Texas Tower 2
Encyclopedia
Texas Tower 2 is a closed United States Air Force
Texas Tower General Surveillance Radar station. It was located 110 miles (177 km) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It was in 56 feet of water. The tower was closed in 1963 and dismantled.
Located on Georges Bank
, Texas Tower 2 was one in a series of manned radar stations that were so named because they resembled the oil-drilling platforms of the Gulf of Mexico
. Air Defense Command (ADC) estimated that the Texas Towers would help extend contiguous East Coast radar coverage some 300 to 500 miles seaward. In terms of Soviet military capabilities, this would provide the United States with an extra 30 minutes of warning time in the event of an incoming bomber attack.
plant at Quincy, Massachusetts
. In June 1955, it was successfully floated and towed to its site east of Cape Cod
. Beginning in December 1955 enough of the structure was complete that one AN/FPS-3 search radar and two AN/FPS-6 height finder radars developed by Air Force Rome Air Development Center [RADC] New York, were installed.
Personnel from the 762d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, stationed at North Truro Air Force Station
, MA performed the operational use of the tower. It was manned by a crew of 6 officers and 48 airmen. The 4604th Support Squadron (Texas Towers) at Otis AFB provided logistical support. Life aboard Texas Tower 2 was difficult. Both the structure and its crew suffered from the near-constant vibration caused by rotating radar antennas and diesel generators. The surrounding ocean and tower footings also transmitted distant sounds along the steel legs, amplifying them throughout the entire structure.
The tower, however, was never completed or brought into operational use because of improvements to radar over the area. In addition, with the advent of Soviet ICBMs
, the bomber threat was reduced in importance. Thus due to a lower need and the perceived risk, the tower was decommissioned in 1963 and demolished shortly thereafter.
During the demolition, the remains of the tower sank to the ocean floor. Its remains there and has become a site for scuba diving.
Assignments:
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
Texas Tower General Surveillance Radar station. It was located 110 miles (177 km) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It was in 56 feet of water. The tower was closed in 1963 and dismantled.
Located on Georges Bank
Georges Bank
Georges Bank is a large elevated area of the sea floor which separates the Gulf of Maine from the Atlantic Ocean and is situated between Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia ....
, Texas Tower 2 was one in a series of manned radar stations that were so named because they resembled the oil-drilling platforms of the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
. Air Defense Command (ADC) estimated that the Texas Towers would help extend contiguous East Coast radar coverage some 300 to 500 miles seaward. In terms of Soviet military capabilities, this would provide the United States with an extra 30 minutes of warning time in the event of an incoming bomber attack.
History
Texas Tower 2 began construction in 1955 at the Bethlehem SteelBethlehem Steel
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...
plant at Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
. In June 1955, it was successfully floated and towed to its site east of Cape Cod
Cape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
. Beginning in December 1955 enough of the structure was complete that one AN/FPS-3 search radar and two AN/FPS-6 height finder radars developed by Air Force Rome Air Development Center [RADC] New York, were installed.
Personnel from the 762d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, stationed at North Truro Air Force Station
North Truro Air Force Station
North Truro Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located east of North Truro, Massachusetts....
, MA performed the operational use of the tower. It was manned by a crew of 6 officers and 48 airmen. The 4604th Support Squadron (Texas Towers) at Otis AFB provided logistical support. Life aboard Texas Tower 2 was difficult. Both the structure and its crew suffered from the near-constant vibration caused by rotating radar antennas and diesel generators. The surrounding ocean and tower footings also transmitted distant sounds along the steel legs, amplifying them throughout the entire structure.
The tower, however, was never completed or brought into operational use because of improvements to radar over the area. In addition, with the advent of Soviet ICBMs
Intercontinental ballistic missile
An intercontinental ballistic missile is a ballistic missile with a long range typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery...
, the bomber threat was reduced in importance. Thus due to a lower need and the perceived risk, the tower was decommissioned in 1963 and demolished shortly thereafter.
During the demolition, the remains of the tower sank to the ocean floor. Its remains there and has become a site for scuba diving.
Units and assignments
Units:- 762d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (Flight), (Operations unit based at North Truro AFS, MA), May 1956-15 January 1963
- 4604th Support Squadron4604th Support SquadronThe 4604th Support Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 26th Air Division, Aerospace Defense Command, stationed at Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts...
(Texas Towers) (Logistics support unit based at Otis AFB, MA), May 1956-15 January 1963
Assignments:
- 4704th Defense Wing, May 1956
- 4622d Air Defense Wing, 18 October 1956
- Boston Air Defense SectorBoston Air Defense SectorThe Boston Air Defense Sector is an inactive United States Air Force Air Defense Command organization. Its last assignment was with the ADC 26th Air Division, being stationed at Stewart Air Force Base, New York.-History:...
, 8 January 1957-15 January 1963