Texas Towers The Texas Towers were a set of three radar facilities off the eastern seaboard of the United States which were used for surveillance by the United States Air Force during the Cold War . Modeled on the offshore oil drilling platform s first employed off the Texas coast , they were in operation from 1958 - 1963 . After the collapse of one of the towers in 1961 , the remaining towers were closed due to changes in threat perception and out of a concern for the safety of the crews . Planning . Upon re - formation of the Aerospace Defense Command in 1951 to oversee the nation ' s developing surveillance radar network , there was concern that shore - based radars along the east coast provided insufficient warning time . A 1952 report from MIT ' s Lincoln Laboratory looked into the possibility of extending radar coverage by building platforms in the Atlantic using offshore oil drilling technology . They concluded that a set of such platforms , equipped with radars , could extend coverage several hundred miles offshore , giving half an hour additional warning of an attack . Funding for design and construction of the towers was approved in January 1954 . Design . Each tower consisted of a triangular platform , 200 feet on each side , standing on three caisson legs . The structures were constructed on land , towed to site , and jacked up to clear the sea surface by 67 feet . Radar and other equipment was then installed on location . The platform itself contained two floors housing the living areas ; two of the legs held fuel oil for diesel generators , while the third held the intake for the desalinization unit . The platform roof served as a helicopter landing area . A rotary gantry was suspended from the platform to allow servicing of its underside . Each platform was equipped with one AN / FPS - 3 ( later upgraded to AN / FPS - 20 ) search radar and two AN / FPS - 6 height finder radars , each housed in a separate spherical neoprene radome 55 feet in diameter . Originally the towers were to be linked to shore by submarine cable , but this was eventually rejected as too costly ; the AN / FRC - 56 tropospheric scatter microwave link was installed instead , with an array of three parabolic antenna s attached to one edge of the platform . UHF and VHF equipment allowed communication with ships and aircraft as well as providing a backup to the microwave link . Installations . Five towers were planned , in an array off the New England / mid - Atlantic coast . The most northerly two proposed were dropped from plans due to budgetary constraints . Logistical support for all three towers was provided by the 4604th Support Squadron , based out of Otis AFB and specifically constituted for this mission . They were originally equipped with H - 21B helicopters , which were replaced with three Sikorsky SH - 3 helicopters acquired in 1962 . The " USNS New Bedford " was used to supply the stations , with transfer being affected with a platform called the " donut " , consisting of an inflated rubber ring surmounted by a railing , which was lowered from the platform to the waiting ship ' s deck . These transfers could only take place at slack tide , when the ship could maintain position . Operational history . Texas Tower 2 was the first to be come operational , starting limited service in May 1956 . It became fully operational in 1958 , as did Tower 3 ; Tower 4 followed in April 1959 . The original plan to integrate these radars into the SAGE system had to be modified when the direct cable connection was eliminated ; instead , they were used to provide manual inputs . All the towers were noisy and prone to vibration from the equipment . The relative flexibility of the supports also caused them to shake and sway in response to wind and waves . The frequent and sustained sounding of the platform ' s foghorn s was also an annoyance to the crew . Tower 4 was plagued with structural problems from the start . It stood in much deeper water than the other two ( 185 feet , compared to 80 feet for Tower 2 ) , and it was held that the simple cylindrical leg design would not be sturdy enough given the length of the legs . Therefore three sets of cross braces were added between the legs , attached with pin joints . These made it impossible to tow the platform on the level ; instead , the structure was laid on its side for transport and then tipped upright at the site . These braces proved to be frail and the joints prone to loosening : two braces broke loose during transport , and a third was lost when the tower was being placed on the bottom . Divers were brought in several times to inspect the structure and to perform repairs , and an additional set of crossbraces was installed immediately below the platform , above the waterline , in 1960 . Crewmen were frequently seasick from the swaying , and Tower 4 was nicknamed " Old Shaky " . On September 12 , 1960 , Hurricane Donna passed over Tower 4 , causing severe structural damage , including the loss of the flying bridge hanging beneath the platform , and one of the communications dishes . After assessment of the damage and initial repairs it was decided to reduce staffing to a skeleton crew and prepare to dismantle the station . The site could not simply be abandoned for fear that the Soviets would board it and remove sensitive equipment and documentation . Dismantling of the tower was therefore protracted . At the approach of another storm in January 1961 evacuation of the station was impeded by the inability of the commander to make contact with any of his three immediate superiors ; nonetheless the " New Bedford " set out for the platform . As the storm built , " USS Wasp " , which was in the vicinity , was also dispatched with the intent of evacuating the station via helicopter , shore aircraft being unable to take off . Both ships reached the vicinity but could do no more than watch the station disappear from their radar . No survivors were recovered , though divers were sent down on the chance that some might have been trapped in the wreckage . The loss of Tower 4 , together with the increasing emphasis on ICBM s as the predominant threat , led a reassessment of the remaining towers . Escape capsules were added to the two remaining towers , allowing rapid evacuation . Shortly thereafter it was decided to close the remaining towers , and the electronic equipment was removed . Both platforms were expected to be returned to shore for scrap , but Tower 2 sank and could not be recovered . Tower 3 was then filled with foam before being knocked off its support , and it was successfully returned to shore and dismantled . The wreckage of Towers 2 and 4 remains in place on the ocean floor . Radar coverage was taken over by alterations to EC - 121 airborne early warning flights based out of Otis Air Force Base .