WW2 Permanent Construction- Part II

Aircraft production and assembly installations represent the tremendous expansion of the American aircraft industry. This expansion ranks as one of the more important industrial achievements during World War II. In 1939, the private aviation industry, under contract to the Army Air Corps, began production of the first American aircraft capable of exceeding 400 miles per hour. Fewer than 100 B-17 heavy bombers were flying. Within five years, the American aviation industry produced sufficient numbers of aircraft to fight a two-ocean, multi-front war and to assist Allied countries.

Criterion A: Aircraft production and assembly emerged as a critical industry during World War II since aviation was an integral part of U.S. military establishment. During the mobilization phase and early years of the war, the military invested in permanent construction at aviation production and assembly facilities to meet the needs of the expanding air forces.

Criterion C: Aircraft production and assembly installations generally will contain massive assembly line buildings that allowed aircraft assembly to occur indoors. Some properties at aircraft and production assembly plants may display the distinctive features of Art Deco or Art Moderne designs or represent innovative construction techniques that spanned wide interior spaces. By the end of the war, these kinds of buildings increasingly were constructed using temporary construction techniques to save critical building materials.

Aircraft assembly plants must possess a direct association with the production of aircraft used during World War II. Plants built during the mobilization phase and first year of war provided the bulk of the wartime aircraft and the expertise that was used throughout the war. To possess sufficient integrity to convey their significance, aircraft assembly plants must retain the factory buildings where the aircraft were assembled and, ideally, support facilities that were part of the assembly process. The assembly building(s) must retain the materials, design, and feeling from the World War II period. The character-defining broad expanses of industrial windows, high roofs, and wide spans of uninterrupted interior space should be intact. In cases where the entire production line was housed in one building, that individual building may be sufficient to represent its type.

No World War II aircraft assembly plants currently are listed in the National Register. Few World War II-era aircraft assembly plants remain under DoD ownership. The Martin Bomber Plant located at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, has been converted into office space.

Airfields and Air Stations

Army airfields and Navy and Marine Corps air stations are command construction installation types important within the World War II permanent construction historic context. From fewer than 50 airfields and stations in 1939, the air arms of the Army and Navy expanded to comprise numerous fields, municipal airports, and air bases. The Army Air Force had 783 operational facilities including 345 main bases, 116 sub-bases, and 322 auxiliary fields. The Navy had 45 naval air stations, 12 naval aviation reserve bases, 20 fields, and numerous auxiliary fields.

Criterion A: Aviation emerged as an integral part of U.S. military establishment during the inter-war period and was an essential part of the military during World War II. During the mobilization phase and early years of the war, the military invested in permanent construction at aviation installations to meet the needs of the expanding air forces. The aviation installations had various missions, such as training, repair, testing, or coastal defense, that contributed to the war effort.

Criterion C: Some properties on aviation installations display the distinctive features of Art Deco or Art Moderne designs, of standardized military designs, or of hangar design. Other hangars are examples of standardized military design. Hangars also may exemplify innovative construction methods to span wide areas, while conserving critical construction materials.

An Airfield must have a direct, important association with World War II aviation. The installation must be associated with a specific program or mission or with a specific event that made an important contribution to the war effort. One factor to consider in the evaluation process is the role of the airfield or station. A main airfield that served a primary military mission throughout the war probably will have a stronger association with World War II, therefore, greater significance, than an auxiliary or reserve airfield that was used for only a short period during the war. Airfields can be associated with aviation training or with the development of aviation technology. The essential components of an airfield that were associated with the aviation mission must retain their integrity from the World War II period of significance. Important property types directly associated with mission at aviation installations include hangars, operations buildings, control towers, runways, training buildings, aviation shop buildings, and administration buildings. Residential and personnel support properties are supporting buildings that may contribute to a district, particularly if they retain the distinctive features of a style or type of construction from the World War II period, but are not likely to be individually eligible.

To possess sufficient integrity to qualify as a district, the World War II layout of the airfield or aviation station should be recognizable and the primary buildings and structures associated with the World War II-era mission, e.g., hangars, operations building, etc., should be present and retain integrity. To qualify for National Register listing as a building or structure, a property must (1) retain a high degree of integrity and (2) possess a specific, important association with World War II aviation or represent a significant example of a type of construction.

