Naval Magazine Indian Island

USA / Washington / Marrowstone /
 arsenal / weapon and ammunition storage, military
 Upload a photo
A major U.S. Navy munitions handling facility. Navy combat ships and Military Sealift Command vessels frequent Indian Island’s dock receiving and discharging munitions in support of U.S. military operations worldwide.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Island,_Washington
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   48°3'19"N   122°43'34"W

Comments

  • A frequent kind of ship to visit Indian Island is the so-called "fast combat supply ship" or T-AOE type. These are large vessels of over 50,000 tons displacement and carry both explosives and fuel to service elements of a Navy battle group. The combination of large amounts of fuel and explosives together is, shall we say, problematic. In a sense, an T-AOE is the world's largest fuel-air bomb. According to the Navy an T-AOE might carry 2,500 tons of explosives and up to 20,000 tons of fuel oil. With a rare, but non-zero possibility, of a large scale detonation, this fuel load would be turned into a mist and the resultant rapid conflagration might produce a fireball several thousand feet in diameter. I leave it to your imagination as to what the results might be.
  • Dry mouth?
  • It would be hard to compare a fireball of this size to anything short of the atomic bombs exploded in Japan. At Hiroshima, "dry mouth" would be a fairly modest term for vaporizing entire human beings. Suppose a loaded AOE type vessel exploded about 1/2 mile from Waterstreet in Port Townsend? I imagine that little town's claim to being historic would take on a whole new meaning. Even the tourist industry might change. Instead of Seattle yuppies wandering gaped-mouthed through trendy art galleries, families might hold picnics on the extensive lawn of the newly dedicated Old Downtown Port Townsend National Historic Park. Future visitors would of course remain respectful and curb their dogs near the bronze commemorative plaque.
  • Did you move yet?
This article was last modified 2 years ago