp Endicott at Davisville, home of the Naval Construction Battalions known as the Seabees. Quonset Point also gave its name to the Quonset hut,...
. It is located within the boundaries of the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge
Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge
The Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge situated along the shore of Ninigret Pond. The refuge, characterized by saltmarshes, kettle ponds, freshwater wetlands, maritime shrublands and forests, is seasonally inhabited by over 250 species of birds...
.
History
Atlantic Airport, as it was then known, was founded around 1931. In 1942, the site of the Atlantic Airport was reused by the Navy to construct Charlestown NAAS. It was constructed with three runways. It then became a satellite of the nearby Quonset Naval Air StationNaval Air Station Quonset Point
Naval Air Station Quonset Point was a United States Naval Base in Quonset Point, Rhode Island that was deactivated in 1974. Next to NAS Quonset Point was Camp Endicott at Davisville, home of the Naval Construction Battalions known as the Seabees. Quonset Point also gave its name to the Quonset hut,...
. Former US President George Herbert Walker Bush aviation trained here before going to Japan in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and named his airplane Barbara for his girlfriend Barbara Walker who became his wife Barbara Bush
Barbara Bush
Barbara Pierce Bush is the wife of the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush, and served as First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993. She is the mother of the 43rd President George W. Bush and of the 43rd Governor of Florida Jeb Bush...
. The airport was used for the Navy Air Navigation Project, which developed & tested navigation aids & traffic control systems. It was host to a CASU (Carrier Aircraft Service Unit) and later to a NACTU (Night Aircraft Training Unit. The runways were used for drag racing between 1958 and 1959. In 1974, the base was disestablished. It probably closed in conjunction with Quonset Naval Air Station
Naval Air Station Quonset Point
Naval Air Station Quonset Point was a United States Naval Base in Quonset Point, Rhode Island that was deactivated in 1974. Next to NAS Quonset Point was Camp Endicott at Davisville, home of the Naval Construction Battalions known as the Seabees. Quonset Point also gave its name to the Quonset hut,...
, which closed around the same time that it did.
Reuse as a Park
In 1976, there was talk of using the site for the first nuclear power plantNuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
in Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
. This idea was shot down by local residents and it remained unused until it was incorporated into the nearby Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge
Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge
The Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge situated along the shore of Ninigret Pond. The refuge, characterized by saltmarshes, kettle ponds, freshwater wetlands, maritime shrublands and forests, is seasonally inhabited by over 250 species of birds...
. Until the 1980s, the hangars remained at the airport. In the late 1990s, the runways and taxiways were torn up and native grasses and plants were planted. Recent aerial photos show a track for bicycle racing and time trials at the northern portions of runways In 2002, a memorial was built at the site commemorating the use of the field. According to a recent New York Times article,
A parcel of 172 acre (0.69605992 km²) of the deactivated Charlestown Naval Auxiliary Air Station on the South County coast, complete with a freshwater pond, it was opened as a park by the town of Charlestown in 1983 and forms a gateway to the older wildlife refuge and the barrier beach beyond. The park is to be developed with bathhouses but for now it remains rugged and inviting.
To keep motorists from going in hopeless circles on vast runways, routes of sorts were denoted by sweeping furrows plowed into the tarmac, an almost perfect enactment of the biblical notion of beating swords into plowshares. At a certain point on the runway, most people park their cars and go walking in the company of wildlife, wind off Block Island SoundBlock Island SoundBlock Island Sound is a strait in the open Atlantic Ocean, approximately wide, separating Block Island from the coast of Rhode Island in the United States...
and the whisper of tall grasses.
Environmental Cleanup
Being used in the time before the modern day environmental movement, the site has had its share of cleanups over the years. Removal of 830 cubic yards (634.6 m³) of contaminated soil, at a projected cost of $426,938 has been proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The soil would be removed from an area that used to contain five 25,000-gallon underground storage tanks reportedly used to store leaded, high-octane aviation gasoline had been previously removed. The area, known as site 8 and located some 1500 feet (457.2 m) from residential areas, was formerly used for flight-line fueling operations in the early 1940s.External links
- http://www.airfields-freeman.com/RI/Airfields_RI.htm#charlestown
- http://www.projo.com/news/content/SC_CHTWN_NINIGRET_CONTAMINATION2_09-27-07_FT79GFB.34bbc96.html
- http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07EFDC1438F936A25757C0A962948260&sec=travel&spon=&pagewanted=2
- http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07EFDC1438F936A25757C0A962948260&sec=travel&spon=&pagewanted=3