North Carolina's Naval Section Bases-- Part 5

The U.S. Naval Section Base at Ocracoke (on the Outer Banks) began operations in May-June 1942 with the construction of the Hatteras Minefield, a ring of contact mines laid in an irregular arc offshore from Cape Hatteras to Ocracoke enclosing a protected anchorage for merchant ships.

The base cosisted of a large, two-story administration building and barracks, a hospital and various support facilities.  Three large piers were built into Silver Lake, which was dredged to shelter Coast Guard and navy patrol craft.

By the time the base was commissioned October 9, 1942, its original purpose had ceased to exist, as the Hatteras Minefield had proven too difficult to maintain.  Five Allied ships had been sunk or damaged after entering the minefield by mistake.

One More Entry.  --GreGen

North Carolina's Naval Section Bases-- Part 4

On November 17, 1941, the U.S. Navy purchased the old Fort Caswell Military Reservation near Southport for use as a section base for the Inshore Patrol.  Almost $1 million was appropriated to make it operational, build docking facilities and adapt the original buildings to the new use.

Operations began in early 1942.  From the base's docks on the Cape Fear River, patrol boats, Coast Guard boats, armed yachts, fishing boats and minesweepers guarded the coast off Cape Fear and Frying Pan Shoals from German U-boats.

At the end of the war, the Navy Department retained the base for several years for the intention of using it for other things.  It sold the property to the North Carolina  Baptist State Convention in 1949.

GreGen

North Carolina's Naval Section Bases-- Part 3

The incomplete Morehead City base was commissioned on March 17, 1942, right as the Battle of the Atlantic off U.S. shores went into hyperdrive.  It  quickly became the most important reception and processing centers on the North Carolina coast for the survivors of sunken and damaged merchant vessels.

Over the course of the war, both U.S. Navy and Coast Guard personnel used the base, whose primary duty was to serve the vessels patrolling the coast on the lookout for German U-boats.  They operated with the larger vessels from the State Port of Morehead City and the Fort Macon (Civil War fort) Coast Guard Station on Bogue Banks.

They aided  in minesweeping and in maintaining a submarine net across the entrance to the ship channel in Beaufort Inlet.

The need for the base diminished after 1942 when the U-boat attacks diminished.  It was designated a Naval Frontier Base on March 15, 1944 and closed down on June 30, 1944.  After the war, the base was declared surplus property.

In the fall of 1946, North Carolina bought it and built a marine fisheries research institute..  By the early 2000s, it was occupied by the North Carolina Institute of Marine Sciences.

Next Time there.  --GreGen

North Carolina's Naval Section Bases-- Part 2

The 58-acre Morehead Naval Section Base was purchased by the Navy in 1941 for $15,000 on Bogue Sound, just west of Morehead City.  Construction began November 14 and consisted of a two-story, multi-winged building housing the administrative offices, mess hall and barracks.  Other buildings held additional barracks, machine and repair shops, a medical facility and heating plat.

In a remote area north of this, eight concrete magazines  for ammunition, depth charges and explosives were constructed.  A pier with two extensions could dock eight patrol vessels and subchasers.  Total price for the base was more than a million dollars and it was located about five miles from the entrance to Beaufort Inlet and the Atlantic Ocean.

Stuff You Usually Don't Read About In the War.  --GreGen

North Carolina's Naval Section Bases-- Part 1

From the Encyclopedia of North Carolina.

Naval Section bases were small naval bases established by the U.S. Navy on the North Carolina coast prior to and during World War II for coastal patrol and antisubmarine defense.  In 1940-1941, when it was becoming increasingly evident that the U.S. was going to have to enter the war, the federal government initiated massive military buildup and preparedness.

One of these programs was the naval section base set up to be part of the Navy's Inshore Patrol, providing adminstrative and operational facilities for small naval and Coast Guard vessels engaged in local harbor defense, coastal patrol and minesweeping.

In 1941, two section bases were authorized for Morehead City and Southport.  In 1942, a third one was set up at Ocracoke.

GreGen