Visitors actually drive over the top of the former missile silo on their way to the LCC. Many features won't work correctly, and functionality can't be guaranteed. In 1981, by Presidential order, all 54 of these missile silos were to be dismantled and abandoned by 1987. We drove maybe 10 miles before we said anything to each other, King recalls. The unique Cold War-era relic is part of an 11-acre Kansas lot on the market for $380,000. The Damascus Titan missile explosion (also called the Damascus accident[1]) was a 1980 U.S. nuclear weapons incident involving a Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). The silos launch door was propelled over 600 feet from the launch complex. Many of the dead were found crowded around an escape ladder. Kimberly S. Mitchell loves journeys, real or imagined. "This was a half-a-million project, and I didn't have half-a-million," Hill said. Rachel Silva, who organized the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program's history walk Sept. 12, shows a photo of a typical missile control room during a tour on the site of the 1980 missile . We met with Nick, one of the current hosts, who led us down the steps into the bunker. The Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs is famous across the state and [] Titan II was a nuclear-tipped missile, also known as an intercontinental ballistic missile, designed to [], [] the early 1960s, the Air Force built 18 Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Silos in Arkansas. The missile silo itself is one of the few remaining atlas f silos that is naturally dry, with many interior levels and crib structure. All rights reserved. The former disaster took far more lives, but the Damascus explosion posed a far greater potential threat because the missile was armed with its warhead at the time. "If we built rooms, it would kind of take away from it.". The first U.S. intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), like the Atlas and the Titan I, were cryogenically fueled, relying on substances like liquid oxygen, which had to be kept cold. An airman dropped a wrench socket and it fell 80 feet and pierced the thin skin of the rockets first stage fuel tank. One moment, the team at the new operational test facility had been on the verge of celebrating, finally, a successful trial run of the launch sequence for the powerful Titan I missile. A missile silo during the Cold War is now a popular, and high-rated, short-term vacation rental near Roswell, New Mexico. Find out more at KSMitchell.com. Extremist groups like to destroy cities. I can recall vividly the September 1980 explosion which destroyed a missile in its silo located near Damascus on the Faulkner-Van Buren County line. The nearly 4,000 square-foot LCC now sleeps six comfortably and can hold as many as 70 visitors for a meeting or conference. After the accident, the area around the missile silo was littered with debrisboulders of concrete, giant springs, pieces of navigation systems. It was the loudest explosion Id ever heard in my lifebefore or since, Devlin says. Originally, the launch control center had standard steps to reach multiple levels. But not before my kids donned their Star Wars Mandalorian costumes for a little photo shoot. The countdown to launch started and thenright before the signal to ignite the rocket would have been givenit was stopped. Titan Ranch began hosting conferences and meetings in 2019, and added its AirBnB listing in November 2020. 7 . The land was sold back to the owners for as little as $600 to as much as $12,000. "That's one of the very few things about the Titan IIs that remain classified," he said. There was a lot of white smoke, Ayala tells Popular Mechanics, but it was hydrazine.. There are only a few places in the United States where you can tour a former nuclear missile silo, but only one with luxury accommodations where you can also host a party, and its only a few hours away. AddThis Utility Frame. [5], A 1988 television film, Disaster at Silo 7, is based on this event. Three years later the Pangburn launch site was rocked by an explosion which killed 53 of the 55 contract workers doing maintenance work. They stood 103 feet tall and had a range of 9,300 miles. Two airmen were performing maintenance at Missile Complex 374-7, located 3 miles north of Damascus, the evening of September 18th. The blaze occurred while the 750-ton silo lid was closed, which contributed to a reduced oxygen level for the men who survived the initial fire. Lately, many have been closed and the . It was forecast as a beautiful day so we decided to pack a lunch, find a nice spot along the highway and enjoy our lunch. Of course the flies didn't swarm on us until we opened the tailgate and started to prepare our lunch. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. A concussion of wind hit me like a truck, and I slid 60 feet, and every foot, it felt like I was going faster. Dig for Fossils in Northeast Texas. A piece of Cold War history is now available as an Airbnbproperty. He Ended Up With A Titan Ii Missile Silo That Was Decommissioned In Spring Of 1986. The nitrogen tetroxide is kept in a second tank in the rocket's first stage, directly above the fuel tank and below the second stage and its nine-megaton W-53 nuclear warhead. The four men at the silo were blown off their feet. The missile base I visited, Foxtrot-01, is right there on Google Maps. If you saw footage from the massive explosion in Beirut this past August, King says, you saw what he saw that morning. The missile silo near Pervomaysk is the only intact remainder of what was once an array of nuclear bases in Ukraine. Nodak, based in Grand Forks, served 55 missile silos around the region. Today they are still used, although . When the socket fell, it plunged 70 feet to pierce the side of the . There still wasnt any official word about what was going on, but they all put on rocket fuel handlers coverall outfits (RFHCO)rubberized protective gear that resembled space suitsand walked to the silo, which had been filling with corrosive and potentially explosive vapor for hours. After nearly being run over by the sheriff, King and Phillips jumped in their car and took off. These shortcomings led to the rapid development of the Titan II missiles, which would become part of the three-pronged nuclear strategy the U.S. military used for the next 25 years. In 1978, six months after the trailer leak in Arkansas, two airmen died after a leak in Kansas. While renovating, GT decided to put in a spiral staircase to save space and it adds to the industrial ambiance. Pen & Quin: International Agents of Intrigue - The Mystery of the Painted Book is her debut novel. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. tercontinental ballistic missile wing, has the largest number of active fense Council (NRDC) and Hans M. Krisair force weapons. Deactivation of Arkansas' Titan II missile silos began in May 1985 and ended May 5, 1987, with the state's last missile, located near Judsonia, Arkansas, being deactivated. The chances of all this happening were so remote, David Stumpf, the author of .css-3wjtm9{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;text-decoration-color:#1c6a65;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:inherit;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-3wjtm9:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Titan II: A History of a Cold War Missile Program, tells Popular Mechanics. Walking across the gangplank feels something like a sci-fi movie, and my childrens insistence on bringing Star Wars costumes was rather apropos. The last of the Titan launch sites in Arkansas, located near Quitman in Cleburne County, was demolished on Nov. 19, 1986. Greg Devlin and his wife, Annette, in 1980. That's how far it is from Rockyford to Limon. But now, the socket fell all the way down the missile shaft66 feetbounced off the shaft mount ring, and hit the side of the missile, puncturing its eighth-inch hull. However, a new threat arose from the growing heat inside the silo. Designed by The Twiggs Group. Layer by Layer: A Mexico City Culinary Adventure, Sacred Granaries, Kasbahs and Feasts in Morocco, Monster of the Month: The Hopkinsville Goblins, Writing the Food Memoir: A Workshop With Gina Rae La Cerva, Reading the Urban Landscape With Annie Novak, How to Grow a Dye Garden With Aaron Sanders Head, Making Scents: Experimental Perfumery With Saskia Wilson-Brown, Indigenous Desserts of Turtle Island With Mariah Gladstone, University of Massachusetts Entomology Collection, The Frozen Banana Stands of Balboa Island, The Paratethys Sea Was the Largest Lake in Earths History, How Communities Are Uncovering Untold Black Histories, The Medieval Thieves Who Used Cats, Apes, and Turtles as Accomplices. The fuels so volatile, it could explode on its own, Greg Devlin, who was a 21-year old Airman in the U.S. Air Force at Damascus on the night of the explosion, tells Popular Mechanics. Arkansas was home to 18 Titan II ICBMs in a missile field located north of Conway. The United States built many missile silos in the Midwest, away from populated areas. Since that time there have been hundreds of Atlas, Titan, Minuteman and Peacekeeper sites constructed all the way from Texas to North Dakota, New Mexico to Montana. A welder accidentally hit a hydraulic fluid line with his welding rod, which sparked a fire that quickly filled the missile shaft and sucked the oxygen out. "There was metal debris, concrete, all sorts of stuff we had to pull out," he said. Powell was working on a Titan II missile fitted with a thermonuclear warhead, tucked away underground in Damascus, Arkansas. Why the Air Force Wants a Stealthy Tanker by 2040, Why Runaway Mines Are Detonating in the Black Sea, How This Humble Drone Shrugs Off Russian Jamming. The lake was blue and beautiful and we parked about 25 yards away and opened the hatch of our SUV intent on a nice, tailgate lunch. Despite the criticism, the U.S. appears to be committed to the idea of a nuclear sponge in those five states. file size: 5 MB. I said, We just left a bunch of dead people back there. He said Yeah, I know. We were sick about it. 