The following properties associated with World War II airfields are listed in the National Register of Historic Places as of 1993: Ladd Field, Alaska; Cape Field, Alaska; Airship Hangars, MCAS Santa Ana, California; Wheeler Field, Hawaii; Hickam Field, Hawaii; Kaneohe Naval Air Station, Hawaii; Dirigible Hangars, NAS Tillamook, Oregon; Wendover AFB, Utah; March Field, California; and Williams AFB, Arizona. The airfields in Alaska and Hawaii are associated with the defense of military targets in the Pacific theater. The hangars at Santa Ana and Tillamook are listed for their association with the Navy's lighter-than-air aviation program and for their ability to exemplify the architectural and engineering features of the large-span hangars necessary for airships. Wendover is listed for a specific association with an historic event: it was the training site for the 509^th Group prior to their mission over Japan to drop the atomic bombs in 1945. March Field is listed for its architectural design and construction and for its association with the development of the Air Corps on the West Coast; the majority of the construction dates from the late 1930s and does not represent wartime mobilization construction. Williams AFB was the location of flying training schools during World War II; its building stock represents temporary construction and utilities infrastructure. Since 1993, Randolph AFB, Texas; Scott Field, Illinois; NAS Chase Fields, Texas; and, NAAS Arlington, Washington, have been included in the National Register of Historic Places. Both Randolph and Scott Air Force Bases were constructed during the 1930s and expanded during World War II. The installations are architecturally significant, as well as important for their role in the development of the Army Air Force.

Ammunition Depots

Ammunition depots are an important type of industrial construction installation within the World War II permanent construction historic context. They illustrate the logistical supply system organized to distribute a materiel necessary to winning the war.

Criterion A: World War II was a war of resources that required the marshalling of men and supplies on multiple fronts. Logistical support on the home front contributed to Allied victories. One of the most critical supplies was ordnance. The enormous amount of ordnance produced for the war required storage prior to overseas shipment. To meet this need, the military developed an extensive system of ammunition depots. One factor to consider in the evaluation of this installation type is the date of construction of the depot. Depots constructed during the Protective Mobilization Phase and at the start of the war played a greater role in the logistical support of the armed forces during the critical early months of the war than later depots. Innovations in architectural design and construction often occurred early in the war; later designs integrated these earlier innovations and were adapted to shortages in building materials. Some depots also executed other missions that contributed to the logistical support of the armed forces. Army ordnance depots sometimes included repair facilities and facilities for the storage of inert materiel. Selected Navy ammunition depots included ordnance assembly lines; these installations should be evaluated within the context of industrial production facilities, in addition to the ammunition depot context.

Criterion C: World War II ammunition depots may represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction. The volatile nature of ordnance required the construction of isolated installations with special safety features incorporated into the layout and design of the facilities. The typical ammunition depot was organized into discrete areas by function, such as administration, storage, and repair. During World War II, ordnance storage structures were dispersed widely over large tracts of land to safeguard against the spread of explosions. Rail lines and roads provided the means to move the materiel within and as well as to and from the depots. The military developed specific designs for explosive magazines to contain explosions.

Ammunition depots must have direct, important associations with World War II. Installations that were built specifically for ordnance storage during World War II and that display their distinctive characteristics are associated directly with an important part of the overall war effort. Depots constructed during the first wave of war mobilization generally made more significant contributions to the war effort than those constructed towards the end of the war. In general, depots should be evaluated as districts, since individual ammunition bunkers generally lack individual distinction or associative history. Depots also must retain integrity of layout and design to convey the particular features of World War II ammunition depots. While depot installations strongly represent the logistical support system of World War II, individual or small clusters of ammunition magazines at other types of World War II installations, such as airfields, naval bases, training installations, and coastal defenses, do not represent the logistical support system developed for World War II, but represent minor support structures for the individual installation. Residential and personnel support buildings constructed at ammunition depots may be contributing resources in an historic district if they retain integrity from the World War II era, but these are secondary facilities that supported the primary mission of the installation, and by themselves do not represent a significant historic context.

No World War II ammunition depots currently are included in the National Register.

Chemical Warfare Service Facilities

Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) installations can be an important type of industrial construction installation within the World War II permanent construction historic context.

Criterion A: Although the chemical munitions produced at CWS installations were not used in combat during World War II, the availability of these munitions exerted an influence upon the war. In 1945, the Allies discovered vast quantities of chemical munitions in the Axis nations. The work of the CWS is credited with providing a credible deterrent to the Axis use of toxic agents.

Criterion C: The functional design and rapid construction of CWS facilities embodies the distinctive characteristics of the type and method of construction representative of World War II mobilization permanent construction.

CWS facilities must have direct, important associations with World War II. To possess sufficient integrity to represent CWS World War II activities, a chemical plant, arsenal, or proving ground must retain the structures associated with the major functions related to the production and testing of chemical weapons and protective gear. Chemical weapons production facilities were characterized by groups of production buildings organized by phases of production. The structures must retain integrity of design, materials, and location. Due to the toxic nature of the materials produced and tested at CWS facilities, many buildings may have been substantially modified during hazardous materials clean-up efforts. Changing technology also has caused the removal and replacement of original machinery, which may reduce the integrity of older CWS facilities. Where constructed, residential and personnel support facilities may be contributing resources in an historic district if they retain integrity from the World War II era, but they are secondary to the facilities that supported the primary mission of the installation, and by themselves do not represent a significant historic context.

