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Re: NAVFAC Cape Hatteras Memories

I was stationed at Hatteras 50 years ago, amazing how time flies. I can understand why there isn't much info on line due to the sensitive nature of the base. There wasn't much to do there other than fishing, camping, or 4 wheeling on the dunes. I do remember the amazing view from the lighthouse, and the 200 ft plus climb to the top, the lighthouse was such a tour attraction the Navy posted a sign at the entrance to the base saying "this is NOT the way to the lighthouse" !
I spent a year there and never remember not hearing the sound of the ocean, funny how some things stay in memory. Remember trying to get to the coast guard base one evening in a 2 wheel drive (plymouth valiant) and getting stuck in the sand,had to have the Coasties rescue us! I had to chuckle when the movie summer of 42 came out and they spoke of raiding the Coast Guard Station!
I remember the somewhat long ride from Nags Head to Buxton and on a few occasions seeing prisoners working along the side of the road shakled together with armed guards in front and back of the line.
Being from the Northeast I never saw anything like this and caused me to wonder I was in for.
By you finding this site I will assume you got a general idea of this Navfac's purpose.
Do you live there full time or just seasonally ?

Re: NAVFAC Cape Hatteras Memories

Hello, thanks for the response! The lighthouse is still a huge tourist attraction, and although they moved it a few thousand yards inland in 1999, the view is still great. I guess they had just built the bridge over Oregon Inlet onto Hatteras Island in 1970. I don't think they use prison work on the road any more, but the road still gets covered with water and sand very often. Maybe they should consider using prison labor again! They are building a "jug handle bridge" that will swing out over the sound north of Rodanthe, because the road floods so much.

My wife and I live here year round, and there still isn't a whole lot to do, which is fine with us! Buxton is much bigger than it was back then, you would barely recognize it. We live on Diamond Shoals Dr. right behind where the base housing was. Our neighborhood was laid out in 1968, and they started building some of the houses then. The locals here call the site the old coast guard station, and surprisingly few know about the Navfac. I have read a good deal about IUSS and the work you were doing. When I gather more information and more memories from people like you, I'd like to write an article for the local paper about it.

There is an interesting report done by a company that was taking sand from the offshore shoals for beach replenishment. They had to do surveys of the areas under the ocean there to make sure they didn't disturb anything historical, like shipwrecks. They found tons of cable and pipes and electronic equipment, miles of it! That was about 5 years ago.

Thanks again for your memories, and your service! Be well! -Mike

Re: NAVFAC Cape Hatteras Memories

Mike,

Check out a fictionalized account of the NAVFAC, set in 1970, written by an officer stationed there. The Nook version is still the best bet at $4.99. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-last-tour-of-duty-a-p-greenwood/1122078480?ean=9781611393699

Below is a review/post I wrote on SOSUS Facebook.

Best,

John
**********************************************************************************************
John F. Glass is feeling excited.
October 18, 2018
[Update: Summertime reading. Same book, slightly different title. Barnes & Noble Nook, best price.]

SOSUS in Literature! NAVFAC Cape Hatteras is featured in AP Greenwood’s Cold War Thriller which you can download on Nook for 5 bucks. There’s a lot going on at the base, island & off the coast - under the sea – when the main character, a short-timer Lt. Cdr. Alex Wolfe, arrives in 1970. While some of the plot is fanciful & the backstory of Wolfe is a bit of a stretch, the Naval Facility & surrounding areas ring true. Take a look inside or buy it and, for some, relive your watch, back in the day! He & his publisher are shopping a screenplay to the industry, but I won't link the film treatment since there are numerous spoilers. There’s also a later book & Kindle version with a slightly different title, and a bit more expensive, self-published by the author who was an officer at the base.

In 1970, with nineteen years of service, and after his second tour of duty in Vietnam, Lieutenant Commander Alex Wolfe is assigned his final duty station, Naval Facility Cape Hatteras with its secret mission of using passive sonar systems to track the movement of Soviet submarines. He is told...

