page_title: Floyd Bennett Field
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Floyd Bennett Field / History / Naval Air Station New York / World War II
caption_attribution_description: The Naval Air Station New York, New York State, USA, about 1947.
context_page_description: Floyd Bennett Field is an airfield in the Marine Park neighborhood of southeast Brooklyn in New York City, along the shore of Jamaica Bay. The airport originally hosted commercial and general aviation traffic before being used as a naval air station. Bennett Field is currently part of the Gateway National Recreation Area's Jamaica Bay Unit, and is managed by the National Park Service. While no longer used as an operational commercial, military, or general aviation airfield, a section is still used as a helicopter base by the New York City Police Department, and one runway is reserved for hobbyists flying radio-controlled aircraft.
  Floyd Bennett Field was created by connecting Barren Island and several smaller islands to the rest of Brooklyn by filling the channels between them with sand pumped from the bottom of Jamaica Bay. The airport was named after Floyd Bennett, a noted aviator who piloted the first plane to fly over the North Pole and had visualized an airport at Barren Island before dying in 1928; construction on Bennett Field started the same year. The airport was dedicated on June 26, 1930, and officially opened to commercial flights on May 23, 1931.
context_section_description: The Navy awarded the first contract for upgrades to Floyd Bennett Field on December 17, 1941. The Navy's Design Division developed most of the expansion plans instead of contracting them out. It graded the undeveloped land to 16 feet to make it level with the rest of the airport. Demolition of the future barracks site on the western side of the field started in spring 1941. Because newer craft necessitated longer runways, a new Runway 6-24 was built on the northern side of the field, and three existing runways were expanded so that all four runways measured 5,000 feet (1,500 m) long by 300 feet (91 m) wide. The Navy built a seaplane hangar and two seaplane runways, as well as extended the taxiways and roads. It also constructed facilities for officers on Bennett Field's eastern side, such as barracks, training rooms, dining rooms, and auditoriums. The Navy also filled in the northeastern section of the former Barren Island. A new entrance for the Navy was created at the south end of Bennett Field, and a one-story annex on the north side of the Administration Building was added. A dirigible landing station and two front-line simulator facilities were installed within the field. Significant effort was spent toward developing the part of the base that faced Jamaica Bay, where a recreation area was installed. All remnants of Barren Island's former community and landscape were obliterated.
  The upgrades allowed 6,500 people to use the naval base. Most of the new structures were designed to be removable because of the possibility that Bennett Field might become a civilian airfield again after the war. In accordance with military conventions, all the buildings at Bennett Field were given numbers.
  During the war, NAS New York hosted several naval aviation units of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, including three land-based antisubmarine patrol squadrons, a scout observation service unit, and two Naval Air Transport Service (NATS) squadrons (processing the majority of the aircraft destined for the Pacific Theater). NAS New York served as a training facility, as well as a base where Navy boats could load supplies and officers. NAS New York aircraft also patrolled the Atlantic coastline and engaged German U-Boats.  In addition, Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) took up several positions, including those of air traffic controllers, parachute riggers, and aviation machinist's mates. The Military Air Transport Service opened an East Coast terminal at Bennett Field in December 1943. More than 20,000 new aircraft were delivered to NAS New York during the war, and more than 46,000 aircraft movements were recorded from December 1943 to November 1945.
  CGAS Brooklyn worked in conjunction with NAS New York, patrolling New York Harbor as well as testing equipment, training soldiers, and delivering supplies. Starting in 1944, CGAS Brooklyn tested Navy craft and trained the pilots.
caption: Aerial view of NAS New York in the mid-1940s, showing the original airfield (dark-colored ground) and the new additions (light-colored ground)
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