No World War II CWS facilities currently are included in the National Register.

Coastal Defense

Properties built as part of U.S. coastal defenses are in some circumstances significant command construction facilities within the World War II permanent construction historic context. As the war progressed, these facilities declined in importance as the strategic importance of aircraft and aircraft carriers increased.

Criterion A: The military built defenses along the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts to protect the U.S. shores from amphibious or submarine attack. The development of aircraft and carrier-base aircraft soon made fixed coastal fortifications obsolete. Due to these advances in military weaponry and strategies, coastal fortifications were a only minor part of the military domestic construction effort during World War II. Coastal fortifications may be considered within a local context for their significance in local war efforts. Coastal fortifications in Hawaii and Alaska are discussed under "Combat Operations."

Criterion C: A coastal defense installation may embody the distinctive characteristics of World War II permanent construction if it incorporates overhead cover in its design following the prototype established in 1937. Coastal defenses generally did not represent new advances in armament and generally do not represent important engineering efforts.

To meet the National Register Criteria within the historic context developed in this report, a coastal fortification must have specific and direct associations with World War II. In most cases, coastal defenses in the continental United States do not represent a major element of U.S. military strategy and construction during World War II. World War II-era coastal batteries that are part of a complex of fortifications from various eras of coastal defense construction may be contributing elements in an historic district that represents the evolution of coastal fortification technology and strategy over time, including World War II. Batteries that are not associated with a specific wartime event or that are not part of a complex that represents a range of coastal fortifications technology probably do not meet the National Register criteria. For those coastal fortifications that are significant, they must possess sufficient integrity to represent the fortification technology of the World War II era. Concrete batteries and emplacements must be intact.

The coastal defenses with World War II construction listed in the National Register are: Fort Miley, California; Forts Baker, Barry, and Cronkhite, California; and Perdido Key, Florida. These properties encompass examples of fortifications and batteries that illustrate the evolution of coastal fortifications over U.S. history. They represent the development of different phases of seacoast fortifications, from the pre-Civil War Third System to the Endicott System of the late-nineteenth century to World War II fortifications.

Combat Operations

Properties directly related to combat in the U.S. or its territories are important within the context of World War II construction. Only Alaska and Hawaii experienced direct combat during World War II.

Criterion A: In response to potential threats from Japan, the military built forts, airfields, and naval bases in Hawaii and Alaska to serve the forces in the Pacific theater of operations. The military also built coastal defenses at strategic locations to defend harbors and protect important military facilities in Hawaii and Alaska. Hawaii was a key military outpost during the war and served as the headquarters for the Pacific Fleet. Military construction in Alaska is associated with the Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands, a strategic location near both the United States and Japan. Alaska was the only site of World War II ground combat within the present-day United States.

Facilities built in support of combat operations must have a direct, important association with World War II. Important associations include: the defense of the Aleutian Islands; support of the Pacific theater of operations; and defense of key military locations in Hawaii. These facilities must retain the essential components that served the World War II mission of the installation. For coastal defenses, these can include fortifications, bunkers, gun emplacements, command posts, and communications facilities. Other sites associated with combat operations and support may be examples of other types of installations such as airfields or naval bases. The individual components of the property must have the character-defining features that characterized the property during World War II. Since these properties are significant for their historical associations, integrity of design is not as critical as for properties significant for their design or construction; however, the properties must have sufficient integrity to convey their period of significance.

Several properties in Alaska associated with the Aleutian Islands campaign are listed in the National Register: Sitka Naval Operating Base and U.S. Army Coastal Defense; Kodiak Naval Operating Base and Forts Greeley and Abercrombie; Ladd Field; Japanese Occupation Site, Kiska Island; Cape Field at Fort Glenn, Umnak Island; Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base of Fort Mears; Attu Battlefield and U.S. Army and Navy Airfields; and, Adak Army Base and Adak Naval Operating Base. Some of these properties are sites that are significant as the locations of combat and Japanese occupation while others are historic districts with intact buildings and structures.

Large historic districts directly associated with the support of Pacific theater operations are located in Hawaii: Hickam Field; Wheeler Field; Pearl Harbor Naval Base; Headquarters, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet; Palm Circle, 100 Area at Fort Shafter; and, Kaneohe Naval Air Station. Some of these districts are significant for events and construction that pre-date the Second World War. The World War II construction includes administration buildings, hangars, maintenance and repair shops, housing, and personnel support.

Depots (non-ordnance) and Ports of Embarkation

Depots (non-ordnance) and ports of embarkation are an important type of command construction installation within the World War II historic context. These installations represented a logistical support system that organized the availability and delivery of materiel necessary to win World War II.

