World War II Fortress, Navy SEALs & Hollywood Glamour
Pacific Fleet carrier hub, birth of Navy SEAL BUD/S training, and Marilyn Monroe stars in Some Like It Hot.
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Key Archival Photograph of the Era
Historic Archive Record
U.S. Navy SEAL operators at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, home of BUD/S and Naval Special Warfare Command.
Documented Historical Synthesis
Step #7 Archival ChronicleFollowing the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Coronado was transformed into a vital frontline command center for the Pacific Fleet. North Island operated 24 hours a day as the primary embarkation harbor and repair depot for aircraft carriers, while thousands of naval aviators and aircraft mechanics deployed across the Pacific theater.
In 1943, the United States Navy founded the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado on the Silver Strand. Under the leadership of Captain Draper Kauffman, the base became the operational birthplace of the Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT), the famed combat frogmen whose beach-clearing operations saved countless lives during Pacific island assaults and Normandy.
In 1945, military engineers filled the tidal channel of Spanish Bight with millions of cubic yards of dredged sand, permanently merging North Island with the Coronado peninsula. During the postwar 1950s, the UDT evolved into the elite Navy SEALs, while Hollywood glamour illuminated the island in 1958 when Billy Wilder filmed the comedy classic Some Like It Hot starring Marilyn Monroe on the Hotel Del sands.
Photographic Suite (7 Archival Photographs)
Record #1 United States Navy SEALs Training at Coronado
U.S. Navy SEAL operators at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, home of BUD/S and Naval Special Warfare Command.
Record #2 Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot (1958)
Marilyn Monroe as "Sugar Kane" in Billy Wilder’s classic Some Like It Hot, filmed on location at Hotel del Coronado in autumn 1958.
Record #3 USS Long Island Moored at Naval Air Station North Island (June 1942)
Aircraft carrier USS Long Island moored at NAS North Island on June 2, 1942, during the pivotal Pacific Fleet WWII mobilization.
Record #4 Naval Amphibious Base Coronado Beach Training Operations
U.S. Navy tactical training and beach landing operations at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado on the Silver Strand, commissioned in 1943.
Record #5 Navy Underwater Demolition Team UDT Frogmen Training
Navy Underwater Demolition Team frogmen conducting combat demolition and reconnaissance tactical training with fins and masks along the Coronado beach coastline.
Record #6 Aerial Airfield at NAS North Island
Historic aircraft aprons and runway expansions created when 28 million cubic yards of bay sediment filled the Spanish Bight in 1944-1945.
Record #7 Coronado Municipal Golf Course on Glorietta Bay
Fairways and greens of the Coronado Municipal Golf Course along Glorietta Bay, celebrated since 1957 as one of California’s most scenic public championship links.
Chronological Milestones of this Era
7 Recorded Events 1943 Naval Amphibious Base & Navy SEAL BUD/S Center
Naval Amphibious Base Coronado is established, becoming the world headquarters and crucible of Navy SEAL training.
1958 Marilyn Monroe Films "Some Like It Hot"
Billy Wilder transforms Hotel Del into the Seminole Ritz for the American Film Institute’s #1 comedy of all time.
1941 World War II Pacific Fleet Mobilization at North Island
Following Pearl Harbor, North Island becomes the supreme aircraft carrier hub for the Pacific War.
1943 Commissioning of Naval Amphibious Base Coronado
The Navy establishes the Amphibious Training Base on Silver Strand for WWII Pacific assault landing operations.
1944 Birth of Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT Frogmen)
The legendary "Naked Warriors" are formed in Coronado, pioneering combat diving and obstacle clearance.
1945 Spanish Bight Infilled: Connecting North Island to South Island
The shallow water channel separating North Island and Coronado is filled in to create one contiguous peninsula.
1957 Coronado Municipal Golf Course Opens on Glorietta Bay
Jack Daray designs one of America’s most scenic public waterfront golf courses hugging Glorietta Bay.
Prominent Figures of This Era
Primary Archival Sources for 1940-1968
- Coronado Historical Association Archival Collection and Photographic Registry
- National Register of Historic Places Documentation and Architectural Surveys
- Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division (Detroit Publishing and HABS)
- San Diego History Center Cartographic and Municipal Archives
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