Airborne Nuclear Weapons incidents
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PPRT, how quaint. In the 60s you already had Nudets.
In UK we had the Royal Observer Corps, volunteers in small buried bunkers spread discretely around the UK and manned by 3 people. Burst direction was observed using the burn marks on a paper screen I believe. Many bunkers were only a few miles from major target s but they should have been OK.
Less fortunate would have been their liaison officers at the target.
In UK we had the Royal Observer Corps, volunteers in small buried bunkers spread discretely around the UK and manned by 3 people. Burst direction was observed using the burn marks on a paper screen I believe. Many bunkers were only a few miles from major target s but they should have been OK.
Less fortunate would have been their liaison officers at the target.
PPRT, how quaint. In the 60s you already had Nudets.
In UK we had the Royal Observer Corps, volunteers in small buried bunkers spread discretely around the UK and manned by 3 people. Burst direction was observed using the burn marks on a paper screen I believe. Many bunkers were only a few miles from major target s but they should have been OK.
Less fortunate would have been their liaison officers at the target.
In UK we had the Royal Observer Corps, volunteers in small buried bunkers spread discretely around the UK and manned by 3 people. Burst direction was observed using the burn marks on a paper screen I believe. Many bunkers were only a few miles from major target s but they should have been OK.
Less fortunate would have been their liaison officers at the target.
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Thanks PP and Tocsin (now I know where Tocsin comes from). The Royal Observer Corps of WWII is legendary, had no idea they had a mission into the nuke age. Wikipedia has a lot of info on the ROC and their equipment, including the Bomb Power Indicator and Ground Zero Indicator. Most interesting, much more organized and thought out than my experience. I'm thankful that the balloon never went up, though the incidents in this thread are hair-raising.
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Funny story about what it would have been like on the receiving end. During the early 70's I was a radar tech stationed on a mountain top just NW of the Golden Gate Bridge. We had a exercise. I was given a stopwatch, a compass, a telephone, and a dosimeter, and told to sit in a foxhole on the edge of the peak with a gorgeous view of the San Francisco Bay Area. There was a phone jack for the phone. I was to scan the scene, and when I saw the flash of a nuke going off, start my stopwatch and use my compass to take a bearing to the mushroom cloud. When I heard the bang I was to note the time interval, and phone in the bearing and time. In the operations building they had a large map of the bay area, with a measuring stick marked in seconds at the speed of sound. They would swing that to the bearing and mark the distance given by the flash/bang interval. The dosimeter was a yellow pen-like thing. You looked thru it like a telescope and you'd see a scale and some indicator of how much radiation you'd been exposed to. I put it in the pocket of my field jacket and forgot to return it, still have it. I laugh to think what it would have been like, an earnest 21 yr old trying to keep track of flash/bang intervals as nukes went off like popcorn popping.
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Was told a story by a former Engineering Officer (now sadly passed), who was ground crew on one of the bomber squadrons.
He was leaning in to the cockpit to check the straps etc on the pilots during one of the 'exercises' when all the pens from his top pocket fell on to the floor.
Despite scrabbling around he couldn't find them all.
The crew agreed to keep quiet about it as it would have made their aircraft u/s.
I can't remember how much of his bar tab it cost him though.
He was leaning in to the cockpit to check the straps etc on the pilots during one of the 'exercises' when all the pens from his top pocket fell on to the floor.
Despite scrabbling around he couldn't find them all.
The crew agreed to keep quiet about it as it would have made their aircraft u/s.
I can't remember how much of his bar tab it cost him though.
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Yes Roadster280, I was stationed on top of Mt Tamalpias. There is still a radar there, but now it's an automated FAA radar. When I first got there we shared the site with the army, they used our radar data for those Nike missiles. Visitors to the San Francisco area can check out that Nike missile site at the Marin Headlands State Park. They also have a 16" gun on display, from the WWII era. If you visit, check that out, and also Angel Island. They had a Nike site out there too, with notches cut out of the hillside to fire at Ruskie bombers coming in from the NW.
