- Monkey Pod
- Aluminum
- Sterling Silver
- Steel
In keeping with the geographical theme, my second table paid homage to my adopted hometown of Alameda, CA. I wanted to somehow preserve the history of this small town that has hosted so many contributions to Naval and aviation history.
In 1934 the city of Alameda built an air strip called Benton Field on reclaimed land at the north end of the island. It was built for two reasons; for the immediate use of Pan American Airways, and as an incentive to attract the Navy to the community of Alameda. The Navy studied the site, accepted Alameda's offer, and in 1938 began building a large air station there that could support four aircraft carrier groups, five patrol squadrons, two utility squadrons, have facilities for complete plane and engine overhaul, piers to dock two aircraft carriers and several outlying air fields. The new naval station, named U.S. Naval Air Station, Alameda, became the Navy's "Aviation Gateway to the Pacific". Construction wasn't yet complete when the U.S. went to war in Dec. 1941, but the air station's personnel began performing wartime duties with what they had available. Offshore and inshore air patrols were begun, air cover for convoys was provided and the station became a ferry point for fleet air units going elsewhere. In late March 1942 the aircraft carrier "Hornet" arrived at NAS, Alameda and 16 Army B-25 bombers were hoisted aboard. The Hornet then departed under great secrecy on April 2. These were the planes of General Jimmy Doolittle's Raiders that bombed Tokyo and other cities in Japan on April 18, 1942.
During World War II, this was one of the Navy's busiest air stations with air units, carrier groups, supplies, numerous naval personnel and sometimes VIP's passing through on their way to the Pacific or to points east. Actually, construction never stopped at NAS, Alameda during the war and by 1945 it was a huge facility with 3600 officers and 29,000 enlisted personnel.
In late 1943-early 1944 the AAF established a large intransit air depot in Alameda to handle the logistics of moving large numbers of AAF personnel, planes and equipment from Europe to the Pacific in preparation for the final assault on Japan. It was the largest new construction project undertaken by the AAF at this time. The air depot included many warehouses, wharves, rail sidings and deep-water docks. With the sudden end to the war in the Pacific, though, this facility saw little use.
The naval air station continued in full operation after the war and became home to many Navy commands and service units. In 1967 the station's air field was named Nimitz Field in honor of Adm. Chester Nimitz. NAS, Alameda continued in full operation throughout the Cold War and was one of the Navy's most important facilities on the west coast. In the 1990s NAS, Alameda was closed. Source: World War II Sites in the United States: A Tour Guide and Directory by Richard E. Osbourne
On Nov. 22, 1935 a silvery four-engined seaplane took off from Alameda and headed west across San Francisco Bay and out to sea for a flight into history. It was the famous China Clipper, bound for a 59-hour flight to Manila. The Pan American Airways flight that took off, was the first regularly scheduled flight across the oceans of the world. It was hailed in The Chronicle as the beginning of "a giant new age," and the Martin 130 seaplane named China Clipper was called "the greatest airplane ever built in America." Source: Carl Nolte
► The signature of General James "Jimmy" Doolittle of the United States Army Air Forces is proudly preserved in the approximate location of what is now Doolittle Drive.
► The aluminum inlay depicts the runways at U.S. Naval Air Station, Alameda.
► Embedded under polyurethane in the location of Seaplane Lagoon is the aircraft carrier USS Hornet and Pan Am’s Martin 130 seaplane, the China Clipper
► For the legs I took inspiration from a machine gun tripod