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58-665: The commanding officer of NAS North Island (NASNI) is also the Commanding Officer, Naval Base Coronado (NBC). As such, they command or administer NASNI and seven other naval facilities: Naval Amphibious Base Coronado (NABC); Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach ; Silver Strand Training Complex ; Remote Training Site, Warner Springs; Mountain Warfare Training Camp Michael Monsoor ; Camp Morena ; and Naval Auxiliary Landing Field San Clemente Island . NBC, with only its commands in

116-494: A swastika -shaped plan view. This went unnoticed by the public from its construction in the 1960s until 2007 when it was spotted in aerial views on Google Earth . Although landscaping and architectural modifications were to be made to obscure the shape, 2023 imagery, the latest used by Google Earth, shows no substantive change. The housing on-post is in the Coronado Unified School District , and

174-412: A company which J.D.’s father—Claus Spreckels—had early financed. Prior to its becoming associated with Matson, Oceanic had under J.D.’s control owned a total 17 ships, which were the iron ship Alameda (1883), the wood schooner Anna (1881), the iron steamer Australia (1875), the wood brigantine Claus Spreckels (1879), the wood brigantine Consuelo (1880), the wood brigantine Emma Augusta (1867),

232-728: A direct rail link to the east by connecting with the Southern Pacific Railroad (which secretly provided the funding for the endeavor) lines in El Centro , California, the 148-mile (238-kilometer) route of the SD&;A originated in San Diego and terminated in the Imperial County town of Calexico . The total construction cost was approximately $ 18 million, or some $ 123,000 per mile; the original estimate

290-409: A few. The base has also provided training for Underwater Demolition Teams , United States Navy SEALs , brown-water Navy personnel, and Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps midshipmen . In 1946, the base was renamed Naval Amphibious Base (NAB) Coronado and its primary mission was changed to that of providing major administrative and logistical support to the amphibious units which are located on

348-800: A mail and passenger line to Hawaii and Australia , the Western Sugar Refining Company, the Coronado Water Company, the San Diego and Coronado Ferry Company , the San Diego and Coronado Transfer Company, the Pajaro Valley Consolidated Railroad Company, the San Diego Electric Railway, and the San Diego & Arizona Railway Company. Spreckels' first permanent residence in the San Diego area was

406-491: Is Naval Auxiliary Landing Facility (NALF) San Clemente Island , located approximately 70 miles (110 km) northwest of San Diego in the Channel Islands . The other is Naval Outlying Landing Field (NOLF) Imperial Beach . Formerly an independent naval air station, NOLF Imperial Beach is located in the city of Imperial Beach , on the U.S.-Mexico border, 10 miles (16 km) south of NAS North Island. The air station

464-468: Is homeport to three aircraft carriers: USS  Abraham Lincoln , USS  Carl Vinson , and USS  Theodore Roosevelt . Additionally, the base was home to the Navy's only Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicles , Mystic (DSRV-1) and Avalon (DSRV-2). The DSRV motor vessel support ships are also homeported here. North Island is headquarters for four major military flag staffs including: With all

522-547: Is a US naval installation in San Diego, California . The base, situated on Silver Strand between San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean, is a major United States Navy shore command, supporting over 30 tenant commands, and is the West Coast focal point for special and expeditionary warfare training and operations. The on‑base population is 5,000 military personnel and 7,000 students and reservists. The base

580-594: Is now a popular boutique hotel, the Glorietta Bay Inn . John D. Spreckels built the beach house, located at 1043 Ocean Boulevard in Coronado , designed by architect Harrison Albright (1866–1932). John D. Spreckels built the Ocean Boulevard beach house for his son Claus as a wedding present in 1910 and Claus's widow, Ellis, lived there until her death in 1967. The nearby mansion at 1015 Ocean

638-519: Is one of the eight components of Naval Base Coronado (NBC). Formally commissioned in January 1944, Naval Amphibious Base (NAB), Coronado provides a shore base for the operations, training, and support of naval amphibious units on the West Coast. It is one of only two Navy amphibious training bases in the United States. NAB is approximately 1,000 acres (4 km ) in size and is composed of

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696-574: Is the location of the 2011 accidental death of 6-year-old Max Shacknai , son of Jonah Shacknai, former CEO of Medicis Pharmaceutical , and the contested suicide of Jonah Shacknai's girlfriend, Rebecca Zahau . Between 1911 and 1913, a class conflict between the International Workers of the World and city authorities that ended in vigilantism , mass rape and the flattening of the working class neighborhood of Stingaree to make way for

