Hey Nike - Just Don't Do it in My Backyard By Jim Shneer
Hey Nike - Just Don't Do it in My Backyard
By Jim Shneer
Before WWII was over, it was clear that an attack from the sea by battleships was no longer a threat, and, therefore, coastal defense by means of large fortifications with large caliber guns, places like Fort MacArthur, were no longer needed. At about the same time it also became clear that new threat was the long-range manned bomber. As early as 1944, Bell Telephone Laboratories and the Western Electric Corp. under Army contracts began development of a surface to air missile to counter the bomber threat. Beginning in 1954 approximately 265 batteries of these Nike missiles were being deployed across the United States around 40 "defense areas" which included large population centers, areas with heavy industries and those with military significant facilities.
Nike batteries in the continental United States (fr.m.wikipedia.org)
Los Angeles area Nike sites (author's collection
The first missile in what was to become a family of missiles was called the Nike Ajax. It carried a conventional warhead, had a range of 75-90 miles and was one foot in diameter.
Nike Ajax missile in the Fort MacArthur Museum (author's collection)
Missiles were stored in underground magazines and when needed would be raised by elevators to the surface, rolled over to their launch rails and fueled with several toxic chemicals. Since these were the days of vacuum tubes and large primitive computers, all of the "intelligence" in the system was on the ground, so commands had to be relayed to the missile and telemetry and target data had to be transmitted down and received from the missile by means of large parabolic antennas. These antennas had to be located several miles from the launch area because if the antennas were located too close to the launch site, the missiles lifting off were moving faster than these antennas could track them.
Successful Nike Ajax test against a remotely piloted B-17 bomber target (Pathe films)
As you can see from the preceding map, two of the Los Angeles area Nike batteries were in the Palos Verdes area. LA-43 was located in San Pedro and LA-55 was located in what is now Rancho Palos Verdes. Battery numbers were assigned by the battery's location with respect to a location in central Los Angeles with 0 being north, 25 being east, 50 being south and 75 being west.
LA-43L, the launch site portion of LA-43 was located at White Point where the White Point Nature Preserve is currently located. The underground magazines, missile assembly building and the entry control point have been preserved.
LA-43L at White Point Nature Preserve (author's collection)
LA-43C, the command and control area where the antennas were located was a little over a mile away on the remains of Batteries Merriam and Leary in Fort MacArthur where the Marine Exchange is presently located.
Historical view of LA-43C (Justine Ruhage) (top)
Contemporary view showing remains (Google Earth) (bottom)
In the next article LA-55, the second generation of Nike missiles and the retirement of the Nike program will be addressed.
Jim is a former aerospace engineering manager who, since retiring, has become an author and speaker on a variety of military subjects. To read more about his work, please visit https://easyreadernews.com/the-battle-that-didnt-happen/. To learn about the military history of Fort MacArthur and Palos Verdes, please visit http://www.lulu.com/shop/james-shneer/exploring-the- military-history-of-fort-macarthur-and-palos-verdes/paperback/product-23784472.html to purchase a copy of his recent book.