https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/10/20/quonset-huts-a-practical-building-solution-for-the-u-s-navy-during-world-war-ii/

Quonset huts: A practical building solution for the U.S. Navy during World War II

In 1941, the U.S. Navy needed a versatile, multi-use building that was easy to ship and could be assembled without any special skills or tools.

Quonset huts filled the needs perfectly. Put simply, a Quonset hut (also known as Arch Buildings due to its shape) is a prefabricated metal structure made of corrugated steel that has a semicircular cross-section.

This involves self-supporting lengths of steel, usually connected in a semi-circular shape. These buildings provide advantages no other pre-engineered building can provide – low cost and high-security structures.