Long Point Military Reservation: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 09:22, 9 January 2013

Long Point Military Reservation (1930-1974) - An Coastal Military Reservation first established in 1930 above Long Point and Point Vincente in the present day city of Rancho Palos Verdes, Los Angeles County, California. A sub-post of Fort MacArthur. Abandoned in 1974.

Long Point MR Site from Below	City of Rancho Palos Verdes Complex on Old Long Point MR
Long Point MR 1930 Fire Control Station

Part of the Harbor Defense of Los Angeles.

The Long Point Military Reservation was initially acquired in 1930 to house six fire control stations for the large caliber guns at Fort MacArthur. The initial site was a small hillside reservation overlooking the Pacific Ocean at Long Point. The fire control stations were rectangular reinforced concrete structures built into a steep hillside.

World War II (1941-1945)

In the opening days of World War II, Battery B of the 3rd U.S. Coast Artillery moved two 155mm GPF guns from the upper reservation gun park at Fort MacArthur to emplacements at Long Point Military Reservation. These were temporary field emplacements that were later replaced by two Panama mounts. The Panama mounts were completed by the end of March 1942 and the guns were emplaced there until Battery 240 was completed and proof fired in 1943. The emplacements were located on the north side of Long Point below the 1930s fire control stations.

Construction on the modern 6" twin gun Battery 240 began in 1942 and was completed with the proof firing of the guns in October 1943. Battery 240 was located on the upper level of the reservation overlooking Point Vincente. In January 1944 a new fire control Radar set SCR-296 was accepted for service at Long Point MR.

**Long Point Military Reservation World War II Battery** (edit list)
Battery Click on Battery links below	No.	Caliber	Type Mount	Service Years	Battery Cost	Notes
Battery 155 - Long Point	2	155mm	Mobile, Panama Mounts	1941-1942-1943-1944	$ 8,208
Source: CDSG

Cold War (1947–1991)

A NIKE missile launch and administrative site LA-55L was located on the Long Point Military Reservation in 1956. The site consisted of a launch facility/magazine and and a barracks/administrative facility. The launch/magazine facility is now a maintenance yard for the city of Rancho Palos Verdes and the barracks/administrative facility is the city hall complex.

A separate control site LA-55C was located in the hills above the launch site. The control site housed the Radar (AN/FPS-71, AN/FPA-16) and communications equipment for controlling the missiles intercepts of hostile enemy aircraft.

The NIKE systems at the Long Point Military Reservation evolved with the NIKE program into an advanced aircraft interceptor missile system with a nuclear capability. In the 1970s the threat changed from long range bomber attacks to intercontinental nuclear missile attacks and the NIKE system became obsolete. In 1974 the NIKE system was deactivated and the NIKE facilities at Long Point MR were closed.

**Long Point Nike Batteries** (edit list)
Battery	Type	Location	GPS	Dates
LA-55C	Control	Above Point Vicente MR	33.758007, -118.368094	1956-1974
LA-55L	Launch	Point Vicente MR	33.74375, -118.403773	1956-1974
Source: Fort MacArthur - NIKE, Wikipedia - California NIKE Stes

Current Status

Most of the site is owned by the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, Los Angeles County, California. The city hall and other city facilities are located on the former military reservation.

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Location: City Hall, Rancho Palos Verdes, Los Angeles County, California.

Maps & Images

Lat: 33.7447911 Long: -118.4045523

Multi Maps from ACME
Maps from Bing
Maps from Google
Elevation: '

Sources:

U.S.Army, Supplement to the Harbor Defense Project Harbor Defenses of Los Angeles, (LA-AN-WDC-44), 31 Aug 1944, CDSG

Links:

Visited: 4 Jan 2013

Long Point Military Reservation Picture Gallery

Click on the picture to see a larger version. Contribute additional pictures - the more the better!

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 A separate control site LA-55C was located in the hills above the launch site. The control site housed the Radar (AN/FPS-71,  AN/FPA-16) and communications equipment for controlling the missiles intercepts of hostile enemy aircraft.
+The NIKE systems at the Long Point Military Reservation evolved with the NIKE program into an advanced aircraft interceptor missile system with a nuclear capability. In the 1970s the threat changed from long range bomber attacks to intercontinental nuclear missile attacks and the NIKE system became obsolete. In 1974 the NIKE system was deactivated and the NIKE facilities at Long Point MR were closed.
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