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They were given codes on paper, to be confirmed by the crew in place for a changeover, and the paper was burned. 5 Specifications. Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. During the next year, the other 18 missile silos in central Arkansas received ICBMs, and Jan. 1, 1964, all silos in Arkansas were active and on alert status. If a rocket could be launched into space, it could also be launched at something, and far faster than bombers could fly to targets to drop their payloads. The explosion blew the silo blast doors off and sent chunks of debris flying everywhere, including the nine-megaton nuclear warhead that sat atop the missile. This design allows the structure to absorb the force from a nearby nuclear strike, with eight giant springs serving as shock absorbers. These missiles had a range of 5,500 miles, but they required a high level of upkeep. The missiles were stored in massive underground silos, which were constructed in the early 1960s and closed in the early 1980s. They were ordered to leave the launch duct when the measurements proved alarmingly high. Its a lot of heavy information in a short time, but worth absorbing every minute of it. At about 3 a.m., the two men returned to the surface to await further instructions. He was a 19-year-old missile technician, a new trainee, riding with another guy, David Powell, who was showing Plumb the ropes. God. Ultimately, the Titan system was declared to be essentially reliable, though minor changes were recommended. All the guys that walked down with their RHFCO suits, I just assumed they were all killed.. The team had met its goal. In the silo, they have a close-up view of the missile from less than ten feet away. The team started running the procedure for readying the missile for liftoff. The warhead was found 100 feet from the launch complex. "When it came to mutually assured destruction, the U.S might only have 30 minutes to respond to a Soviet nuclear attack. The Damascus incident was front page news for at least a few days. They were used to launch satellites into space as recently as 2003. The first thing that makes this particular route interesting is the still active missile silos that dot the highway from Kimball to the Colorado border. From 1963 to 1987, crews maintained the missiles on 24-hour alert and . The Titan II's earth-shattering payload was 30 times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. By 1960, teams at Cape Canaveral had run several successful tests of the new missiles, and a new facility, located at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, was ready to start testing out the missile under operational conditions. (February 2011) Air-to-air missiles. "It's a little weird," Hill said. Phew!We decided not to drive 14 hours back to Rapid City as we did on the trip down, but to stop about half way and spend the night. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused! The missile was installed later that month at the Albion site, northwest of Searcy, Ark., but not active until May. But the newly constructed test facility was so badly damaged it wasnt worth salvaging. On September 19, 1980, a second tragedy struck the 308th Strategic Missile Wing. A socket from a large socket wrench rolled off a platform and punctured the missile's lower-stage fuel tank, starting a fuel leak that eventually led to the explosion a few hours later. The AirBnB listing even drew the attention of a couple central Arkansas musicians, who filmed three music videos inside the facility. We were so used to it that it didnt scare us.. It has been painstakingly restored by GT Hill. The missile was installed later that month at the Albion site, northwest of Searcy, Ark., but not active until May. Today, theres still a giant hole in the ground, now overgrown and given over to wild animals. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced the retirement of the Titan II program. One of the strangest things about the master suite is the domed concrete ceiling. Here are some maps showing the locations of U.S. Minuteman III ICBM silo's along with coordinates. A far more deadly disaster struck a Titan launch site near Searcy in White County on Aug. 9, 1965, resulting in the deaths of 53 men. You knew it was 10 million people, but you didn't know where.". When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik into space in 1957, it made the idea of long-range nuclear bombers obsolete. Two of the most serious disasters to plague the Titan II missile program during the Cold War occurred in Arkansas. On Sept. 19, 1980, a silo near Damascus, Arkansas, exploded, killing one airman. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. The Damascus Titan missile explosion (also called the Damascus accident) was a 1980 U.S. nuclear weapons incident involving a Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). Hill said he had no plans to excavate the silo in the immediate future. Our stay at Titan Ranch began with driving down the gravel road, leading between cow pastures, the reason for the name ranch. Cows looked back at us, munching away, while we wondered if we were headed to the right place. This hidden gem, a former missile silo in Vilonia, Arkansas, was designed not only to survive a nuclear explosion, but also launch a nuclear . All missiles in the silos are currently Minuteman III (LGM-30G). The first ICBMs, called Atlas, were ready by 1959 and deployed at air force bases around the nation. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); We select one featured photo per week, but we show many more in our gallery. These were giant rockets, designed to fly long distances while carrying nuclear weapons. There are 1,000 kilotons in a megaton). The Damascus missile complex was at the Southside location, indicated by the red star on the map above. I was living out of state at the time, but the disaster was covered in depth by the national press. But the effects of the explosion and working with the potentially toxic fuel linger for many of the airmen who were on site. "That way if there was a nuclear explosion, they always wanted to have one door closed to protect the facility," Hill said. The Titan II missiles were located near three air force bases around the country: Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas and Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas. Investigators later discovered that a welder working on level 3 had "hit a hydraulic line with his welding rod, rupturing the hose and causing the spray of hydraulic fuel to catch fire." While the Polaris, a solid-fuel missile, was developed at the same time as the Titan missiles for use in submarines, the military was attached to the Titan II for diplomatic reasons. The first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) silos arrived on the Great Plains in 1959 when Atlas sites were constructed in Wyoming. Print Headline: The Titan missile silo disasters. Visitors to the site first descend down the 50 feet to a concrete pad, where they are greeted by the first of two 6,000-pound blast doors, one of which was kept closed at all times during the Cold War. Offer available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). President Ronald Reagan announced the retirement of the Titan II program, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. So the Titans stayed in placeand demonstrated time and again their peril. Kennedy, his leg broken, was blown 150 feet from the silo. The tanks that held the rockets fuel and oxidizers broke open, mixed, and exploded. Six Young Women of Color Making a Difference in Arkansas, Crystal Bridges 2023 Exhibitions Unveiled, Things To Do In Independence and Stone Counties, KOKY: The Peoples Station in Little Rock, This Month in Arkansas History: September | Only In Arkansas, Military Bases in Arkansas - Only In Arkansas. Titan Ranch, located at 23 Missile Base Road in Vilonia, Arkansas, offers renters the chance to spend a night underground in a converted intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) facility. This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. It had happened before. Eventually, it was foundin a ditch about 200 yards away from the silo. Not that the Air Force was sharing that information. Around 1 a.m. on September 19, they watched a helicopter and a bus full of people enter the base. Accepted file types: jpg, png, Max. I tucked my children into the beds on the second floor, while my son picked a color for the light to stay while they fell asleep. [1] It focused on the explosion, as well as other Broken Arrow incidents during the Cold War. Its worth it, I promise. On Aug. 9, 1965, a fire and the resulting loss of oxygen in a silo near Searcy, Arkansas, killed 53 people, most of them civilian repairmen doing maintenance on the facility. I just hope it doesnt hurt., After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Kennedy could be heard on the radio saying, Im dying.. "It's all illuminated. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. The story behind Colorado's Minuteman missiles and the people at the controls. Soviet Ukraine held around one-third of the U.S.S.R.'s nuclear arsenal, most of . Oh yes, Jackie's checkup, despite her MS, showed her to be in excellent health. Civilian construction workers were working in all nine levels of the launch duct, painting and flushing the hydraulic systems that operated the steel platforms beside the missile. They all knew each other. It's what happened on the journey that prompts this week's column. From Level 2, visitors may climb a spiral staircase to Level 1which previously served as the crew's sleeping quarters and kitchen or descend to Level 3, which housed the communication equipment that kept the facility connected to the larger world. [2], At daybreak, the Air Force retrieved the warhead,[9][10] which was returned to the Pantex weapons assembly plant. What Happens to Pilots That Defect to the U.S.? It is eerie to see military vehicles and military personnel going to and from these scary silos in the middle of wheat country. 