Criterion A: The scope of depot operations during World War II exceeded the military's previous experience. The military developed extensive depot systems to store, maintain, repair, and transport materiel to support forces within the United States and overseas. Extensive systems of depots were established to hold military materiel for long-term storage, to provide supplies to stateside forces, to maintain and repair military vehicles and aircraft, and to coordinate the shipment of supplies overseas. In the war of resources, the extensive network of depots provided the infrastructure to ensure that the fighting forces received critical materiel.

Ports of embarkation served as the point of departure for massive quantities of supplies and numbers of troops; they also served as receiving points for returning forces and for prisoners of war. These facilities were key components in the U.S. logistical support system, linking the homefront supplies and troops to the overseas theaters of war.

Criterion C: Non-ordnance depots and ports of embarkation may represent the distinctive characteristics of World War II mobilization construction. These installations may contain representative examples of military design for warehouses, transit sheds, and maintenance and repair buildings.

Supply depots must possess direct, important associations with the logistical support of World War II operations, and retain sufficient integrity to convey their significance. Most World War II supply depots were built using temporary construction, and therefore should be evaluated as examples of World War II temporary construction. Many World War II warehouse districts have been modified substantially and the buildings have been reclassified as semi-permanent or permanent construction. In these cases, the buildings probably lack the qualities of integrity necessary to qualify for listing in the National Register. Individual warehouse buildings do not have a direct or important association with the logistical war effort; entire depot complexes better represent the logistical element of the World War II.

In addition, the organizational structure of the depot system should be considered in the evaluation process. Main depots may better represent the importance of a particular depot in the overall system, rather than sub-installations or annexes. Residential and personnel support buildings may be contributing resources in an historic district if they retain integrity from the World War II era, but they are secondary resources to the facilities that supported the primary mission of the installation, and by themselves do not represent a significant historic context.

Ports of embarkation must have been served as major points of shipment and transport during the war to be eligible for the National Register. Minor ports that shipped relatively small amounts of supplies may not have a sufficiently important association with the context of World War II to qualify under Criterion A. The relationship of the buildings to the transportation networks of rail lines and piers must be intact for the property to possess sufficient integrity to represent its period of significance.

The Sacramento Air Depot at McClellan AFB, California, was completed just before U.S. involvement in World War II and, during the war, served as an important depot for the Army Air Force. Its activities included storage, maintenance, and repairs. It is listed for its permanent architecture, which is representative of inter-war military installations design and construction, and for its associations with military depot activity. The U.S. Marine Corps Quartermaster in Philadelphia also is listed in the National Register. It is significant for its association with supplying Marine Corps expeditions from World War I through the 1960s. During World War II, more than 6,000 employees worked around the clock processing supplies.

The San Francisco Port of Embarkation is listed in the National Register for its critical role in supplying men and materiel to the Pacific front. In total numbers of personnel and supplies, it ranked second only to the New York port. During the months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the San Francisco port shipped more supplies than all other ports combined and had administrative authority over the other West Coast ports during periods of the war. The headquarters building and the port area, which consists of railroad tracks, storehouses, piers, and support buildings, are included in the historic district.

Industrial Construction Production Facilities

Industrial construction production facilities are an important class of permanent construction within the World War II context, and account for a large proportion of the overall wartime construction budget. The products manufactured at these industrial installations were critical to winning the war. Industrial facilities include: ordnance works, which produced military explosives and propellants; ordnance plants (Army) and ammunition depots (Navy), which assembled and loaded ammunition; arsenals, artillery and associated components production facilities; and, tank plants (Tables 3 and 3a) which produced weaponry.

Criterion A: The rapid development of an armaments and ammunition industry, "the arsenal of democracy," constituted a remarkable achievement. At the beginning of 1940, U.S. military armaments and ammunition production virtually was nonexistent. Within a few years, the United States created one of the most powerful armaments industries in the world. The industry was essential to produce the ammunition and weaponry required by the U.S. tactic of massed artillery fire and aerial bombing of enemy positions prior to sending in land forces. Though no one armament and ammunition facility made the difference in the war, these facilities, in their totality, were essential to the Allied victory.

Wartime mobilization deeply affected American lives and caused great changes in the labor force and in communities across the nation. The construction of huge munitions plants transformed rural communities into boom towns, with the accompanying dislocation of agriculture and housing shortages. Severe labor shortages prompted the entry of women and minorities into the industrial work force in unprecedented numbers. Wartime shortages, including consumer goods and transportation, altered the lives of the civilian population. The government-owned factories are emblematic of these massive economic shifts. In addition to reflecting broad trends in the effects of industrial mobilization on the economy and labor force, each government-owned factory has a particular history that is tied to the local community. These properties also should be evaluated for local significance within the context of the effects of industrial mobilization on the home front.