One more funny nuke story, distantly related to Flapjackmuncher's tale. My dad refueled nuclear subs at Mare Island. They found half a booty IN THE REACTOR VESSEL. The refueling operation was halted while they searched for the OTHER HALF. This is all very expensive and embarrassing. After a few days of desperate searching, they find another HALF A BOOTY. It is compared with the first half. Does not match. <brief pause> Success is declared, on with the refueling.
For another unbelievable screwup, see the USS Guitarro. The sinking part. I don't know how we survived the Cold War.
One more funny nuke story, distantly related to Flapjackmuncher's tale. My dad refueled nuclear subs at Mare Island. They found half a booty IN THE REACTOR VESSEL. The refueling operation was halted while they searched for the OTHER HALF. This is all very expensive and embarrassing. After a few days of desperate searching, they find another HALF A BOOTY. It is compared with the first half. Does not match. <brief pause> Success is declared, on with the refueling.
For another unbelievable screwup, see the USS Guitarro. The sinking part. I don't know how we survived the Cold War.
Thanks PP and Tocsin (now I know where Tocsin comes from). The Royal Observer Corps of WWII is legendary, had no idea they had a mission into the nuke age. Wikipedia has a lot of info on the ROC and their equipment, including the Bomb Power Indicator and Ground Zero Indicator. Most interesting, much more organized and thought out than my experience. I'm thankful that the balloon never went up, though the incidents in this thread are hair-raising
In 1969 I was Joe'd off as Project Officer for the ROC Annual Camp at RAF Watton - several hundred Observers for each of 6 weeks. Commandant was Air Commodore Rixon (ISTR) who each Friday hosted a VIP lunch. First guest was the then Minister of State and as a naive youngster in ignorance I tried separating the Minister from his protection officer. Other mistake was when the VIP guest was to be the Duke of Norfolk. Woke in the middle of the night exclaiming "He's a (adjectival) Catholic" - which surprised the then Mrs W. I explained that I had just realised that the VIP lunch was Friday, the D of N was the UK's leading lay Catholic and we were planning to give him roast beef. Fortunately between Wednesday and Friday we manage to source a fishy alternative. The ROC were a committed bunch of boys and girls and good fun to have around.
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There's a whole sub-forum for ROC posts including those that have been restored on the 28 Days later Urbex site:
ROC Posts | 28DaysLater.co.uk
ROC Posts | 28DaysLater.co.uk
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MAINJAFAD, enjoyed that, particularly the guy who ventures out of the bunker to change the Ground Zero Indicator... casually glancing over his shoulder at a mushroom cloud.
MAINJAFAD, enjoyed that, particularly the guy who ventures out of the bunker to change the Ground Zero Indicator... casually glancing over his shoulder at a mushroom cloud.
Thanks, I came across the video after somebody put some screen shots of the Bloodhound and the firing button for it being pressed onto the Facebook page for a former station of mine. After informing the individual that the missile was the Mk 1 which wasn't based at the station but was footage I'd never seen before, namely colour footage of the operators console and of an operational Mk 1 on the launcher, he sent me the link. I would love to find what film that Bloodhound footage was taken from as I've never seen a film that covers the operational Mk 1 system' which was very before my time (There were films made about the Mk 2 which was what I spent the first four years of my operational RAF career working on). Loved the short bit of footage of the Radar Type 80 at the MRS as well, the last equipment I did in Trade Training at No 1 Radio School, which if I ever wrote a chapter of my life about would be titled 'I learnt about Valve Biasing from that'. One of the things that students at Locking got pinged for was to provide manpower for NARO in the shape of bodies for the outer cordon if there was any incident on our patch and we did get some training for it, but we were never called out while I was there.
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That Bloodhound missile is awesome- looks like a Star Wars prop. I see the unique appearance is due to the propulsion: 2× Ramjets, 4× solid fuel boosters.
