Spraycliff by Catherine M. Wright @ M.Dwyer 2001
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Last update: 1297 |
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Information on "MICKEY" came from a study titled "Harbor Entrance Control Post, The HECP at Fort Burnside, Beavertail Point, Jamestown RI" by Varoujon Karentz, Jamestown RI for the Jamestown Historical Society in April 2000. |
The Spraycliff,(code name MICKEY) radar test and training station was located north of the HECP and on the west side of Beavertail Road, Beavertail Point, Jamestown RI. In operation from January 1942 through April 1945, it was a joint MIT Radiation Laboratory research facility and Naval Aviation training site for aviators flying out of Charlestown Naval Air Station, Charlestown, RI. John Hopkins University also conducted equipment tests in conjunction with the US Navy for some period after the war. MICKEY was a highly visible military facility. MICKEY with five radar towers and a stark rectangular building (The Systems Research Field Station) left no imagination as to its military mission. It demonstrates the contradictory thinking of camouflage value compared to the initial design and visual deception of the HECP structure. |
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( I disagree wth the last sentance. A visibile and juicy (but non-strategic) target provides longevity for more stragetic and critical functions. In the event of a conventional attack, Spraycliff, a training facility would be evacuated at the first indications of the attack. A sacrificial goat, so to say. ) |
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MICKEY provided important combat training for the war. Fighter pilots flying from Charlestown NAS were trained in night intercept maneuvers and new shipboard radar designs were tested prior to manufacture and installation on combat vessels. In addition, almost every US Navy aircraft carrier Combat Information Center (CIC) teams were trained there. With considerable air training exercises being conducted, a number of accidents took place and Spraucliff with the HECP participated in coordinated air/sea rescues of downed aircrew. Citations and awards were presented to the station and crewmen of the HECP for their life saving actions. |
Spraycliff by Catherine M. Wright @ M.Dwyer 2001
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An undated painting in the Jamestown Library by Catharine M. Wright protrays with fair accuracy the MICKEY facility/laboratory structure called the "Systems Research Field Station" with its many radar and communication masts. It was probably painted in the latter part or shortly after the war since many of the antennas replicated are of late WW 2 design. The painting is often mistaken as the HECP Command Post at Fort Burnside. |
Navy Officer Quarters & EM Barracks (Quonset Huts) by Catherine M. Wright @ M.Dwyer 2001
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