Criterion C: The functional design and rapid construction of industrial facilities embody the distinctive characteristics of World War II permanent construction and also may illustrate American industrial design. The design and construction of these facilities was dictated by the assembly-line nature of the production; the need for speedy construction; and, the scarcity of construction materials. For ammunition production, the volatile nature of explosives production was also a factor in installation design. The balance struck between these constraints determined the design and construction of World War II industrial facilities.

Registration Requirements

Industrial production facilities must possess a direct association with the production of armaments and ammunition during World War II. Plants built during the first waves of construction (1940 - 1941) represent the prototypical design for defense plants upon which later waves of construction were based. These "first wave" plants often better represent the mobilization effort necessary to prepare the nation for war and the distinctive design of defense industrial plants.

To possess sufficient integrity to convey their significance, World War II industrial facilities must retain the primary structures representative of the major functions related to the operation of the industrial process. These functional areas of a typical industrial facility are production lines, storage, administration, testing, and residential areas. Within these areas, the key structures that convey the mission of the facility, particularly the production line buildings and structures, must be intact. Production lines for the most volatile materials, such as high explosives, are characterized by separate buildings for different steps of the production process. The individual component buildings of the assembly line must be present to convey the industrial process. Most facilities still convey their significance without the World War II-era machinery if all buildings and structures and their spatial relationships are intact; however, facilities with intact machinery retain the highest degree of integrity and should be given preference in registration. Where constructed, residential and personnel support buildings may be contributing resources in an historic district if they retain integrity from the World War II era, but they are secondary to the facilities that supported the primary mission of the installation, and by themselves do not represent a significant historic context.

Examples

The Springfield Armory is the only military industrial facility listed in the National Register that includes World War II in its period of significance. The Springfield Armory was the site of important ordnance manufacturing and storage facilities from the American Revolutionary War until the early twentieth century. In its later years, it served as a research and development center and pilot manufactory for small arms. Though the Frankford Arsenal is listed in the National Register for its military significance prior to 1935, it also served as a significant research and development site during the early years of World War II mobilization.

World War II industrial facilities have been determined eligible for listing in the National Register, although not formally listed. A January 1993 Programmatic Agreement (PA) among the U.S. Army Materiel Command, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and multiple State Historic Preservation Officers concerning a program to dispose of several installations under the Armament, Munitions and Chemical Command (AMCCOM) stated that the installations include properties eligible for inclusion in the National Register (Appendix III). The installations covered by the PA are Badger AAP; Joliet AAP; Indiana AAP; Kansas AAP; Radford AAP; Ravenna AAP; and Twin Cities AAP. All were built specifically for the World War II mobilization.

Medical Facilities

World War II medical facilities can be significant properties under the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. These facilities also can be contributing properties to installations with missions other than health care. Hospitals were designed to support military personnel from induction through recuperation. A large number of hospitals were constructed to meet the needs of military personnel.

Criterion A: To be eligible under Criterion A, hospitals must have a specific, important association with events important within the World War II context or within the context of military medicine. Hospitals that were the site of particular medical advances or played important roles in providing medical care to military personnel may be eligible. The hundreds of World War II military hospitals are not all significant simply because they housed wounded servicemen during and after the war.

Some military hospitals also may be significant for their association with the development of military medicine over a long period of time, including but not limited to World War II.

Criterion C: Hospitals are an important building type. The design of hospitals reflects the changing understanding of infectious diseases, advances in sanitation practices, and developments in building and medical technology. Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century hospitals were built according to a dispersed pavilion plan, with widely spaced individual wards. During the 1930s, the preferred hospital design changed to consolidated, multi-storied towers, reflecting a better understanding of epidemiology and also decreasing the distances between wards. Military general hospitals constructed immediately before the war were built according to the multi-story, consolidated model, while hospitals built during the war followed the older, dispersed pavilion plan, which could be constructed more quickly at a lower cost.

To be eligible under Criterion A, a hospital property must be associated in an important way with a specific historic events or series of events, such as the development of an important treatment or other medical advance. To be eligible under Criterion C, a hospital must embody the distinctive characteristics of its type and possess sufficient integrity to represent those characteristics. In general, a hospital complex should be evaluated as a district, unless a specific medical event occurred in a particular building. The distinctive characteristics of World War II pavilion-plan hospitals are: a one- to three-story main building surrounded by dispersed wards, laboratories, and clinics; brick, stucco, or wood-frame construction; and simple detailing, sometimes reflecting regional styles such as Colonial Revival or Spanish Mission. One important factor in evaluating the integrity of the complex is the spatial relationships among the buildings. Subsequent construction or additions that obscure the original plan may compromise the integrity of the overall complex. For the consolidated, multi-story tower hospital type, the distinctive features are the design and composition of the hospital and architectural detailing. The majority of the design, materials, and workmanship must be intact for a World War II hospital to be representative of its type.