754-535: The Kingdom of Hawaii and then in San Francisco. In 1887, Spreckels visited San Diego on his yacht Lurline to stock up on supplies. Impressed by the real estate boom then taking place, he invested in the construction of a wharf and coal bunkers at the foot of Broadway (then called "D" Street). That boom ended soon but Spreckels' interest in San Diego would last for the rest of his life. He acquired control of

812-634: The Panama–California Exposition . State investigator Harris Weinstock concluded that Spreckels "stands committed to the cause of the vigilantes, right or wrong, making its opinion…not free from bias.” The San Francisco Bulletin declared that Spreckels was “the greatest vigilante of them all." The San Diego Electric Railway (SDERy) was a San Diego–based, light rail mass transit system founded by Spreckels in 1892. Spreckels' strategy involved buying up several failed downtown horse- and cable-drawn trolley routes, consolidating and standardizing

870-554: The Saint Louis Car Company (SLCCo) where these beautiful, Arts & Crafts -style streetcars were built and shipped out to San Diego. Ultimately, the Class 1 streetcars ran all over San Diego, from Coronado through Downtown , Mission Hills, Ocean Beach , North Park , Golden Hill , and Kensington . They even briefly served as a link to the U.S.-Mexico Border. These streetcars were "retired" in 1939 to give way to

928-842: The San Diego & Arizona Railway , and Belmont Park in Mission Beach . He built several downtown buildings, including the Union Building in 1908, Spreckels Theatre in 1912, the Hotel San Diego, and the Golden West Hotel. He employed thousands of people and at one time he paid 10% of all the property taxes in San Diego County . Spreckels was president of several companies, including the Oceanic Steamship Company, operating

986-729: The San Diego Evening Tribune in 1901. He moved his family permanently to San Diego immediately after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake . In the next decades, Spreckels became a millionaire many times over, and the wealthiest man in San Diego. At various times he owned all of Coronado Island, the San Diego-Coronado Ferry System, the Union-Tribune Publishing Co. , the San Diego Electric Railway ,

1044-719: The San Diego and Arizona Railway , both of which are credited with helping San Diego develop into a major commercial center. The oldest of five children, Spreckels was born in Charleston, South Carolina , though the family soon moved to New York City . Spreckels attended Oakland College and then the Polytechnic College in Hanover, Germany , where he studied chemistry and mechanical engineering until 1872. He returned to California and began working for his father, Claus Spreckels , who had grown extremely wealthy in

1102-504: The Silver Strand , became the city of Coronado . However, North Coronado was never developed. Instead, Glenn Curtiss opened a flying school and held a lease to the property until the beginning of World War I . Curtiss invited both the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy to use the site for aviation training, with the Navy being the first to open a station in 1912. However the Navy abandoned its camp and did not return for five years, while

1160-506: The development of commercial interests between the United States and Hawaii is due to this firm. The shipping and passenger line of this enterprise was the Oceanic Steamship Company, which was founded by J.D. Spreckels in 1881. Its inaugural service was between California and Hawaii and, later, also from California to Australia , New Zealand , Samoa and Tahiti . The various of the lines’ ships transported passengers, sugar and/or other food cargoes and provided mail service. For decades,

1218-806: The sugar business. In 1876 he went to the Hawaiian Islands , where he worked for his father's sugar business, Spreckels Sugar Company . In 1880, with $ 2 million in capital, he organized J. D. Spreckels and Brothers, a company to establish a trade between the mainland United States and the Hawaiian Islands. The company began with one sailing vessel, the Rosario , and later controlled two large fleets of sail and steam ships. The firm also engaged extensively in sugar refining, and became agents for leading sugarcane plantations in Hawaii . Much of

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1276-486: The Army established an aviation school in 1913 at the southern end of the island. In 1917, Congress appropriated the land, and two airfields were commissioned on its sandy flats. The Navy started with a tent city known as "Camp Trouble". As its name suggests, things did not always go well in the early days. The Navy shared North Island with the Army's Signal Corps , Air Service , and Air Corp's Rockwell Field until 1937, when

1334-422: The Army left and the Navy expanded its operations to cover the whole of North Island. In 1914, then-unknown aircraft builder Glenn Martin took off and demonstrated his pusher aircraft over the island with a flight that included the first parachute jump in the San Diego area. The jump was made by a ninety-pound civilian woman named Tiny Broadwick . Other aviation milestones originating at North Island included

