The only restored Nike missile site in the country - SF-88
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- Опубліковано 7 жов 2024
- This was an amazing tour into the history of the Cold War period in time. I got a full tour of the extremely high-security facility. In its time you would be shot coming in this place if you were not authorized. I highly recommend coming here for a tour if you're in the Bay Area.
From their site:
The Cold War was a tense time between the United States and the Soviet Union, two superpowers vying for global influence. To defend against potential Soviet attacks, the US Army built close to 300 Nike missile launch batteries between 1953 and 1979. The Nike missiles were intended to be a last desperate act of defense against H-Bomb carrying Soviet bombers that had eluded interceptor jet aircraft.
Missiles at the Nike sites also could have carried nuclear payloads that would have detonated off the coast of the California communities that housed them. SF-88 in the Marin Headlands was one such site. Today, GGNRA preserves the site as it was during operations to remind visitors of the physical effects of the Cold War on the American landscape.
Currently, SF-88 is open Saturdays, 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. On the first Saturday of each month, there is an open house with volunteers and Nike veterans interpreting the history of the base. Open days are extended during the summer. To confirm hours or if you have any questions, please contact 415-331-1540.
Great Video!
@@andycampbell91 Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks for sharing this video. I was a 16 Bravo Nike Hercules Missile Crewman. I was stationed at LA-04 Mount Gleason in the Angeles National Forest just outside of Palmdale, California in 1972 and 73. Brought back a lot of memories for Me. Thanks again for sharing 😊
Thanks for your service and letting me know you liked the video. I do plan on going back to interview some of the crew in the future.
HHB 1st Bn ADA Wackenheim, Germany 1972-1974 My father U.S. Army Nike site W-26 1956 -1961.
The Army would test for their Nike Hercules missiles at McGregor range in White Sands New Mexico.
They really need to have a Nike Hercules veteran train the park staff. I think it's great they have this site open for tours, but so much of what she said wasn't accurate. I'm saying this because I'm a Nike Hercules veteran.
Yes, I learned after I shot this that she wasn't accurate on some things. There's a day when vets are there, and I'll need to go back to film their stories soon.
@@Bayareaandbeyond777 If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
@Norman Finley Do you live on the bayarea?
@@Bayareaandbeyond777 I do not.
So what years served in the army air defense branch . ? My father served in the early years 1956 site w-26 and I served in 1972 - 1974 active duty Nike site Wackenheim , Germany. I was 18 - 20 years old then I joined at 17 years old.
The hot guide was very knowledgeable.
Yeah that dude was good looking🙄
Hahaha
Yeah she's beautiful very distracting😍
I was an operator of NIKE missile in Japan Okinawa Prefecture.
Thank you for the wonderful video.😊
Thank you for watching and your service.
The green dome-like structure was the tracking radar. One for the target, one for the missile. The optical sights was used to align the radar to make sure they’re all pointing in the right direction.
Thank you for your knowledge. I need to go back and talk to a veteran next time.
Lived with nukes all around me as a kid. Travis had B-52s loaded for Cuba, and our Army Nike sites were all armed and pointing to the sky. That was a fun October for a 13 year old. We even got the full, knowledgeable tour from the working staff in the bunkers.
Integrated Fire Control had two Radars one a missile tracking radar a Target tracking radar... they would practice locating a Target and locking on.
Never mind "Fisherman's Wharf" or the cable cars, this is what I want to see when I return to the "Bay area!" Very informative video on what a "Cold War" Nike missile site consisted of and how it worked during the "Cold War." Thanks for sharing!
It's very cool. On the right day, you can talk to a veteran who worked here.
@@Bayareaandbeyond777 Yes, when a vet is present that would be the time to visit.
I was a veterinary technician at Ft. Dix, NJ 1972 to 1975. The Veterinary Field Office there was responsible for the military working dogs of Philadelphia Air Defense Command. The Nike Hercules Missiles were in a semicircular ring in southwest NJ, like Swedesboro, Paulsboro, Pedricktown. We, myself and the Veterinarian would make site visits to do checkups on the dogs. If the dogs required treatment it usually involved them coming to Ft. Dix. We did dental care on the dogs because they were guard dogs trained to be aggressive and needed good teeth. Most of the dogs when retired were euthanized.
Thank you for your great personal stories. I'm glad you enjoyed my video! Enjoy your day.
Awesome elevator!!
Yes... it's right out of a movie set.
At Aberporth missile range we had a Nike tracking radar (the golfball part) used as an instrumentation radar.
Thank you for your knowledge!
The exclusion area had a 12-ft double perimeter fence with a 1 ft barbed wire apron... they also had multiple Tower guards.
Paul, I have thoroughly enjoyed this video and I appreciate you for sharing it.
Thank you, I plan on going back this Spring when a Veteran is there. Thank you for watching!
That was a warhead building they disassembled the Warhead from the missile to test it.
