Operation CHASE
Encyclopedia
Operation CHASE was a United States Department of Defense
program that involved the disposal of unwanted munitions at sea from May 1964 into the early 1970s.
The disposal program involved loading old munitions onto ships which were then slated to be scuttled once they were up to 250 miles off shore. While most of the sinkings involved ships loaded with conventional weapon
s there were four which involved chemical weapons. The chemical weapons disposal site was a three mile (5 km) area of the Atlantic Ocean
between the coast of the U.S. state
of Florida
and the Bahamas. The CHASE program was predated by United States Army disposal of 8000 tons of mustard and lewisite chemical warfare gas aboard the scuttled SS William C. Ralston in April 1958. These ships were sunk by having Explosive Ordnance Demolition (EOD) teams open sea cocks on the ship after arrival at the disposal point. The typical Liberty ship sank about three hours after the sea cocks were opened.
John F. Shafroth was taken from the National Defense Reserve Fleet
at Suisun Bay
and towed to the Concord Naval Weapons Station
for stripping and loading. A major fraction of the munitions in CHASE 1 was Bofors 40 mm gun
ammunition
from the Naval Ammunition Depot
at Hastings, Nebraska
. CHASE 1 also included bomb
s, torpedo
warhead
s, Naval mine
s, cartridges
, projectiles
, fuzes
, detonator
s, boosters
, overage UGM-27 Polaris
motors, and a quantity of contaminated cake mix an Army court had ordered dumped at sea. Shafroth was sunk 47 miles off San Francisco on 23 July 1964 with 9799 tons of munitions.
and towed to a deep-water dump site on 17 September 1964. There were three large and unexpected detonations five minutes after Village slipped beneath the surface. An oil slick and some debris appeared on the surface. The explosion registered on seismic equipment all over the world. Inquiries were received regarding seismic activity off the east coast of the United States, and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) expressed interest in measuring the differences between seismic shocks and underwater explosive detonations to detect underwater nuclear detonations then banned by treaty.
. The munitions included 512 tons of actual explosives. Four SOFAR bomb
s were packed in the explosives cargo hold with booster charges of 500 pounds of TNT to detonate the cargo at a depth of 1000 feet (300 meters). The United States Coast Guard issued a notice to mariners and the United States Department of Fish and Wildlife and the United States Bureau of Commercial Fisheries sent observers. The explosives detonated seventeen seconds after Coastal Mariner slipped below the surface on 14 July 1965. The detonation created a 600-foot (200 meter) water spout, but was not deep enough to be recorded on seismic instruments.
, rigged for detonation at 1000 feet (300 meters), and detonated 31 seconds after sinking on 16 September 1965.
and rigged for detonation at 4000 feet (1.2 kilometers). On 23 May 1966 the tow cable parted en route to the planned disposal area. Navy tugs USS Tatnuck (ATA-195)
and USS Koka (ATA-185)
recovered the tow within six hours, but the location of sinking was changed by the delay.
, rigged for detonation at 4000 feet (1.2 kilometers), and detonated on 28 July 1966.
motors at the Naval Weapons Station Charleston and sunk without detonation on 30 April 1967.
M-55 rockets.
filled rockets encased in concrete vaults. Public controversy delayed CHASE 10 disposal until August 1970. Public awareness of operation CHASE 10 was increased by mass media reporting following delivery of information from the Pentagon
to the office of U.S. Representative Richard McCarthy
in 1969. Both American television and print media followed the story with heavy coverage. In 1970, 58 separate reports were aired on the three major network news programs on NBC
, ABC
and CBS
concerning Operation CHASE. Similarly, The New York Times
included Operation CHASE coverage in 42 separate issues during 1970, 21 of those in the month of August.
, all sealed in tin containers.
. Concerns were raised over the programs effect on the ocean environment as well as the risk of chemical weapons washing up on shore. The concerns led to the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act
in 1972, which prohibited future such missions.
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
program that involved the disposal of unwanted munitions at sea from May 1964 into the early 1970s.
The disposal program involved loading old munitions onto ships which were then slated to be scuttled once they were up to 250 miles off shore. While most of the sinkings involved ships loaded with conventional weapon
Conventional weapon
The terms conventional weapons or conventional arms generally refer to weapons that are in relatively wide use that are not weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. Conventional weapons include small arms and light weapons, sea and land mines, as well as ...
s there were four which involved chemical weapons. The chemical weapons disposal site was a three mile (5 km) area of the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
between the coast of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and the Bahamas. The CHASE program was predated by United States Army disposal of 8000 tons of mustard and lewisite chemical warfare gas aboard the scuttled SS William C. Ralston in April 1958. These ships were sunk by having Explosive Ordnance Demolition (EOD) teams open sea cocks on the ship after arrival at the disposal point. The typical Liberty ship sank about three hours after the sea cocks were opened.
