Existing comment:
Golden Gate
National Recreation Area
Nike site SF-88 1955-1974
The only restored Nike missile site in the country.
The Cold War:
Following World War II, a period of great political and military tension developed between the Soviet Union and the United States. This era, dubbed the "Cold War," was based on ideological differences between Communism and Democracy. During this time, more than 300 Nike antiaircraft missile batteries protected American cities and military targets against anticipated Soviet bomber attack.
SF-88 is typical of those Cold War defensive sites. Its mission was to prevent aircraft from attacking the San Francisco Bay Area and nearby Travis Air Force Base. Twelve Nike sites once surrounded the bay.
Nike Missile Defenses:
The Nikes were "guided" missiles, directed by radar beams to their targets up to ninety miles away. Here at a launcher area, up to twenty Nike Ajax, and later, twelve Nike Hercules missiles were stored in underground magazines. A crew of 135 Air Defense Artillerymen kept them read to launch. Across the valley to the north, at the Site's fire control center, radars and computers detected and tracked incoming aircraft.
By the late 1960s, changing political climates and new military technologies made Nike sites obsolete. In 1972, in an effort to ease tensions, the Soviets and the United States joined in the first Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I). As a result of these talks, both countries agreed to eliminate this type of missile battery. The Army closed the Nike Site SF-88 in March, 1974, and transferred it to the National Park Service.
"It Was Awfully Tense":
"You were on call 24-hours-a-day so your life was not your own. When your site was the 'hot' battery, you had to be in the pits, and have the missiles up in fifteen minutes. We actually had to sleep in the pits so we didn't waste extra time running down from the ready rooms.
"We were young kids. I was 24 or 25, most of the others were about 18 or 19 -- young kids, half of them away from home for the first time, not totally knowing what was going on. We felt we could have been at war at any time. It was very scary, awfully tense."
-- Ron Parshell, Private First Class, Launcher Crewman, Nike Site SF-88 during Cuban missile crisis, 1961 |