The Moffett Field Historical Society Museum is Packed with Navy History

“This is quite the hidden gem.

Yelp

Hangar One and the Moffett Museum

If the South Bay has an iconic structure, one that is imposing and unique like the Eiffel Tower, and one that has been around almost as long, it is Hangar One at Moffett Field.

Hangar One is a can’t miss sight just to the east of the Bayshore Freeway as it passes Mountain View.

The dirigible hangar is one of the world’s biggest freestanding structures. At 1,133 feet, it is as long as the largest cruise ships afloat, and its floor area is a whopping eight acres.

Across the street from Hangar One, a one story khaki building houses the Moffett Field Historical Society Museum. Because its entrance is narrow, one may think the museum is small. /www.moffettfieldmuseum.org/

It is not.

The Museum is packed with informative exhibits, equipment, period uniforms and navy memorabilia that fill all three sections of the building. Even the display cases are packed.

Describing the materials on display is difficult because of the number of artifacts and their endless variety. On a return visit one will see much they missed the first time.

For example, during my second visit I saw swarms of model aircraft hanging from the ceiling that I hadn’t noticed the time before. I also saw ordance, ammunition of many sizes and types, and the sign belonging to the Eagles and Anchors Club.

This is not to say that the Museum is the equivalent of a crammed garage. Its large collection has visual breathing space and its many artifacts are meticously identified and grouped.

The many mounted museum boards explain the function and history of individual objects and photographs provide additional insight.

Moffett’s Early Years

The Musem exhibts are arranged chronically. They start at the Musuem’s entrance with the founding of Moffett Field in 1933. The collection continues on through World War II, the Cold War, and the long period of maritime surveillance by P-3 Orions.

Why build a dirigible like the Macon that is 750 feet long? The Macon was able to carry five scout airplanes, Together they greatly expanded the area of the Pacific that could be searched for submarines.

By replacing the landing gear of each plane with an extra fuel tank, their range over the water was increased. In addtion, the planes could return to the Macon for refueling and then return to searching.

Dirigibles proved to be impractical, especially in bad weather. In 1935 the Macon disassembled in a bad storm off Big Sur and sunk outside of Monterey Bay. The enire crew was rescued except for two men.

Worse was the destruction of the Macon’s sister ship, USS Akron, in a storm off the New Jersey coast. 72 crewmen died. Among the dead was Rear Admiral William A Moffett, who is credited with founding Moffett Field and for whom the base is named.

Although dirigibles failed, smaller blimps were successfully used for ocean surveillance throughout World War II.

During the Korean War and throughout the fifties, Moffett became a fighter base for the only time in its history. It hosted F9F-Panther and FJ-3 Fury jets.

By 1961 the fighters were gone. Moffett returned to its traditional functions of patrolling for submarines and training Navy personnel.

Lockheed P-3 Orion

The P-3 is a modified version of the Lockheed Electra passenger plane. It went into service in 1962 and remained active as a patrol plane until Moffett closed as a Naval Air Station in 1994.

During its 32 years of service, Moffett hosted seven squadrons of P-3s with nine planes in each.

No wonder P-3s were a common sight over Mountain View. I remember them taking off to the north and then banking westward towards the Pacific.

To detect the locations of missile-bearing Soviet submarines, P-3s dropped sonobuoys equipped with sonar. Sonobuoys had a microphone, antenna and transmitter for obtaining and providing data to Moffett planes.

Although the occasion to use them never came up, P-3s carried a full complement of weapons on their flights Their armaments included bombs, cruise missiles, depth charges, torpedos, and air-to-surface rockets.

Train Room

Some servicemen at Moffett liked to bowl when they were off duty. Some went to bars. During the 1980s, a few worked on a large model train layout that fills a room in the Museum behind the entrance.

Museum visitors can bring their children to see the work of the Moffett hobbyists and watch freight trains travel a scenic multi-level route that takes 10 minutes to complete. It runs between Sunnyvale and Fresno.

The layout is a feat in analog engineering with 10,000 feet of electrical wiring and four separate levels of tracks.

Because the train room is only open to the public one day per week, those wishing to see the Train Room should contact the Museum in advance to confirm its accessibility.