The Bethesda Naval Hospital Tower, in Maryland, is listed on the National Register for its significance in the areas of medicine, architecture, education, military, and science. Construction was begun in 1939 and completed in 1942. The hospital is significant for its design, which consists of a twenty-story central tower above a base of interconnected three- and four-story pavilions. Noted architect Paul Cret designed this example of the streamlined Moderne style. The property also is significant for its role in medical research and in training Navy doctors.

Navy Bases and Stations

Naval bases and stations can be an important type of command construction installation within the World War II historic context. Operating bases were developed during the twentieth century to relieve the Navy Yards from administrative, personnel, and training functions. The functions of these bases became increasingly important during World War II.

Criterion A: Large naval operating bases are significant for the direct support that they provided to naval operations during World War II. Naval operating bases can encompass a wide variety of facilities: Marine barracks, training stations, air stations, minor repair facilities, radio stations, supply depots, and other subordinate shore activities. Naval operating bases may include fleet or district headquarters buildings where key military leaders made important strategic decisions.

Smaller bases may be significant if their primary mission, such as support of submarines, was significant. Minor section bases do not possess national significance, although they may possess local significance. In the cases of advance bases in Alaska, the properties may be significant as the site of an important event related to the war, such as the Aleutian campaign.

Criterion C: In general, Navy bases required fewer permanent facilities than Navy yards. Personnel support, storage, and residential buildings typically were built using temporary construction. However, during the protective mobilization phase, in some instances these facilities were constructed using permanent designs, particularly if post-war use was anticipated. The significance of these buildings' design and construction should be evaluated within the framework of 1940 design. Some may possess architectural merit, while others will exhibit utilitarian designs that are not important examples of a type, period, or method of construction.

Naval bases must have a direct, important association with World War II to be eligible for the National Register. Examples of important, direct associations include bases that were the site of headquarters or served as the principal base supporting a particular operation or specific type of vessel important in the war effort. Other than headquarters buildings or a building associated with a specific event, individual properties at naval bases usually do not possess sufficient importance to merit individual listing; the base as a district probably will possess more importance. To possess sufficient integrity to convey its significance, a naval base should retain the key buildings and structures related to its primary areas, such as training, aviation, logistics, or headquarters.

The five naval bases previously listed in the National Register with World War II associations are located in Alaska or Hawaii and are important for their roles in the war in the Pacific and in combat operations. Each also is designated as a National Historic Landmark. These four bases in Alaska are examples of advance bases, and included a variety of facilities, including seaplane stations, land-plane fields, submarine bases, and minor repair facilities. Kodiak Naval Operating Base, Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base, and Adak Naval Operating Base, are categorized as sites significant under Criterion A, indicating that they are important for events that occurred at the site, not for the architectural design characteristics of the buildings or structures. Sitka Naval Operating Base is categorized as a district; it retains several facilities from the World War II period. It is significant as one of the few installations prepared to protect the North Pacific during the first months after the United States entered the war. U.S. Naval Base Pearl Harbor is significant under both Criteria A and C.

Navy Yards

Navy yards are an important type of command construction installation within the World War II context. Navy yards have performed essential work to support the fleet since the Navy began operating its first shipyard in the late eighteenth century. The Navy constructed its own ships, repaired ships, and provided logistical and administrative support to the fleet from its yards. Most navy yards were established before World War II; therefore, World War II construction of these yards illustrates the expansion and continued significance of the yard.

Criterion A: At the start of the protective mobilization phase of the war in 1940, Congress authorized the establishment of a two-ocean Navy and increased the existing force by 70 percent. Shipyards received the highest priority for construction during the fleet build-up. The U.S. Navy yards were vital to the support of the fleet during World War II and enabled the United States to wage and win a two-ocean war.

Criterion C: During the protective mobilization phase and first year of the war, shipyards received permanent construction due to the industrial nature of the work and the expectation that the facilities would be used after the war. Shipyard facilities may embody the distinctive characteristics of World War II industrial construction: masonry with metal frame construction; large banks of industrial windows; and, functional design. Dry docks are an important type of engineering construction that often are the most significant features from the World War II period.

The shipyard facilities must have a direct, important association with World War II major ship construction and/or repair. Different shipyards played different roles; one measure of relative significance is the volume and type of repair and construction work undertaken at each yard. To be significant, the shipyard resources must have been industrial facilities used in ship repair and construction, or important administration buildings essential to the operation of the shipyard. Residential and personnel support facilities may be contributing resources in an historic district if they retain integrity from the World War II era, but they are secondary to the facilities that supported the primary mission of the shipyard, and by themselves usually do not represent a significant historic context.

Shipyards active during World War II have undergone modernization to build, repair, and service modern ships. Some facilities may no longer retain integrity from the World War II period. To retain integrity, the facilities directly associated with the important World War II shipyard activities, such as shops, dry docks, and cranes, must be intact and substantially unchanged since the World War II era. The layout of the buildings and their relationship to the dry docks also must be intact.