BARNESANDNOBLE.COM
The Last Tour of Duty: A Novel|NOOK Book
In 1970, with nineteen years of service, and after his second tour of duty in Vietnam, Lieutenant Commander Alex Wolfe is assigned his final duty station, Naval Facility Cape Hatteras with its secret mission of using passive sonar systems to track the movement of Soviet submarines. He is told...

Re: NAVFAC Cape Hatteras Memories

Hi John! Thanks. for the link! I am aware of this book. I am going to order a real book copy, because a couple of my neighbors want to read it also. I also read on another thread here that a couple people stationed at NAVFAC Hatteras at the time Greenwood was said to be stationed here don't remember anyone of that name! I guess it could be a pen name.

Thanks again!

Mike

Re: NAVFAC Cape Hatteras Memories

Hey Mike,

That looks to be his name & Navy background, as shown on his website (answer #6), though he may have moved the story line to Cape Hatteras. http://apgreenwood.net/questions.shtml He says on an early blog post - about when he was writing "NAVFAC" - that he is a storyteller, under "Lying and Creativity," so maybe he took some liberties with the book. The background of the Navfac ops & area ring true in the novel, or at least believable, to me. I was apparently incorrect in stating that he was stationed there, so convincing was he! You'll have to see how it works for you and your friends who were there at the time.

Best,

John

Re: NAVFAC Cape Hatteras Memories

Hey.

I was stationed at Hatteras from August, 1978 until March, 1982. It was the last of 3 NAVFACs for me.

I have been back to the island several times since then, last time in 2010 I think.

Here is a story that some may remember.

Behind the mess hall was a pond. More a lake really but it was called a pond. It went all the way over to lighthouse road. Back then all the fresh water ponds had bass in them. In fact one of the state record bass back in the day came from a pond down by the laundry mat. The bass all disappeared back in the 1989 hurricane/tornado if I am told correctly. Not sure why. Anyway, I digress.

I had only been there a couple of days. We were at dinner and one of the cooks came in from a break and stated very loudly, there's an alligator in the pond. Everybody sort of laughed and said, "yeah right" and continued eating. The guy who was claiming to have seen the alligator was apparently a known prankster so most everybody just ignored him and didn't think much of it.

Several days later, other people started reporting gator sightings in the pond.

Sure enough, there was a big alligator in the pond. If I remember right, and that is quite iffy these days, he was at 12 feet long. The number I am remembering is 16 but I am not sure. Point is, it was not a little 6 or 8 foot alligator, this was a real alligator.

Out in the pond, right behind the mess hall, maybe 75 feet out, there was a little sand island and that is where he took to hanging out during the day. For a while, people would go and feed him scraps from dinner but eventually it seemed to sink in that that was probably not a great idea and pretty soon the alligator just became a normal thing to have there.

I used to fish that pond a lot and I would be down behind the mess hall and would wade out in the water a bit while casting. As soon as I would enter the water he would come off of his island and swim over to about 25 feet or so in front of me and just sit there watching, just his eyes and snout showing. That kind of spoiled the fishing of course but it was interesting to see what he did.

Eventually the game wardens came around and captured him and moved him to a more appropriate location. The word passed aorund was they said that he had probably been run out of his home area or his old water hole had dried out and he swam up the islands looking for another place, found the pond full of bass and said "hey, this looks like home" and settled in.

So, that is my story about the Hatteras Alligator for you.


Re: NAVFAC Cape Hatteras Memories

Ha, that's awesome! Thanks for the story!

Re: NAVFAC Cape Hatteras Memories

And that folks is a true story. I was there '77-'79 and witnessed that dude myself. Contained my fishing to the beach LOL

Re: NAVFAC Cape Hatteras Memories

Like John (and probably on his crew when he was a chief at COSL and I a OTA1 fresh back from Japan) I went to hatteras on an ORI....so, I had been to Iceland, Newfoundland, 3 years in Japan..went back to COSL and worked the ORI at hatteras...have to say I was underwhelmed...BUT...the BBQ we had during and after the drill was great!! Cape Hatteras was much the same....but all good times....

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