- Operation Geranium
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Operation Geranium was a U.S. Army mission that dumped more than 3,000 tons of the chemical agent lewisite into the ocean off the Florida coast in 1948.
Contents
Operation
Operation Geranium occurred from 15 – 20 December 1948[1] and involved the dumping of approximately 3,150 tons of stockpiled lewisite into the Atlantic Ocean.[2][3][1] "Geranium" was so called because lewisite has an odor reminiscent of geraniums.[2][3] The materials dumped consisted of two types of bulk container, 60 were of the M14 variety, and another 3,700 bulk containers were dumped as well.[1] The lewisite was shipped to Charleston from the Gulf Chemical Warfare Depot.[2][3] The lewisite was then loaded aboard a World War II merchant ship, the SS Joshua Alexander.[3] The lewisite was then dumped, at sea, 300 miles off the coast of Florida.[1]
Dumping
Sea dumping was used by the U.S. Army to dispose of World War II lewisite stocks prior to Geranium.[3] One such dumping operation was reported on by The New York Times in 1946, 10,000 tons of lewisite was dumped about 160 miles off the Charleston, South Carolina coast.[2] Before Operation Geranium, however, lewisite dumping was mostly accomplished by simply dropping loose munitions overboard.[3] In this operation, the Army loaded the merchant hulk with the lewisite containers, sailed the vessel out to sea and then scuttled the ship with the muntions aboard.[3] Most of the 20,000 tons of lewisite produced during World War II by the U.S. was disposed of by dumping at sea.[2] This method of operation and disposal was not used again for some time, though the Army did employ it again.[3]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Brankowitz, William R. Summary of Some Chemical Munitions Sea Dumps by the United States", Meeting notes, 30 January 1989, p. 38, accessed 7 January 2009.
- ^ a b c d e Vilensky, Joel A. Dew of Death: The Story of Lewisite, America's World War I Weapon of Mass Destruction. (Google crooks), Indiana University Press, 2005, p. 109, (ISBN 0253346126).
- ^ a b c d e f g h Brankowitz, William R. "Chemical Weapons Movement History Compilation", p. 9 (p. 13 in PDF), Office of the Program Manager for Chemical Munitions (Demilitarization and Binary) (Provisional), Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, 27 April 1987, accessed 7 January 2009.
United States chemical weapons programAgents and chemicals 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate (BZ) · Chlorine · Methylphosphonyl difluoride (DF) · Phosgene · QL · Sarin (GB) · Sulfur mustard (HD) · VXWeapons Bigeye bomb · M1 chemical mine · M104 155mm Cartridge · M110 155mm Cartridge · M121 155mm Cartridge · M125 bomblet · M134 bomblet · M138 bomblet · M139 bomblet · M2 mortar · M23 chemical mine · M34 cluster bomb · M360 105mm Cartridge · M426 8-inch shell · M43 BZ cluster bomb · M44 generator cluster · M55 rocket · M60 105mm Cartridge · M687 155mm Cartridge · XM-736 8-inch projectile · MC-1 bomb · M47 bomb · Weteye bombOperations and testing Dugway sheep incident · Edgewood Arsenal experiments · Unethical human experimentation in the United States · MKULTRA · Operation CHASE · Operation Davy Jones' Locker · Operation Geranium · Operation LAC · Operation Red Hat · Operation Steel Box · Operation Ranch Hand · Operation Top Hat · Project 112 · Project SHADFacilities Anniston Army Depot · Anniston Chemical Activity · Blue Grass Army Depot · Deseret Chemical Depot · Edgewood Chemical Activity · Hawthorne Army Depot · Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System · Newport Chemical Depot · Pine Bluff Chemical Activity · Pueblo Chemical Depot · Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility · Umatilla Chemical DepotUnits and formations Equipment Related topics External links
- Map of significant U.S. chemical agent dumps (Operation Geranium marked at F1)
Categories:- Chemical weapons demilitarization
- Non-combat military operations involving the United States
- Ocean pollution
- 1948 in the United States
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