Texas Tower 4

Common card · No. 417579

Texas Tower 4 (ADC ID: TT-4) was a United States Air Force Texas Towers General Surveillance Radar station, located 63 miles (101 km) south-southeast off the coast of Long Island, New York in 185 feet (56 m) of water. Hurricane Donna struck the tower in September 1960, seriously damaging it. The tower was the site of an accident and was destroyed by a winter storm on January 15, 1961. None of the 28 airmen and civilian contractors who were manning the station survived. Texas Tower 4 was one in a series of manned radar stations called "Texas Towers" because they resembled the oil-drilling platforms of the Gulf of Mexico. Air Defense Command (ADC) estimated that the Texas Towers would help extend contiguous East Coast radar coverage some 300 to 500 miles seaward. This would provide the United States with an extra 30 minutes of warning time in the event of an incoming bomber attack by the Soviet Union.

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