QUONSET HUTS

During the World War II years, the Quonset hut design was gradually modified from a structure using the original semi circular design of the Nissen hut to a twenty foot by forty eight foot interior living space with vertical side walls, which structure, in the end, required less shipping space than tents with wooden doors and frames. A major problem with the original curved design was that the curve of the walls began immediately at the floor and decreased the effective width of the hut. A new vertical structural rib was developed to support a four foot high side wall. The floor plan for this redesigned Quonset hut measured sixteen feet by thirty six feet. Multiple interior designs and a larger forty foot by one hundred foot warehouse were eventually developed when it became apparent that the huts would be needed for purposes other than housing troops and materiel. Other modifications, such as four foot exterior overhangs, were added, then scrapped, and drab olive paint for camoflaging..

Also known as: Quonset Huts Georgia

Primary location: Virginia Beach United States