The nomination documentation for three continental shipyards listed in the National Register cite World War II as a period of significance. The Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, was an active shipyard from 1800 to 1974. During World War II, more destroyers were produced at the Boston facility than at any other U.S. shipyard. The older buildings were reused and new buildings added. These buildings represent the emergence of the United States as a naval superpower and the development of naval technology from the beginning of the nineteenth century through the middle of this century.

Puget Sound Navy Yard, in Bremerton, Washington, is designated a National Historic Landmark specifically for its role in World War II. The Puget Sound Navy Yard was the repair yard for battle-damaged battleships, aircraft carriers, and smaller warships of the Pacific Fleet; it was the only West Coast yard capable of repairing battleships during World War II. It epitomizes the rise of the United States as a Pacific naval power. The shipyard includes nearly 1,000 facilities, of which 64 are contributing properties in the World War II historic district. The historic district encompasses 189 of the shipyard's 1,347 acres.

The historic district at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, was expanded to include World War II resources since 1993. This shipyard, established in 1854, was the first naval shipyard established on the Pacific coast. During the twentieth century, the shipyard was expanded in response to wartime demands. During World War II, the shipyard produced nearly 400 vessels.

A fourth shipyard, Charleston Navy Yard, South Carolina, was determined eligible for listing in the National Register by the South Carolina SHPO. Its period of significance extends from its founding in the early twentieth century through World War II; it illustrates the development of naval shipyards and is eligible under Criteria A and C. During World War II, it played a supporting role to the other major east coast shipyards.

Research, Development and Testing

Research, development, and testing (RD&T) facilities can be important command construction installations within the World War II context. World War II demonstrated the importance of technological superiority to a greater degree than in previous conflicts. New or improved weaponry was a significant advantage in winning the war.

Criterion A: During World War II, the military developed and tested many new weapons and improved the quality and manufacturing of others. These technological advances proved critical in the war effort.

Criterion C: RD&T facilities often were unique facilities, designed specifically to meet the technical requirements of a particular mission. They may have significance under Criterion C for their unique engineering designs. In other cases, standard buildings may have been used to house RD&T activities; in these instances, the properties should be evaluated primarily under Criterion A, rather than Criterion C. Standardized support facilities may be eligible as part of a district, but by themselves do not represent the RD&T mission.

An RD&T facility must be associated with a significant technological research, development, or testing program that contributed to the war effort. The properties specifically associated with the RD&T activities must be present. If the property was the location of a significant event it may eligible as a site for its associative value with that important event. The character-defining features for RD&T facilities will vary widely according to their specific purpose. In order to determine if the property retains integrity, a careful analysis of the World War II mission and facilities is necessary. In general, residential and personnel facilities may be contributing resources in a district if they retain integrity from the World War II era, but they are secondary to the primary installation mission, and by themselves do not represent a significant historic context.

The variety of properties related to research, development, and testing previously listed in the National Register is indicative of the wide range of these properties. These resources include natural dry lakebeds, to model basins, to properties related to the Manhattan Project.

Rogers Dry Lake (also known as Muroc Dry Lake) at Edwards AFB, California, is listed in the National Register for its role during World War II and in the following years as an important site for testing experimental aircraft (Lakebed Runways 18 and 23). The David W. Taylor Model Basin at Carderock, Maryland, is significant in the areas of architecture, engineering, invention, military, and science. Opened in 1940, the model basin was the preeminent research facility for U.S. Navy ship design. The unique design and engineering of the 3,000+ ft model basin building and the towing basins also are significant.

Several properties associated with the Manhattan Project, a Special Project, are listed in the National Register. They are the Trinity Site, site of the world's first nuclear device detonation; Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, the place where scientists developed the nuclear fission bomb; and the Oak Ridge Historic District, a secret, planned community for 75,000 residents devoted to the development of the atomic bomb.

Special Projects

Special projects are important types of installations within the World War II historic context. These projects included research, development, and testing (RD&T) facilities and the new consolidated military headquarters building, the Pentagon.

Criterion A: Special projects met critical military needs or objectives during World War II. This investigation identified two special projects: the facilities constructed as part of the Manhattan Project to develop the Atomic Bomb and the Pentagon, the military headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Criterion C: Special projects often resulted in unique facilities, designed specifically to meet the technical requirements of a particular mission or need. They may have significance under Criterion C for unique architectural or engineering designs. In other cases, standard buildings may have been housed RD&T activities; in these instances, the properties should be evaluated primarily under Criterion A, rather than Criterion C. Standardized support facilities may be eligible as part of a district, but by themselves do not represent the mission of special projects.