Great video really enjoyed it like they say brought back memories. I was a Sentry Dog Handler outside of Pittsburgh near Herminie Pennsylvania in 1973 to 74 when it was deactivated. Yes, my dog was put down. Best Duty in the army, always called before anybody came to visit, no k.p., no morning formation, didn't have to press our fatigues. I think the most important thing she didn't mention in the video, that once downfield was cleared and the dog handler came on duty what security really was. Around that perimeter fence there were call boxes probably a couple hundred yards apart back to the main desk, no radios. I was issued a forty-five caliber sidearm with five rounds of ammunition. Not even a full clip, and no backup ammunition. I had my Sentry Dog and my five rounds of ammunition. Now those Sentry dogs we're pretty darn mean and I trusted mine with my life. But, I was guarding 18 nuclear missiles with multiple Warheads. There was one guard and a guard shack at the entrance to the restricted Zone and he had an M16. During this time Patty Hearst and The symbionese Liberation Army we're on the other side of Pennsylvania, just wishing they could stumble across a nuclear weapon. Unfortunately, me and my dog would have been a pretty easy target for anybody serious looking to gain access. Glad none of that happened and that all of my stories are happy. I did see all 18 missiles brought up covers off the tips and ready to be fired one early morning the winter of 73. Don't recall exactly what happened but the president called all the military to the ready. It was very eerie, fog and the lights around the missiles with no red tips and just knowing the destruction in each one of those Rockets.
That would've been October '73, during the Yom Kippur War. Tensions were very high because the Soviets threatened intervention because their ally, Egypt, was getting its butt kicked by Israel, America's ally. They really didn't like our massive effort to replace Israeli losses with current American equipment.
I worked at White Sands missile range as an AN=TSQ-73 Operator/Repairman. 2nd Bn. 52 ADA. This is the firing control system for Nike Hercules. It was running when I left, summer of 82.Those missiles would rattle our fire control annex building when leaving the rail!
Wow, great story! Thanks for sharing.
The missiles have to be aired to keep them operational... they are my mechanisms have to be checked to make sure they still work... The Guiding system has to be checked the command drills negative pich negative yaw etc
Back in 1957 or 1958 the Nike missile site in Middletown NJ near the Earle navy road blew up, killing 10 or 12 workers. You can find newspaper articles about this tragedy if you google it.I was in grade school at the time and the whole building shook. Later during the following days soldiers searched the town for any victim remains and missile parts.
That's scary 😨
My father was assigned to a Nike site W-26 in may of 1956 from his previous duty station in Germany. I grew up on a naval base it was the closest housing area near the Nike site where he worked I remember battery family picnic's at the sites in the summer.
Those I'm sure are great memories. Thanks for sharing them.
We didn't have Barrel probe protectors.
The missiles were color-coded yellow for high explosive red for nuclear.
The missiles have a Ajax four cluster booster... is connected to a lanyard that sets off the rocket boosters.
my dad was at a Nike base at Ft. Story Va. also we liked in Okinawa where he worked on Nikes. The Jeep you referred to is actually a deuce and a half truck {2.5 tons}
Thank you for your knowledge about the truck! Thank you to your dad for his service.
Man there was one of these about 10 minutes away from my home in the Buffalo NY area (by car).
I was stationed at a Nike site in S. Korea in the '60s
Wow, I bet you have some stories to tell.
Army combat Vehicles had night time blackout lights... Abilene Texas had a Nike Hercules missile battery where I was stationed.
Thank you for your service and great stories.
The century dogs they put them through an obstacle course... the trainers would wear an attack suit and allow themselves to be attacked... those dogs were Fierce they can scare a person to death.
It's an M543A2 Wrecker
Thank you for your truck knowledge.
P51s don't have the teeth, that's P-40s.
Ok, thanks the info.
The thing he pointed to in place of the headlight is called a blackout light. It was used for night convoying. It could be seen by the vehicle occupant in front of you and it had similar ones in the rear.
Thanks for the information 👍
The Mainbullau site in Germany was camouflaged... for aerial attack.
The hot guide did not know what she was talking about. SP/5-A-5-56. 1962 to 1965
She only knows what she was told.
HHB 1st BN 32 ADA Wackenheim, Germany 1972-1974 .
@@Bayareaandbeyond777 she should educate herself. A good place to start would be "The Last Missile Site" by Stephen Haller and John Martini. John was a NPS ranger for his entire working life, including at the Marin Headlands and Alcatraz. He was instrumental in the preservation and restoration of SF-88 and probably knows more about it than anyone. I'm quite familiar with both SF-88 and Battery Townsend, having accompanied John on tours of both. And my father was a Nike missile crewman.
Hot??? Hahaha subjectivity at its best.
@@dentalnovember hot for a NPS ranger, ok?
Cool!
I live in a house that I was told was built in '55 as officer housing for the officers manning the Nike Missile site up at Tilden Park above Berkeley CA.
