Existing comment:
In 1939, a construction program commenced which increased the capacity of the station by a factor of 400% within three years. This expansion was part of a major harbor improvement program that deepened the channel and anchorages in San Diego Bay (carried out by the PWA and WPA, and almost exclusively for the benefit of the Navy). The project added 130 acres of filled land to the eastern boundaries of the station.
Camp Luce was completed by 1941, and the construction of Camps Mahan, Decatur, and Farragut was already well under way when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Most construction work completed by September, 1942, when the capacity of the station had reached its wartime peak of 33,000 men, 25,000 of whom were recruits. The period of recruit training during World War II varied between three weeks and seven weeks. |