Existing comment:
Thus the Navy acquired 73.6 acres located at Chollas Heights, east of downtown San Diego, in July 1914. By 1916, the Navy completed the world's most advanced high-powered radio transmitting station on the new site, keyed remotely from Point Loma. The navy constructed towers that reached 625 feet in height, giving communication capability from Pearl Harbor to the Naval headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. Further expansion of Navy Radio San Diego occurred in the 1920s, with the original site on Point Loma being converted to a receiver site, while the headquarters and messages center functions were moved to their present location in the Naval Base Headquarters located in downtown San Diego.
During World War II, Navy Radio San Diego played a vital role in wartime communications. Of particular historical note is the fact that the radio station, through the Chollas Heights towers, was the first to transmit the attack on Pearl Harbor to Washington; Hawaii's main transmitters could have reached Washington directly, but they went off the air temporarily during the attack.
The radio station continued to grow in size and capability when in 1941 the Navy acquired an additional 145 acres of land at Imperial Beach, adjacent to Fort Emory, an Army Coast Artillery Station. In 1943, the Navy completed construction of the new receiver at the site and transferred that function from the original site on Point Loma. As a result, the Navy gained control at Fort Emory, utilizing it for offices, maintenance, and storage space for Navy Radio San Diego. In 1947, the Secretary of the Navy established Naval Communication Station, Eleventh Naval District, as a separate function under the commanding office. In 1953, Naval Communication Station San Diego was established as a separate command. |