Museum Review - Nike Site SF88

After our visit to Fort Point, we headed across the Golden Gate bridge to the Marin Headlands. The whole area on the north side of the Golden Gate used to belong to the Army, which installed numerous batteries there from the 1890s to the 1940s, many of which can be visited. But that was only secondary to our real objective, Nike Site SF-88, a Cold War-era SAM site that is the only real memorial to a massive network of air defenses built in the 1950s to protect America from Soviet bomber attack.

The Nike system grew out of concerns in late WWII that aircraft would soon be flying too high and too fast for existing gun-based systems to handle, necessitating a weapon that could alter its course in flight. The obvious answer was to use a rocket, and both Army and Navy began developing systems on that basis. The Army's was called Nike, and it was designed primarily to protect American cities and military bases from Soviet bombers. The first site became operational in 1954, and the system was rapidly built out, with a total of 265 batteries built around the country. The initial Nike Ajax missile, had a range of only 30 miles, and with no more than four launchers per site, it would likely be overwhelmed by a large attack. The answer was the bigger Nike Hercules missile, which could not only reach out almost 100 miles, but also carry a large nuclear warhead, hopefully capable of taking out multiple bombers at once. Most Ajax sites were modernized to take the new missile, although a fair number were shut down as no longer needed. The follow-on to Hercules, called Nike Zeus, would have been intended to shoot down ballistic missiles, but it was sadly cancelled. The majority of the American Hercules sites were shut down in 1974, leaving the country without any serious ground-based air defenses, although a few soldiered on for another 5 years.

Our guide discussing the nuclear warhead carrier

Today, the remains of the Nike program can be found across the country, mostly in various states of neglect. The only one that is being operated as a proper museum is SF-88, nestled in the mountains maybe 10 minutes from the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge, although the route there involves going through a narrow tunnel that switches directions. Also worth noting is that the site itself has poor to nonexistent cell service. But it's entirely worth it, because they've done an excellent job restoring it, and the result is very cool to see. When you first arrive, you can see the assembly building and the old generator building, which they use as a sort of mini-museum. This is where the tour will start from, although if you're lucky (as we were) there might be a Nike veteran there to talk to while you wait. The tour, led by a park ranger, runs every hour or so, and takes a little over an hour. The guide will talk you through the process of running the site, including assembling the missile, taking it for warhead fitting and fueling (for the liquid-fueled Nike Ajax). They've moved radars and fire-control vans, which would have been on the top of a nearby hill, down into the battery, and you can actually go inside the vans and look at the 50s-era guidance equipment.

Missiles in the underground magazine

But the real gem is the launch site itself. Up to six ready missiles were stored in an underground bunker, being raised one by one from the bunker out onto the launch rails, which could take up to four missiles ready for firing. The bunker has been beautifully restored, with a full complement of Nike Hercules and an operational elevator, which the ranger raised and lowered for us. The whole thing was wonderfully atmospheric, particularly as she went out of her way to point out the human side of crewing these batteries. There is very little in the way of barriers, and we were even encouraged to try sliding one of the missiles along the track down in the bunkers, as that was the way they were moved in service. The whole thing made me want to pull out the nuclear bomb slide rule and sing Tom Lehrer songs. Maybe not quite as strongly as the Titan silo in Tucson, but it was still a lot of fun. Afterwards, it was back to the museum for another talk with the guy who had actually launched missiles.

A mortar position at Battery Alexander, with a rather unusual camouflage scheme

Also worth noting are a number of coastal defense batteries in the surrounding area. We checked out two, Battery Mendell, a 12" disappearing gun battery from the Endicott period, and Battery Alexander, a 12" mortar battery from the same era. Alexander is actually visible from the Nike site, although getting there would require hiking along the road, so they recommend you drive. Mendell is a little bit further up, overlooking the Pacific, but with a wonderful view back towards the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco, as well as reliable cell service. Neither battery is in great physical shape, and Mendell has only a single sign, while Alexander is entirely unsigned. Still, they're both neat atmospherically, and I particularly enjoyed getting to see Alexander, one of the few mortar batteries left. I wouldn't necessarily recommend going out of your way to get to either, but if you still have energy after SF88, then these (and a number of other batteries in the area, the Park Service has a map they give out) are worth seeing.