Photo Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2015.068.3 |
Object Name |
Print, Photographic |
Description |
Texas Tower 3 - 1956 - under construction in the former shipyard basins of the East Yard. Construction of Texas Tower 3 was completed in 1956. TT3 was launched at night on August 7, 1956, and towed in one piece to the Nantucket Shoals, where it was stationed about 50 miles southeast of Nantucket Island, MA. The two Texas Towers built in South Portland were large radar towers used by the Air Force as part of their Air Defense Command system, designed to provide an alert of enemy attack by air. In the mid-1950s, the Air Force decided to add these Texas Tower structures to the system, which was estimated to extend the radar coverage range by 300 to 500 miles - adding an extra 30 minutes of early warning time of an air attack. The primary contractor was Steers & Morrison-Knudsen out of New York, and the lead contractor here in South Portland was Walsh-Holyoke Division, Continental Copper and Steel Industries, Inc. |
Dimension Details |
3" x 3" |
Date |
1956 |
Search Terms |
Texas Towers Cushing's Point Walsh Construction Company Continental Copper and Steel Industries, Inc. Portland Machine Tool Works, Inc. East Yard (post-war) |
Subjects |
Radar Towers Air forces |