Hanford Defense Area
Missile · USA
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
Nike air defense area, consisting of several Nike missile batteries to defend urban, industrial, and military targets from Soviet bomber attacks.
Nike missiles replaced and augmented gun batteries that had been previously installed to defend this nuclear industrial complex. Four Nike Ajax sites were constructed and activated in 1955 at (H-06) Saddle Mountain, (H-12) Othello, (H-52) Rattlesnake Mountain, and (H-83) Priest Rapids. Headquarters facilities were located at Camp Hanford. The latter three sites were deactivated in December 1958 as only Saddle Mountain was converted to the new Nike Hercules. Upon deactivation of this Hercules battery in 1960, the equipment was forwarded to the Norfork site at Deep Creek/Portsmouth.
Subtopics
- Nike H-06 8 Nike Ajax/Nike Hercules launchers.. Operational 1955 - Dec 1960 . Control site obliterated; Department of Energy. Launch site obliterated; Department of Energy.
- Nike H-12 8 Nike Ajax launchers.. Operational 1955 - Dec 1958 . Control site obliterated; Department of Energy. Launch site Department of Energy.
- Nike H-52 8 Nike Ajax launchers.. Operational 1955 - Dec 1958 . Control site intact; Pacific North Western Laboratories Headquarters. Launch site intact; Pacific North Western Laboratories Headquarters.
- Nike H-83 8 Nike Ajax launchers.. Operational 1955 - Dec 1958 . Control site obliterated; Department of Energy. Launch site obliterated; Department of Energy.
Related
- Country
- USA
- Launch Vehicles
- Nike Ajax, Nike Hercules
- Bibliography
- 13403