All the homes on the street are identical inside.
I had to cut through the front path to install a French Drain. The concrete was 8 inches thick and had no cracks!
I would bet that it was from the same contractor who built the bunkers and silos!
I had no idea that there were Nikes up there. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing!
@@Bayareaandbeyond777 All that is left at Tilden is a concrete pad up on the top of the hill.
I've seen it in videos.
There is a court in Pleasant Hill as well as in Walnut Creek California that have the identical US Army officer's homes.
They were all built with a birdhouse above the garage door. And Fluer de Lis wooden details on the columns in front.
My neighbor, who was 6 years old when they were built told me that they were called Normany-Style.
I wonder if these homes were built all across the US, or just in the SF Bay Area.
Abilene Texas where I was stationed had German Shepherd Century dogs... I asked about the gravesites... some dogs couldn't be trained they were like gun shy they had to be exterminate, they couldn't put the dogs back out in the general population.
Sentry Dogs.
Wouldn’t firing a Nike missile mean nuking Nappa, CA?
I had no idea some were necular.
She said people on the ground would have been killed being their range was only 90 miles.
It's "nuclear". And all her "knowledge" about Nike and SF-88 couldn't fill a shot glass. It's a shame that someone with so little knowledge is assigned to the site. Most Nike missiles were loaded with conventional warheads. And the few that were armed with nuclear warheads were 20 or 40 kiloton warheads, capable of an airburst within or close to Soviet bombers 90 miles off the coast, where as far as I know, there are no people. Unbelievable misinformation.
I guarded Nike Hercules in West Germany in the 1970s.
Did you have dogs also?
Blackout lights on the vehicle, running no lights at night
The P-40 had the teeth, not the P-51
👍
"Nuke-lee-urr" rather than "Nuke-you-lurr". Just FYI...
Oh, and the P51 did not hace teeth, that was the P40 Warhawk.....
Thank you for your knowledge.
Great video my mos was 16b10 Nike missile crewman and she's not really that informand on the missile that missile could travel 3 hundred miles accurate at the speed of 5 times faster than the speed of sound. And the missile was still used until 1977 when it was replaced by the Patriot missile
Thanks for your great story.
@@Bayareaandbeyond777 your very welcome ❤️🇺🇲
The Nike Hercules missiles rendered the Air Force ICBM missiles obsolete.
Thanks for doing the video. That's not a Jeep, it's a Duce and a half or 2.5ton transport truck. And it's Nuclear, pronounced New Clee AR. Not New clee yer.
Hey guys, this video deserves more likes!
Thank you,
I think my content is pretty good, and I'm always getting better. UA-cams algorithm doesn't think so, I guess.
@@Bayareaandbeyond777 It is good. I got exactly what I wanted. Couldn't visit this location couple month ago when I was in SF and I was glad to watch it online.
16:25 Ever heard of the traitors Julius and Ethel Rosenberg?
With all due respect, "Paul" (and that ain't much) you have absolutely NO idea what you're talking about! "Propaganda videos"? "Climb up and look thru the radar"? The 88 in SF-88 referred to a compass setting on the basis of 1-100. You need to read John Martini's book "The Last Missile Site". John was instrumental in the preservation and restoration of SF-88 and Battery Townsend across the way. I've been there dozens of times, often accompanying John on tours of both. My father was a Nike Missile crewman. And I have spoken with SF-88 docents at length, many of whom were Nike crewman. The park ranger you spoke with is new and barely knows more than you, which is little.
I appreciate your feedback. Thanks for watching.
Come on man. Be real, here. Most of us who are interested in this type of stuff don't know the ins and outs. It's exactly that, "an interest". This technology may be obsolete but it's still not simple to the layman. You collect documents for gods sake. Even insulting him with "And that ain't much". Man, military historians are such pretentious snobs. I'm so confused as to why you viciously attack his knowledge while all he wanted to do was share the site with others. If I ever go on this tour, I pray you are not there accompanying John.
@meintingles4396 Thank you, you said what I was thinking perfectly. I didn't respond to his comment, nor did I delete it. Some people don't get what vlogging is all about. Thanks again!
CIA........hahahahaha!!!!! There is so much misinformation here, i lost about 50 brain cells watching it.
Good video but at 2:30 man sounds drunk.
Wrong, I don't drink. I do stumble on my words sometimes. Thanks for watching.
No offense intended. I enjoyed the video.
I live in Hammond Indiana the next town over was Munster Indiana they had a nice site base their one quarter mile away was the radar installation I used to go to the place a lot my father was there too that light on that truck on that boom crane truck that's a red light so you can see at night but not create
Thanks for your great story and education.
Have you Signed the Petition for Nike Hercules Veterans!! I dont know about your Health, but mine is exactly the same as those expressed on the Petition !
I don't know anything about a petition. What is it about?
Google Nike Veterans Petition!