Special projects must be associated with critical military needs or objectives during World War II. The facilities specifically associated with the special project must be present. In some cases, these facilities may represent unique buildings. If the property was the location of a significant event it may eligible as a site simply for its associative value with that important event. The character-defining features for facilities will vary widely according to their specific purpose. In order to determine if the property retains integrity, a careful analysis of its role in the special project during World War II is necessary.

The Pentagon has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places under Criteria A, B, and C. It is a building significant for its role as the headquarters of the military establishment during the war, for its association with important military leaders directing the war effort, and for its architecture.

Several properties associated with the Manhattan Project also are listed in the National Register. They are the Trinity Site, site of the world's first nuclear device detonation; Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, the place where scientists developed the nuclear fission bomb; and the Oak Ridge Historic District, a secret, planned community for 75,000 residents with the sole purpose of developing the atomic bomb.

Strategic Communications

Strategic communications facilities may be significant command construction installations within the World War II context. While both services relied heavily on existing civilian communication organizations throughout the war, each service operated a small number of specialized communications installations in the U.S.

Criterion A: Global communication was important in the effort to coordinate multiple, far-flung military operations. Strategic military communications facilities are those that reached military units stationed throughout the world, rather than routine installation communication buildings. An important development related to communication was the application and improvement of radar (radio detecting and ranging).

Criterion C: Strategic communication facilities may exhibit significant engineering features associated with the development and construction of communications equipment.

To be eligible for the National Register, a strategic communication facility must have an important association with a significant event or pattern of events. Radio stations that served as the primary links between headquarters and foreign fronts are the most significant of the strategic communications facilities. The facilities must retain their character defining features, which are the transmitters (antenna towers), operators building, and the helix house.

Two radar sites associated with World War II are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Opana Radar Site in Hawaii is significant as the first land radar operated by the United States in wartime. Radar operators detected incoming aircraft on the morning of December 7, 1941; though their warning was disregarded, the event demonstrated the important military implications of radar. The original radar station consisted of two trucks and a trailer that held the portable radar unit; none of the original radar station is evident today. The property is listed as the site of historically significant events where the location itself possesses historical value. Radar Station B-71, near Klamath, California, was part of the World War II radar air defense network. The radar station was disguised to look like a farm. None of the original equipment remains.

Training

Military training facilities may be significant command construction installations within the context of World War II. The mobilization of personnel during wartime was tremendously important. However, the majority of structures associated with training activities were built using temporary wartime construction, and thus few are associated with the permanent construction context that is the subject of this study.

Criterion A: The United States mobilized more men for military service during the course of World War II than at any time in its history. In 1939, Navy enlisted personnel numbered about 110,000 men; by the end of the war, enlisted strength was over three million. By the war's end, 10.4 million soldiers had served in the Army. The vast majority of these men were trained at one of dozens of large training camps or cantonments developed by the military. These training facilities are associated with the massive mobilization of millions of Americans for World War II and, for many veterans of the war, these training facilities are the stateside places that best represent their wartime experience. A separate historic context has been developed for temporary cantonment and training camps (Garner 1993 and Wasch et al. 1993). In some instances, unique engineering structures of permanent construction, such as towers for airborne operations training, may be associated with specific military training programs.

Criterion C: Since most training facilities were built using temporary construction, they typically represent the distinctive characteristics of World War II temporary construction. The historic context developed for World War II temporary construction describes in great detail the significance of the standardized temporary construction program.

In some cases, individual buildings associated with training facilities, notably those built during the first phase of the Protective Mobilization period (1940), may have been built as permanent construction. Architecturally, these buildings usually are similar to those built during the inter-war period and, under Criterion C, should be assessed for their ability to represent a type, period, or method of construction, such as standardized military construction or period revival styles.

To be eligible for the National Register, a training facility must have an important association with a significant event or pattern of events. The mobilization and training of millions of Americans during World War II was a significant event. Large camps and cantonments with specific associations to this massive mobilization may be eligible. However, most of these camps were constructed using temporary construction. The management of World War II temporary construction was the subject of a 1986 Programmatic Memorandum of Agreement (PMOA) developed in response to the a Congressional directive to demolish DoD World War II temporary buildings (Appendix III). Under the PMOA, DoD mitigated the demolition of this class of resources by extensively documenting their history and construction. That documentation is now complete and DoD may proceed with demolition of World War II temporary construction.

Buildings associated with training functions that are now classified as permanent or semi-permanent buildings due to post-war modifications, but which were originally built according to the temporary construction mobilization plans, should be evaluated within the context of temporary construction, not World War II permanent construction. In these cases, the buildings typically have been so modified that they no longer possess sufficient integrity to convey their historical associations.

Individual, isolated or widely dispersed permanent buildings typically do not convey the important association with mobilization training.

Permanent buildings associated with training may be eligible for the National Register if they possess a direct and important association with World War II training activity and possess sufficient integrity to convey their association with World War II training. They should possess integrity of location, association, setting, feeling, materials, and design.