On Veterans’ Day, November 11, 2011, Coronado’s Naval Air Station North Island had a landmark birthday celebration. As the Naval Air Station North Island turns 100 years old, a special tribute should be made to recap their history and highlight key points of what made this naval base so unique and special to San Diego’s Coronado Island. Today the Naval Base Coronado is 57,000 acres and has a peak population of 30,000.
The naval base originally started as a flying school for Navy officers. The Coronado flying school was started by a pilot and inventor by the name of Glenn Curtiss in 1911. The new school focused on teaching Navy pilots how to land and take off from water landings—a new concept to pilots of that time.
The success of the school was immediately noticed and a year later the Navy aviation unit moved to Coronado. The aviation camp became known as Camp Trouble which consisted of 3 planes, 3 pilots, and 3 tents, talk about a small aviation unit!
It wasn’t until 1917 that the Coronado location was deemed an official Navy base. U.S. Congress bought the Coronado land in 1919 for a little over 6 million dollars. Originally, Coronado was split into two parts—North Coronado was occupied by the naval base and was given the name of Naval Air Station North Island; South Coronado was the actual city of Coronado. Eventually the gap was closed between the two parts and it was filled with new land during World War II. The base expanded under the advantage of more space and included an administrative department and additional buildings to the naval base.
In 1935, the Navy’s aircraft carriers were stationed in Coronado as their new home port. These carriers were utilized for combat operations and exercises for the purpose of WWII.
Although all of these milestones were set before 1963, this was the official year that Naval Air Station North Island was recognized as the “Birthplace of Naval Aviation.” The House Armed Services Committee made that distinction in 1963.
As NASNI continued to grow throughout the years, the base decided to join together with other military installations to further their San Diego presence. In 1997, Naval Base Coronado, Silver Strand Training Complex, Imperial Beach’s Naval Outlying Landing Field, and Naval Amphibious Base Coronado were created. Their location in Coronado and neighboring areas has really defined San Diego as a military town; All of NASNI’s accomplishments are the cause of this local spread of Naval and U.S. military support.
Currently, Naval Air Station North Island has many achievements to celebrate and its 100th birthday is the best time to really show appreciation for all of San Diego and Coronado’s aviation and military-driven successes. Happy Birthday NASNI—Thank you for your dedication to San Diego’s naval community and your heroic efforts through the century of aviation creation and naval inspiration.
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