6. It was morning in America, and the Ronald Reagan administration undertook massive military spendingincluding missiles to supplant the Titan II. GT has renovated the second level to be a multipurpose space, complete with projectors, a sound system, party lights, multiple whiteboards, and tables and chairs if needed. But spend any amount of time here and you'll forget that you're underground," he said. The nosecone from the Judsonia site sits atop a time capsule that will be opened Aug. 17, 2037. His weekly column won the H. L. Mencken Award in 1985. You have to try it to see what I mean. Of course, thats just as true on purpose as it is on accident. Tell Us About the Most Amazing Parts of Tulsa, Oklahoma! These sites in Springhill in Faulkner County, Southside in Van Buren County and Center Hill in White County are now on the National Register of Historic Places. Livingston was posthumously promoted to staff sergeant. Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, is the editor and publisher of Native Sun News. As my stepdaughter Sarah, a rodeo girl, used to say about the distance between Rapid City and Faith, South Dakota when asked the distance, "About as far as you can drive and 20 miles more." Devlin, now retired in Florida and a childrens book author, says he has osteoporosis and believes the hydrazine he inhaled caused it. The United States quickly developed a second model of ICBMs called Titan. "This whole facility was designed to shake to survive in case of war," Hill said. And around 3:05 a.m., all hell broke loose, he tells Popular Mechanics. Lucky for us, Nick was very knowledgeable and answered all of our questions. If you need to flag this entry as abusive. The missile not only survived the explosion in 1965, it was the same missile which exploded in 1980 near Damascus. Titan Ranch is located in Vilonia, Arkansas, just northeast of Conway. Vince Guerrieri is a writer based in the Cleveland area. GT and Nick met us again to check out and we got to see a sneak peek into the other side of the complex. The Titan II Missile program was a Cold War weapons system featuring fifty-four launch complexes in three states. Driving up to the ranch, you would never guess that youre headed to an underground missile silo. The explosion scattered debris across 400 acres of farmland. On the way up, Livingston and Kennedy were told to turn an exhaust fan on. Please try viewing this website in Edge, Mozilla, Chrome, or another modern browser. The initial PTS team was sent home. We didnt want to leave, but I understand why they wanted us to leave.. Answer (1 of 19): Used to be in the middle of the countrywhere they were safer from sneak attacks. An airman dropped a wrench socket and it fell 80 . [5] Powell later claimed that he was already below ground in his safety suit when he realized he had brought the wrong wrench, so he chose to continue rather than turn back. Meanwhile, as a countermeasure, the silo was filling with water to douse potential flames and dilute the vapor. Livingston lay amid the rubble of the launch duct for some time before security personnel located and evacuated him. At the end of the 1950s, the United States military began developing the Titans as part of its growing supply of intercontinental ballistic missiles. During the Cold War, Arkansas played a role in the protection of the nation by housing a series of intercontinental ballistic missiles across otherwise peaceful farmland. That night, the only clue we had that it was way past bedtime was our fatigue. Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. During the 25-year period of operations, Arkansas experienced two disasters connected to the missiles. Decommissioning the former missile silos included destroying the top 25 feet of each silo and the access portal and elevator to the LCC. About a half-mile down the road, Sgts. On September 19, 1980, a second tragedy struck the 308th Strategic Missile Wing. The discovery of what appear to be hundreds of new missile silos under construction in China has inspired arguments that imply the United States needs more nuclear weapons. Devlin and Hukle werent certified to work a hydraulic pump, Devlin recalls, and were unsuccessful in trying to manually open a blast lock door. Now she writes adventures to send her characters on journeys, too. Aerial photographs taken Friday morning showed a gaping hole with smoke drifting from it, and debris scattered over hilly pastureland." The North Star Missile Silo was used during the height of the Cold War in the early 1960s and is up for sale, with a price tag of $989,000. The elevator structure and the launchertons and tons of steel that one witness later likened to red spaghetticame flying from the silo as the test team ran for cover. "Some people get a little nervous down here. It is eerie to see military vehicles and military personnel going to and from these scary silos in the middle of wheat country.