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When I was on 214 Sqdn at Marham circa 1959-62, our dispersal was very close to the Bloodhounds of 242 Sqdn.
It was unusual to see any human presence, as I believe that they were all underground.
Occasionally, a section/flight of Bloodhounds would slowly start tracking. We could only surmise that they were tracking an 'intruder', probably a civil airliner, as an exercise. It was quite an eerie experience as it seemed to happen randomly and silently.
It was unusual to see any human presence, as I believe that they were all underground.
Occasionally, a section/flight of Bloodhounds would slowly start tracking. We could only surmise that they were tracking an 'intruder', probably a civil airliner, as an exercise. It was quite an eerie experience as it seemed to happen randomly and silently.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
One of the Mk 1 Controllers told me the missile firing links were not connected. Someone would cycle out and fiut them to each missile.
I don't suppose anyone was worried about where the boosters landed as that was the least of the problems.
OTOH in Cypruys a different mater with the potential for Lightning's and boosters . . .
I don't suppose anyone was worried about where the boosters landed as that was the least of the problems.
OTOH in Cypruys a different mater with the potential for Lightning's and boosters . . .
RAF Woodbridge 'drop' - Dec 1980
Don't forget about the weapon the Americans accidently dropped into Rendlesham forest just off the eastern end of the Woodbridge runway.
An elaborate cover-up then took place, with the Americans claiming to be chasing UFO's around, while they were in fact, cleaning up the mess over a two night period.
It's better to make out you are doing something wacky like chasing strange lights, than cough to having another nuclear accident on foreign soil!
An elaborate cover-up then took place, with the Americans claiming to be chasing UFO's around, while they were in fact, cleaning up the mess over a two night period.
It's better to make out you are doing something wacky like chasing strange lights, than cough to having another nuclear accident on foreign soil!
I was two years old and not far from Greenham in 1958. According to local urban legend, a whole bunch of USAF people and their dependents experienced a sudden and urgent need to be somewhere other than on-base when the incident occurred.
I was for a while in the Sixties part of a Civil Defence 'Scientific Intelligence Team', another part of the UK Warning and Monitoring Organisation.
Our job was to take the ROC information and any other available information and make best estimates of the intensity and extent of the damage and radiation zones, plus of course the resultant likely fallout plumes.
This was to help rescue and evacuation work etc. largely for the civilian services. For a keen youngster it was rather sobering - especially when thinking about what would have happened to those reporting, if the simulations had ever gone real.
The most interesting part was using (by memory) USAF data to estimate the likely impact on road and rail communications due to building, extensive forest or bridge damage, which would slow rescue.
The so-called War Emergency Dose for radiation was a very large dose expected to have fairly major effects, but supposedly not immediately fatal.
I recall one exercise which presumed that the Soviets had hit the Gareloch and the nuclear weapons store nearby. The possible size and extent of the resulting fallout plume worst case estimates was stunning.
On reflection, we were very lucky no-one ever used the beasts.
Our job was to take the ROC information and any other available information and make best estimates of the intensity and extent of the damage and radiation zones, plus of course the resultant likely fallout plumes.
This was to help rescue and evacuation work etc. largely for the civilian services. For a keen youngster it was rather sobering - especially when thinking about what would have happened to those reporting, if the simulations had ever gone real.
The most interesting part was using (by memory) USAF data to estimate the likely impact on road and rail communications due to building, extensive forest or bridge damage, which would slow rescue.
The so-called War Emergency Dose for radiation was a very large dose expected to have fairly major effects, but supposedly not immediately fatal.
I recall one exercise which presumed that the Soviets had hit the Gareloch and the nuclear weapons store nearby. The possible size and extent of the resulting fallout plume worst case estimates was stunning.
On reflection, we were very lucky no-one ever used the beasts.
Last edited by biscuit74; 4th Feb 2016 at 21:00.
You used Met Office forecasters for plume spread data .......... I was S Met O at Fiskerton and then Horsham.
