Last updated: May 17, 2022
Place
Nike Missile Site SF88 Interpretive wayside
Linda Coldiron
Nike Missile Site SF88: Cold-War era defense system By 1945, the age of aerial warfare had fully arrived, and the U.S. Army sought a weapon that could intercept enemy aircraft. In 1951, after years of research and development, a supersonic missile controlled by ground-based electronic equipment was developed—the Nike, named for the Greek Goddess of victory.
Nike Missile Site SF88 – Cold War-era defense system AD
WAYSIDE TITLE: Nike Missile Site SF88 – Cold War-era defense system
VIEW FROM WAYSIDE: You are directly overlooking the Nike Missile Site SF88, a cold-war era defense system located slightly below you and a short distance away. A chain length fence surrounds this historic military installation. In the distance, large hill formations can be seen in the distance.
Immediately behind you, just a short distance away, is a second interpretive wayside. Battery Alexander sits at the foot of a receding slope beyond that. Further away, the landscape is dotted with a series of trees.
To your left, a slopped meadow landscape descends to the valley floor below culminating in Rodeo Lagoon. Fort Cronkite, which was originally an army base but is now utilized by National Park Service, lies beyond that. Hill formations can be seen in the distance.
To your right is Field’s Road. Immediately beyond the road, a hilly landscape with a moderate incline is interspersed with low brush and is dotted with coniferous tress.
TEXT: By 1945, the age of aerial warfare had fully arrived, and the U.S. Army sought a weapon that could intercept enemy aircraft. In 1951, after years of research and development, a supersonic missile controlled by ground-based electronic equipment was developed—the Nike, named for the Greek Goddess of victory.
The first Nike weapons—shrapnels and explosives-loaded Ajax missiles—could take down an airplane 37 miles offshore. As Cold War tensions and fear of a nuclear attack on the American mainland grew, the Nike program acquired new Hercules Missiles. Armed with a nuclear warhead, the Hercules could travel 75 miles, destroy everything within a 20-mile radius of its strike, and eliminate an entire formation of planes.
IMAGE LAYOUT: Various diagrams and photographs are portrayed as insets.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: At the lower left, a regional map displays Nike Missile sites in the region, including San Rafael SF-93, Marin Headlands, SF-87, SF-88, Angel Island SF-91, Wildcat Peak, SF-08/09.
CAPTION: None of the Bay Area Nike site ever fired a missile at a hostile target. All practice exercises were conducted at missile ranges in New Mexico and Texas.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: At top center, a diagram shows the layout of Nike Missile Site SF88.
CAPTION: Nike Missile Site SF88 is the only preserved Nike installation in the country. To learn more about guided tours, visit the Park website at www.nps.gov/goga/.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: At the lower center, a photograph of an army handler with sentry dog and a Nike Hercules missile behind.
CAPTION: In 1959, with the arrival of the Nike Hercules missile and nuclear capability, security at SF88 was tightened. The fence was doubled, and sentry dogs guarded the site 24 hours a day. Each dog was rigidly trained to respond to a single handler and lived and was trained onsite in a nearby kennel.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: At the upper right, a photograph of a series of four radar-guided surface-to-air missiles is shown.
CAPTION: Constructed in the 1950s, the launch site before you was armed with radar-guided surface-to-air missiles designed to destroy enemy aircraft. Active until 1974, it was one of eleven Bay Area Nike missile sites—and the final generation of coastal defenses installed in the Marin Headlands.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: At the lower right, a diagram showing the communication series for rocket launch.
CAPTION: SF88’s integrated fire control center, as Nike radar operations were called, was located high on the ridge on the north side of Rodeo Valley, (straight ahead). It provided instructions for the missile launch site located at Fort Cronkhite. There was an acquisition radar to search for enemy aircraft, a missile tracking radar to monitor the course of a launched missile, and target tracking and ranging radars to follow a plane’s movement and provide the data necessary to continuously adjust he missile’s trajectory and ensure a successful strike.
Nike Missile Site SF88 – Cold War-era defense system AD
WAYSIDE TITLE: Nike Missile Site SF88 – Cold War-era defense system
VIEW FROM WAYSIDE: You are directly overlooking the Nike Missile Site SF88, a cold-war era defense system located slightly below you and a short distance away. A chain length fence surrounds this historic military installation. In the distance, large hill formations can be seen in the distance.
Immediately behind you, just a short distance away, is a second interpretive wayside. Battery Alexander sits at the foot of a receding slope beyond that. Further away, the landscape is dotted with a series of trees.
To your left, a slopped meadow landscape descends to the valley floor below culminating in Rodeo Lagoon. Fort Cronkite, which was originally an army base but is now utilized by National Park Service, lies beyond that. Hill formations can be seen in the distance.
To your right is Field’s Road. Immediately beyond the road, a hilly landscape with a moderate incline is interspersed with low brush and is dotted with coniferous tress.
TEXT: By 1945, the age of aerial warfare had fully arrived, and the U.S. Army sought a weapon that could intercept enemy aircraft. In 1951, after years of research and development, a supersonic missile controlled by ground-based electronic equipment was developed—the Nike, named for the Greek Goddess of victory.
The first Nike weapons—shrapnels and explosives-loaded Ajax missiles—could take down an airplane 37 miles offshore. As Cold War tensions and fear of a nuclear attack on the American mainland grew, the Nike program acquired new Hercules Missiles. Armed with a nuclear warhead, the Hercules could travel 75 miles, destroy everything within a 20-mile radius of its strike, and eliminate an entire formation of planes.
IMAGE LAYOUT: Various diagrams and photographs are portrayed as insets.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: At the lower left, a regional map displays Nike Missile sites in the region, including San Rafael SF-93, Marin Headlands, SF-87, SF-88, Angel Island SF-91, Wildcat Peak, SF-08/09.
CAPTION: None of the Bay Area Nike site ever fired a missile at a hostile target. All practice exercises were conducted at missile ranges in New Mexico and Texas.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: At top center, a diagram shows the layout of Nike Missile Site SF88.
CAPTION: Nike Missile Site SF88 is the only preserved Nike installation in the country. To learn more about guided tours, visit the Park website at www.nps.gov/goga/.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: At the lower center, a photograph of an army handler with sentry dog and a Nike Hercules missile behind.
CAPTION: In 1959, with the arrival of the Nike Hercules missile and nuclear capability, security at SF88 was tightened. The fence was doubled, and sentry dogs guarded the site 24 hours a day. Each dog was rigidly trained to respond to a single handler and lived and was trained onsite in a nearby kennel.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: At the upper right, a photograph of a series of four radar-guided surface-to-air missiles is shown.
CAPTION: Constructed in the 1950s, the launch site before you was armed with radar-guided surface-to-air missiles designed to destroy enemy aircraft. Active until 1974, it was one of eleven Bay Area Nike missile sites—and the final generation of coastal defenses installed in the Marin Headlands.
DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE: At the lower right, a diagram showing the communication series for rocket launch.
CAPTION: SF88’s integrated fire control center, as Nike radar operations were called, was located high on the ridge on the north side of Rodeo Valley, (straight ahead). It provided instructions for the missile launch site located at Fort Cronkhite. There was an acquisition radar to search for enemy aircraft, a missile tracking radar to monitor the course of a launched missile, and target tracking and ranging radars to follow a plane’s movement and provide the data necessary to continuously adjust he missile’s trajectory and ensure a successful strike.