Former Historic Airbase

“Why is there a plane across the street from the Welcome Center?”  We hear this question a lot!  It’s because SouthField is transforming the site of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station.  The plane situated in Shea Field Memorial Grove is a retired A-4 Skyhawk Navy jet fighter.  It commemorates the Base’s 55+ years of service to the Navy and New England.

Here’s how it all began…

In 1940, well over 1,000 acres of land within the towns of South Weymouth, Rockland and Abington were acquired by the U.S. Navy to build an airbase for dirigibles (blimps) used to patrol the North Atlantic Ocean during World War II.  Here’s a timeline which highlights the site’s historic past.

Time Line on the South Weymouth Naval Air Station
1940 Captain Charles Rosendahl, chief of the Navy’s lighter-than-air (LTA) program, selects South Weymouth as the location for a blimp base to patrol the sea-lanes to Boston Harbor. The Navy purchased 335 acres for $25,000 and construction began at the cost of $6 million.
1942 NAS South Weymouth established.
1944 Six blimps fly out of South Weymouth and complete the first crossing of the Atlantic by non-rigid ships. These airships become the first “Blimp Barrier” in the Mediterranean, flying anti-submarine patrols around the Straits of Gibraltar.
1953 NAS South Weymouth reopens with over $5 million in new construction.  In addition, from the early 50′s through base closure in 1996, the South Weymouth NAS as home of the Patrol Squadrons (VP), who were deployed throughout the East Coast and Europe during the War.  Flying the PB4Y-2 (Privateer), P2 (Neptune) and P3 (Orion), they were the largest and most active units at the NAS.
1954 NAS South Weymouth hosts its first air show, featuring the Blue Angels, to a crowd of over 100,000 spectators.
1961 The Navy celebrates 50 years of naval aviation. The last operating blimp squadron is disestablished. Navy blimps over New England become a thing of the past.
1966 Attack Squadrons 911 and 912, flying the A-4 Skyhawk, are assigned to South Weymouth to train naval pilots and its crews for combat missions. Naval Reserve celebrates its 50th Anniversary.
1970 Naval Air Reserve Training Command transitions to the “Reserve Force Concept.” Two VS and two VA squadrons are disestablished and reorganized as HS-74.
1972 NAS South Weymouth celebrates its 30th anniversary, in conjunction with the Town of Weymouth’s 350th anniversary. NAS Quonset Point closes, bringing HS-74 onboard NAS South Weymouth.
1979 Construction begins on the new Enlisted Quarters and Navy Exchange/Retail Store. On February 18, 1979, fire sweeps through the building.
1980 Construction on more new facilities is completed, including the Bowling Alley/Snack Bar, fitness center, gate guard shack, and AIMD building.
1985 HS-74 is redesignated as HSL-74 to operate its new helicopter, the SH-2F “Seasprite” and its new mission aboard Naval Reserve Frigates. Base closure looms over NAS South Weymouth as the Senate Armed Services Committee places the air station on its closure list.
1990 The first round of the Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) includes NAS South Weymouth on its list as a potential candidate for base closure. Iraqi forces invade Kuwait, prompting the largest mobilization of the U.S. military in 40 years. Over 400 Sailors and Marines deploy from NAS South Weymouth.
1991 NAS South Weymouth is removed from consideration for possible closure in round one of the BRAC process.
1992 VMA-322 “Fighting Gamecocks” are deactivated, starting the end of 49 years of Marine Reserve Aviation. This also brings the jet age at NAS South Weymouth to a close, as the last A-4M Skyhawk flies off the air station.
1993 Round two of BRAC once again places NAS South Weymouth on the closure list but survives.
1994 The “Demon-Elves” of HSL-74 are disestablished in March 1994. In April 1994, VR-62 transferred from NAF Detroit to NAS South Weymouth and are renamed the Nor’Easters.”
1995 NAS South Weymouth appears on the third and final BRAC base closure list. After various visits by BRAC officials, NAS South Weymouth is voted to remain on the closure list by a vote of 8 — 0. The President and Congress approve the list.
1996 NAS South Weymouth hosts its “Blue Farewell to Boston” Air Show. The last air show at the air station draws over 100,000 visitors. The airfield officially closes on September 30, 1996, as the last C130T Hercules and P-3C Orion fly off in a final tribute to the air station.
1997 On September 30 1997, NAS South Weymouth officially closes, ending over 55 years of service to the Navy and New England as the “Home of New England’s Naval Air Reserve.”