1392-604: The Coronado Beach Company, Hotel del Coronado and Coronado Tent City; he bought the San Diego street railway system , changing it from horse power to electricity, in 1892. Hotel del Coronado was owned by the Coronado Beach Company which was originally capitalized with US$ 3 million. At the time of capitalization the original company directors were E.S. Babcock , John D. Spreckels, Captain Charles T. Hinde , H.W. Mallett, and Giles Kellogg. The Coronado Beach Company

1450-467: The Main Base, training beaches, California least tern preserve, recreational marina, enlisted family housing, and state park. State Route 75 separates NAB into surfside (ocean) and bayside sections. The majority of the bayside is composed of fill materials dredged from San Diego Bay in the early 1940s. Amphibious training is conducted on both surfside and bayside beaches. To the south of the Main Base,

1508-607: The Ship's Service auditorium, which was later replaced by the 2,100 seat Lowry Theater. Famous people stationed here or on ships home ported here during the war years included Douglas Fairbanks Jr. , Guy Madison , future television cowboy star of the 1950s and 1960s as Wild Bill Hickok , was at that time Seaman Bob Mosely, a lifeguard at the NAS crews' pool. Stars like the Marx Brothers and Bob Hope appeared regularly at USO shows at

1566-663: The South Pacific area of operations, where their successful and historical efforts were contributory to the conclusion of World War II. Training for infantry coordination with naval artillery and attack aircraft was provided at the Naval Gunfire Liaison School and Support Air Control School. The streets of the base bear the names of those famous battles which led to the Empire of Japan 's defeat: Guadalcanal , Tarawa , Tulagi , and Bougainville , to name

1624-544: The Spreckels Mansion, located at 1630 Glorietta Boulevard. The Mansion sat on five acres of land overlooking Glorietta Bay across from Hotel del Coronado . In 1906, Spreckels, 53, contracted Architect Harrison Albright to design and build the Mansion. The building, designed with the simple, classic lines of Italian Renaissance, was complete in 1908 with six bedrooms, three baths, a parlor, dining room and library at

1682-642: The U.S. was not the only country interested in aviation early in the twentieth century. Six years before the Naval Air Station was commissioned, Glenn Curtiss trained the first group of Japanese aviators at his flying school on North Island. Among them were a Lieutenant Yamada , later the head of the Imperial Japanese Navy 's Naval Aviation arm in World War II and Chikuhei Nakajima , founder of Nakajima Aircraft Company . Even

1740-742: The auditorium. NAS North Island features some of the warmest winter temperatures anywhere on the west coast of the continental United States. Under the Köppen climate classification system , it is classified as a semi-arid climate ( BSh or warm steppe). The housing on-post is in the Coronado Unified School District , and the zones for Village Elementary School, Coronado Middle School, and Coronado High School . [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from Naval Air Station North Island . United States Navy . Retrieved May 10, 2019 . Naval Amphibious Base Coronado Naval Amphibious Base Coronado ( NAB Coronado )

1798-465: The base's first commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Earl Winfield Spencer Jr. , USN, added a degree of celebrity to North Island. His wife was Wallis Warfield , a prominent socialite who was to remarry twice and finally become Wallis Warfield Spencer Simpson Windsor, better known as the Duchess of Windsor , for whom King Edward VIII abdicated his throne in 1936. During World War II, North Island

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1856-683: The base. The base also conducts research and tests of newly developed amphibious equipment. NAB Coronado is the home to over 30 tenant commands with a population of approximately 5,000 personnel, including major commands such as Commander, Naval Surface Forces Pacific (COMNAVSURFPAC), Commander Naval Special Warfare (SPECWAR) Command and the Commander Expeditionary Warfare Training Group (EWTG) Pacific. Buildings 320, 321, 322, and 323, at 32°40′36″N 117°09′30″W  /  32.67657°N 117.15827°W  / 32.67657; -117.15827 , have

1914-425: The cheaper, Depression-era Presidents’ Conference Committee (PCC) streetcars . Today, only three of the original twenty-four Class 1 streetcars remain in existence. In 1919, Spreckels completed the San Diego and Arizona Railway, a short line American railroad, dubbed "The Impossible Railroad" by many engineers of its day due to the immense logistical challenges involved. Established in 1906 to provide San Diego with

1972-425: The city of San Diego over the next 27 years. An evolution from previous streetcar models, the Class 1s were designed with artistry, state-of-the-art technology and San Diego's unique climate in mind. Under Spreckels' guise, the engineers of SDERy drafted up plans that took elements from both the "California Car" and the "Closed Car" designs and refashioned them into a new, modern transit fleet. Their plans were sent to

