Naval Air Station Alameda (NAS Alameda) was a United States Navy Naval Air Station in Alameda, California, on San Francisco Bay. NAS Alameda had two runways: 13–31 measuring and 07-25 measuring . Two helicopter pads and a control tower were also part of the facilities. History In 1927, wetlands at the west end of Alameda Island on the east shore of San Francisco Bay were filled to form an airport (Alameda Airport) with an east–west runway, three hangars, an administration building, and a yacht harbor. The airport site included the Alameda Terminal of the First transcontinental railroad (California Historical Landmark #440). By 1930, United States Army Air Corps operations referred to the site as Benton Field. Pan American World Airways used the yacht harbor as the California terminal for China Clipper trans-Pacific flights beginning in 1935. The China Clipper terminal is designated California Historical Landmark #968. On 1 June 1936, the city of Alameda, California ceded the airport to the United States government a few months before the Army discontinued operations from the field. Pan American World Airways shifted its terminal to Treasure Island in 1939 for the Golden Gate International Exposition. Congressional appropriations passed in 1938 for construction of naval air station facilities for two carrier air wings, five seaplane squadrons and two utility squadrons. Appropriations were increased in 1940 for construction of two seaplane hangars and an aircraft carrier berthing pier. Naval operations began on 1 November 1940. – 1997 Fleet Air Wing 8 began patrol and scouting missions following the attack on Pearl Harbor. In April 1942, loaded at Alameda the 16 B-25 aircraft that would take part in the Doolittle Raid on Japan. From August through December 1944, US President Richard Nixon was assigned to Fleet Air Wing 8 at Naval Air Station Alameda, California. Air support training unit No. 2 at Alameda included the fleet radar operator's school, Link celestial navigation trainer school, and aviation storekeeper school. As World War II continued, Alameda became headquarters for a system of auxiliary airfields: Naval Auxiliary Air Station Arcata Clear Lake Outlying Field Concord Outlying Field Crescent City Outlying Field Crows Landing Naval Auxiliary Air Station Fallon Auxiliary Airfield Half Moon Bay Outlying Field Hollister Auxiliary Airfield King City Auxiliary Airfield Livermore Auxiliary Airfield Monterey Auxiliary Airfield Oakland Auxiliary Airfield Paso Robles Outlying Field San Francisco Auxiliary Airfield San Luis Obispo Outlying Field Santa Rosa Outlying Field Treasure