 The largest hangar in the world, 700 feet long and over 100 feet tall, was built to accommodate an airship under construction in Britain.However, the R38 (ZR-2) crashed on its test flight and "lighter-than-air" craft were never fully adopted for Navy use.In 1924, the U.S. Coast Guard occupied the base and established air facilities for planes used in support of United States Customs Service efforts.