Morse Field (Hawaii)
Morse Field | |
---|---|
Part of Seventh Air Force | |
Hawaii County, near Ka Lae | |
Coordinates | 18°54′58″N 155°40′41″W / 18.91611°N 155.67806°W |
Type | Army Airfield |
Site information | |
Controlled by | United States Army Air Forces |
Site history | |
Built | 1941 |
In use |
|
Garrison information | |
Garrison | Seventh Air Force |
Morse Field is a former military airfield located approximately 12 miles (19 km) south-southwest of Naʻālehu, Hawaii. It was also known as South Cape Airport, South Point Air Force Station, or Ka Lae Military Reservation. It is now abandoned.
History
The facility was located at Ka Lae, the southernmost point on the island of Hawaii and consisted of 11.8 acres (4.8 ha) of land owned in fee simple plus utility easements covering 21 acres (8.5 ha) of land.
Morse Field
In 1941 construction was underway on five buildings, runways, and access roads at Morse Field. Activities were centralized at this airport inasmuch as its location shortened by approximately 200 miles (320 km), from a routing through Oahu, the transpacific air ferry route to Australia and the Philippines. Construction work, originally under the Zone Constructing Quartermaster, was transferred to the District Engineer in late 1940. A total of $1,534,793 was requested from the War Department in May for completion of the project; this amount later increased to $2,020,000.
The work on the Morse Field was an earth field with a
Blocking of landing areas on the island occupied large amounts of time and manpower due to the extensive areas involved and the comparatively smooth surfaces surrounding the field, which could be used as landing fields.
After
South Point Air Force Station
In December 1964, General
It was later reopened, however, in support of Project Have Lent, a sounding rocket probe program to evaluate advanced ballistic reentry system experiments. The close proximity and aspect angle of South Point to the optical site sensors located on the island of Maui were the primary reasons for launching the probes from this location.
In 1979, the Station was divided in two parcels located about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) apart, containing approximately 5.9 acres (24,000 m2) each. One of the sites was the main operations area, while the other areas was used for a boresight tower.
The Station was under the operational control of the Space and Missile Test Center (SAMTEC).
South Point AFS was one of the few Air Force installations in the State of Hawaii that did not fall under the control of the 15th Air Base Wing at
Final closing
On February 11, 1983, the facilities at the former Morse Field were formally closed by the governor's executive order.[1]
See also
- Hawaii World War II Army Airfields
References
- ^ "Morse Field (South Cape Airport)". Hawaii Aviation. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites History’s Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC, 2004.
- Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Hawaii, Hawaii island
- 15th Air Base Wing History Office via Hawaii Aviation