2030-570: The city of San Diego was his commitment to the construction of Balboa Park in preparation of the Panama–California Exposition . As the owner of the San Diego Electric Railway Company, he also developed a unique fleet of special streetcars that could handle the large crowds attending this event. Following the Exposition, the Class 1 streetcars would go on to provide a continuing public transportation service for

2088-655: The company provided the only mail service between the U.S. and Australia and New Zealand. The Oceanic ships that transported mail to Australia and New Zealand were the Alameda (3000 horsepower plant), Mariposa (3000 horsepower plant), the steamer Zealandia , the Sierra , the Sonoma and the Ventura . The Australia provided a 33-day direct mail service to Tahiti. In 1926 Oceanic became a subsidiary of Matson Navigation Company ,

2146-574: The cost of $ 35,000. At that time, Spreckels' Mansion featured a brass cage elevator, a marble staircase with leather-padded handrails, skylights, marble floors and some of the Island's most spectacular gardens. The home was built with reinforced steel and concrete, an earthquake precaution Spreckels insisted upon after living through the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Spreckels lived in the Glorietta Boulevard mansion until his death in 1926. It

2204-678: The cultural life of the city by building the Spreckels Theatre in San Diego, the first modern commercial playhouse west of the Mississippi. He gave generously to the fund to build the 1915 Panama-California Exposition and, together with his brother Adolph B. Spreckels , donated the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park to the people of San Diego just before the opening of the Exposition. Spreckels paid

2262-470: The first seaplane flight in 1911, the first mid-air refueling , and the first non-stop transcontinental flight , both in 1923. One of history's most famous aviation feats was the flight of Charles A. Lindbergh from New York to Paris in May 1927. That flight originated at Rockwell Field on North Island on May 10, 1927, when Lindbergh began the first leg of his journey. Forefathers of today's " Blue Angels ",

2320-453: The first five plates for himself and his family. Spreckels died on June 7, 1926, in Coronado , San Diego, and was buried at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park , Colma. His biographer, Austin Adams, called him "one of America's few great Empire Builders who invested millions to turn a struggling, bankrupt village into the beautiful and cosmopolitan city San Diego is today." Spreckels contributed to

2378-501: The flow of population." At its peak, the SDERy's routes would operate throughout greater San Diego over some 165 miles (266 kilometers) of track. And though the system had operated continuously for more than half a century, declining ridership (due in large part to the increasing usage of the automobile) ultimately led the company to discontinue all streetcar service in favor of bus routes in 1949. One of Spreckels' major contributions to

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2436-537: The lines from heavy rainstorms, landslides, and fires took a financial toll on the railroad, as did border closings with Mexico. In 1932, financial difficulties forced Spreckels' heirs to sell their interests in the firm for $ 2.8 million to the Southern Pacific , which renamed the railroad the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway (SD&AE). "Get your water first, for without your water you get your population under false pretenses and they quit you when

2494-553: The main residential and commercial portions of the city. Another naval facility, Naval Air Station (NAS) North Island , is located northwest of the city of Coronado. South of NAB is the Silver Strand . In June 1943, the Secretary of the Navy authorized the establishment of the Amphibious Training Base in the San Diego area to meet wartimes demands for trained landing craft crews. These crews were deployed to

2552-619: The majority of amphibious training activities takes place on about 257 acres (1.0 km ) of ocean beachfront property, leased from the State of California. A least tern nesting preserve is located on North and South Delta Beach between the NAB Marina and Main Base. NAB is located within the city of Coronado, California, a community of approximately 30,000. The city of Coronado covers nearly 9 square miles (23 km ) of land, and NAB lies south of

2610-630: The metropolitan San Diego area, brackets the city of Coronado from the entrance to San Diego Bay to the Mexican border . NAS North Island itself is host to 23 aviation squadrons and 80 additional tenant commands and activities—one of which, the Fleet Readiness Center Southwest, is San Diego's largest aerospace employer. NAS North Island also operates two other airfields in the Southern California region. One

2668-595: The ships in port, the population of the station is nearly 35,000 active duty military, selected reserve military, and civilian personnel. Department of Defense (DoD) contractors perform transportation flights from the air station to NALF San Clemente Island. Contractors also provide tactical training warfare for the DoD in joint efforts with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps . These aircraft include C-26 Metroliner , Learjet , Gulfstream , and Twin Otter aircraft. North Island

2726-515: The three-plane "Sea Hawks" from VF-6B , the "Felix the Cat" squadron, were thrilling audiences with flight demonstrations as early as 1928. They demonstrated the training skills of Navy fighter and bomber pilots and on many occasions, flew their aircraft in formation with the wings tethered together. The list of American military pilots trained at North Island reads like the Who's Who of aviation; however,

