Naval Air Station Glenview

Naval Air Station Glenview or NAS Glenview was an operational U.S. Naval Air Station from 1923 to 1995. Located in Glenview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, the air base primarily operated training aircraft as well as seaplanes on nearby Lake Michigan. wikipedia

Navy Pier opened to the public on July 15, 1916. Originally known as the "Municipal Pier". In 1941, during World War II, the pier became a training center for the United States Navy; about 10,000 people worked, trained and lived there. wikipedia

The United States Navy acquired the side paddlewheel steamer Seeandbee on 12 March 1942. The name Wolverine was approved on 2 August 1942. Fitted with a 550 ft flight deck, USS Wolverine began her new job in January 1943, joined by her sister USS Sable in May. page

Operating various aircraft out of Naval Air Station Glenview the two paddle wheelers provided a training platform not only for pilots, but for Landing Signal Officers as well.

The shallow draft USS Sable (right) and USS Wolverine in their home port of Chicago during the war. Parked together we can see the additional length of Sable over Wolverine. The first few hundred feet of the Navy Pier can be seen to the right. enlarge

Overlay map of NAS Glenview (ca. 1945) airfield where Navy pilots initially departed for nearby qualification training carrier on Lake Michigan. page map github

For twenty years, The Glenview Hangar One Foundation has done a tremendous job in preventing the loss of the substantive history of NASG and in preserving several of the air base's historic buildings such as the Hangar One Tower. GHOF operates the current NASG Museum situated adjacent to former base property. site

This is an oral and visual history written and produced by Lisa Zimbler along with the students and faculty of the Glenbrook South High School Advanced Television class.

The Glen, redevelopment plan. 1996. pdf