Historic California Posts, Camps,
Stations and Airfields
Capetown Gap Filler Annex P-33A
Typical AN/FPS-14
Gap Filler Radar
"During the late 1950s another area
of progress was the development and deployment of AN/FPS-14 and
AN/FPS-18 gap-filler radars. Having a range of around sixty-five
miles, these radars were placed in areas where it was thought
enemy aircraft could fly low to avoid detection by the longer-range
radars of the permanent and mobile radar networks. Gap-filler
radar deployment peaked in December 1960 at 131 sites throughout
the continental United States. Because the introduction of gap-filler
radars alleviated the need for civilians to scan the skies for
enemy bombers, the ADC disestablished the Ground Observer Corps
on January 31, 1959."
Searching The Skies
USAF Air Combat Command
June, 1997
Typical floorplan
of a Gap Filler Annex
On 23 March 1946, the U.S. Air Force acquired
0.28 fee acre and 4.10 easement acres from a private resident.
The site was known as Capetown Gap Filler Annex (Z-33A). The Air
Force Air Defense Command used the site for a radar transmitter
that covered areas that could not be covered by Klamath Air Force
Station (P-33/Z-33/J-83) at Crecent City. On 8 February 1967,
the General Services Administration (GSA) quitclaimed the 4.38
acres to a private resident who later sold it to another private
resident. The 4.38-acre site is located in Humboldt County, CA
approximately 36 miles southwest of the City of Eureka. The site
is currently owned by a private resident and is used as a ranch.
Latitude: 40-26-40.37 N, Longitude: 124-23-27.56
W