2784-614: The trackage, and electrifying the resulting unified street railway system. Over the years, the SDERy constructed new lines to connect San Diego's burgeoning downtown with the region's up-and-coming outlying communities, including Mission Beach , Pacific Beach , and Normal Heights (developments where Spreckels owned the bulk of the land). Spreckels' underlying philosophy in this regard can best be summed up as follows: "Before you can hope to get people to live anywhere ... you must first of all show them that they can get there quickly, comfortably, and above all, cheaply. Transportation determines

2842-770: The water runs dry." Spreckels organized the Southern California Mountain Water Company , which in turn built the Morena and the Upper and Lower Otay Reservoir dams, the Dulzura conduit and the necessary pipeline to the city. The company was acquired by the City of San Diego. Speckels was noted as one of the West Coast's "most prominent and enthusiastic automobilists." When California began requiring license plates in 1905, Spreckels acquired

2900-785: The wood brigantine John D. Spreckels (1880), the iron ship Mariposa (1883), the two mast schooner Rosario (1879), the wood brigantine Salina , the passenger ship Sierra (1900) , the passenger liner Sonoma (1900), the Suez (1876), the Ventura (1900), the wood brigantine W.H. Dimond (1881), the wood brigantine William G. Irwin (1881), and the Zealandia (1875). In October 1877, John Diedrich Spreckels married Lillie Siebein (1855–1924) in Hoboken, New Jersey , and together they had four children: Grace (1878–1937), Lillie (1880–1965), John (1882–1921), and Claus (1888–1935). They first lived in

2958-441: The zones for Village Elementary School, Coronado Middle School, and Coronado High School . John D. Spreckels John Diedrich Spreckels (August 16, 1853 – June 7, 1926), the son of German-American industrialist Claus Spreckels , founded a transportation and real estate empire in San Diego, California , in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The entrepreneur 's many business ventures included Hotel del Coronado and

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3016-429: Was $ 6 million. Construction delays, attacks by Mexican revolutionaries, and government intervention during World War I all served to push the construction completion to November 15, 1919, when the "golden spike" was finally driven by none other than Spreckels himself. Completing the SD&A was a monumental task that seriously affected Spreckels' health, almost costing him his life. In subsequent years, damage to

3074-406: Was commissioned a Naval Air Station in 1917, called Naval Air Station San Diego until 1955. On August 15, 1963, the station was granted official recognition as the "Birthplace of Naval Aviation" by resolution of the House Armed Services Committee . The U.S. Navy's first aviator, Lieutenant Theodore Ellyson , and many of his colleagues were trained at North Island starting as early as 1911. This

3132-415: Was just eight years after Orville and Wilbur Wright flew the first manned aircraft at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina . At that time, North Island was an uninhabited sand flat. It had been used in the late 19th century for horseback riding and hunting by guests of J. D. Spreckels 's resort hotel, the Hotel del Coronado . North Island derived its name from the original geography. In the nineteenth century it

3190-611: Was known as Ream Field in the 1950s and 1960s. NAS North Island resembles a small city in its facility content and its operations. It has its own police and fire departments, as well as advanced military security stations. It has large factory-type buildings which comprise the Naval Aviation Depot, employing 3,300 civilians, and its own commissary, Navy Exchange , and housing units. Recreation facilities include officer, chief petty officer and enlisted clubs, movie theater, golf course, tennis courts, bowling alley, parks and beaches. Its airfield has over 230 stationed aircraft, and its quay wall

3248-405: Was referred to as North Coronado Island, because it was separated from South Coronado (now the city of Coronado) by a shallow bay known as the Spanish Bight, which was later filled in 1945 during World War II . In 1886, North Coronado Island and South Coronado were purchased by a developer to become a residential resort. South Coronado, which is not an island but the terminus of a peninsula known as

3306-477: Was responsible for numerous other investments in the Coronado, California , area. Before investing in the Coronado Beach Company, Spreckels waited for his close friend—Captain Charles T. Hinde —to join him. They jointly invested and managed new businesses. For a time, Spreckels was owner of the San Francisco Call , then a morning newspaper. While still living in San Francisco, he continued investing in San Diego newspapers, buying The San Diego Union in 1890 and

3364-408: Was the major continental U.S. base supporting the operating forces in the Pacific . Those forces included over a dozen aircraft carriers , the Coast Guard , Army , Marines , and Seabees . The city of Coronado became home to most of the aircraft factory workers and dependents of the mammoth base which was operating around the clock. Major USO entertainment shows and bond drives were held weekly at

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