Coronado 365-July 2022

» LOOKING BACK

THIS MONTH IN CORONADO HISTORY

July 1, 1935 - The Navy’s air squadron VS-4B was commissioned as a scouting squadron. But there weren’t any planes on North Island, so a bottle of champagne was broken over the handlebars of the squadron bicycle.

July 6, 1914 - The 4th Marine Regiment arrived in San Diego Bay and encamped on North Island. The regiment, under the command of Col. Joseph H. Pendleton, followed the camp naming precedent established in 1911 and named the encampment Camp Howard after the incumbent naval commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet, Rear Adm. Thomas B. Howard, On Dec. 22, 1914, Camp Howard was closed with the establishment of the Marine barracks in Balboa Park.

Camp Howard

July 11, 1901 - The board of directors of the Coronado High School decided to discontinue the school because of the low enrollment and no graduating class. The school had 15 students. July 16, 1936 It was reported that there was no opposition to the city of Coronado’s request for permission to build a two-lane subaqueous tube to connect Coronado to the mainland. The Department of War issued a permit and the Public Works Administration planned to cover 45 percent of the construction costs. The balance would come from revenue bonds. A freeholder charter had to be passed by Coronado voters to issue the bonds. It was a very controversial election, and the charter lost by 35 votes, ending the construction of the tube.

July 20, 1917 - The Army’s Aviation School at North Island Naval Air Station was officially named Rockwell Field to honor 2nd Lt. Lewis Rockwell, a young pilot killed in a plane crash in 1912 at College Park, Maryland. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy in 1907, Rockwell was the fourth commissioned Army officer to die in an aircraft mishap. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

July 21, 1905 - At 10:10 a.m., the USS Bennington, anchored in San Diego Bay, was rocked by a boiler explosion. Of the 197 men and officers stationed on the ship, 66 were killed and almost everyone else aboard was injured. Many vessels immediately came to help with recovery and rescue including the ferry Ramona. Any doctor who could be reached arrived at the docks to provide aid.

USS Bennington in 1891

July 26, 1956 - Roy Rogers, famed movie cowboy, rode his outboard motorboat to top honors in the first outboard races held on Glorietta Bay. More than 12,000 spectators lined the bay to see the daylong races, which were sponsored by the Coronado Fiesta Committee and the San Diego Outboard Motorboat Club, as part of the local Fiesta del Pacifico program.

July 27, 1917 - Congress passed the Condemnation Act, taking the 1,232-acre North Island from John D. Spreckels to use as a site for a permanent military aviation school and base. Spreckels had planned to develop North Island with homes and businesses. He sued the federal government, winning a settlement of $5 million, plus interest.

July 23, 2004 The USS Ronald Reagan cruised into San Diego Bay to the cheers of thousands who welcomed the 1,092-foot-long carrier to its new berth at North Island Naval Air Station. In her first public appearance since her husband, President Ronald Reagan, died six weeks earlier, Nancy Reagan said, “Ronnie would have loved the sight of this great ship coming into his beloved California.” Reagan received a standing ovation from the crowd of 5,000.

July 30, 1935 - Lt. Frank Akers made the first blind instrument landing onto the USS Langley from North Island. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. ■