CHASE 1
The mothballed C-3 Liberty shipLiberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
John F. Shafroth was taken from the National Defense Reserve Fleet
National Defense Reserve Fleet
The National Defense Reserve Fleet consists of "mothballed" ships, mostly merchant vessels, that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping for the United States of America during national emergencies, either military or non-military, such as commercial shipping crises.The NDRF is...
at Suisun Bay
Suisun Bay
Suisun Bay is a shallow tidal estuary at in northern California, USA. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, forming the entrance to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, an inverted river delta...
and towed to the Concord Naval Weapons Station
Concord Naval Weapons Station
Concord Naval Weapons Station was a military base established in 1942 north of the city of Concord, California at the shore of the Sacramento River where it widens into Suisun Bay. The station functioned as a World War II armament storage depot, supplying ships at Port Chicago...
for stripping and loading. A major fraction of the munitions in CHASE 1 was Bofors 40 mm gun
Bofors 40 mm gun
The Bofors 40 mm gun is an anti-aircraft autocannon designed by the Swedish defence firm of Bofors Defence...
ammunition
Ammunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
from the Naval Ammunition Depot
Naval Ammunition Depot
The Naval Ammunition Depot was the largest United States World War II naval munitions plant operating from 1942 to 1946. Construction began in July, 1942 on near Hastings, Nebraska and was completed in early 1943 with over 2000 structures including buildings, bunkers, and various other types of...
at Hastings, Nebraska
Hastings, Nebraska
Hastings is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Nebraska, United States. It is the principal city of the Hastings, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Adams and Clay counties. The population was 24,907 at the 2010 census...
. CHASE 1 also included bomb
Bomb
A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...
s, torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
warhead
Warhead
The term warhead refers to the explosive material and detonator that is delivered by a missile, rocket, or torpedo.- Etymology :During the early development of naval torpedoes, they could be equipped with an inert payload that was intended for use during training, test firing and exercises. This...
s, Naval mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
s, cartridges
Cartridge (firearms)
A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head or at its rim . Electrically...
, projectiles
Shell (projectile)
A shell is a payload-carrying projectile, which, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage sometimes includes large solid projectiles properly termed shot . Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used...
, fuzes
Fuse (explosives)
In an explosive, pyrotechnic device or military munition, a fuse is the part of the device that initiates function. In common usage, the word fuse is used indiscriminately...
, detonator
Detonator
A detonator is a device used to trigger an explosive device. Detonators can be chemically, mechanically, or electrically initiated, the latter two being the most common....
s, boosters
Explosive booster
An explosive booster acts as a bridge between a low energy explosive and a low sensitivity explosive such as TNT. It increases the explosive shockwave from an initiating explosive to the degree sufficient to detonate the secondary charge.Unlike C4 plastic explosive, not all explosives can be...
, overage UGM-27 Polaris
UGM-27 Polaris
The Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fuel nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile built during the Cold War by Lockheed Corporation of California for the United States Navy....
motors, and a quantity of contaminated cake mix an Army court had ordered dumped at sea. Shafroth was sunk 47 miles off San Francisco on 23 July 1964 with 9799 tons of munitions.
CHASE 2
Village was loaded with 7348 short tons of munitions at the Naval Weapons Station EarleNaval Weapons Station Earle
Naval Weapons Station Earle is a United States Navy base in New Jersey. Its distinguishing feature is a 2.9-mile pier in Sandy Hook Bay where ammunition can be loaded and unloaded from warships at a safe distance from land....
and towed to a deep-water dump site on 17 September 1964. There were three large and unexpected detonations five minutes after Village slipped beneath the surface. An oil slick and some debris appeared on the surface. The explosion registered on seismic equipment all over the world. Inquiries were received regarding seismic activity off the east coast of the United States, and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) expressed interest in measuring the differences between seismic shocks and underwater explosive detonations to detect underwater nuclear detonations then banned by treaty.
CHASE 3
Coastal Mariner was loaded with 4040 short tons of munitions at the Naval Weapons Station EarleNaval Weapons Station Earle
Naval Weapons Station Earle is a United States Navy base in New Jersey. Its distinguishing feature is a 2.9-mile pier in Sandy Hook Bay where ammunition can be loaded and unloaded from warships at a safe distance from land....
. The munitions included 512 tons of actual explosives. Four SOFAR bomb
Sofar bomb
In oceanography, a sofar bomb , occasionally also referred to as a sofar disc, is a long-range position-fixing system that uses explosive sounds in the deep sound channel of the ocean to pinpoint the location of ships or crashed planes...
s were packed in the explosives cargo hold with booster charges of 500 pounds of TNT to detonate the cargo at a depth of 1000 feet (300 meters). The United States Coast Guard issued a notice to mariners and the United States Department of Fish and Wildlife and the United States Bureau of Commercial Fisheries sent observers. The explosives detonated seventeen seconds after Coastal Mariner slipped below the surface on 14 July 1965. The detonation created a 600-foot (200 meter) water spout, but was not deep enough to be recorded on seismic instruments.
CHASE 4
Santiago Iglesias was loaded with 8715 tons of munitions at the Naval Weapons Station EarleNaval Weapons Station Earle
Naval Weapons Station Earle is a United States Navy base in New Jersey. Its distinguishing feature is a 2.9-mile pier in Sandy Hook Bay where ammunition can be loaded and unloaded from warships at a safe distance from land....
, rigged for detonation at 1000 feet (300 meters), and detonated 31 seconds after sinking on 16 September 1965.
CHASE 5
Isaac Van Zandt was loaded with 8000 tons of munitions (including 400 tons of high explosives) at the Naval Base KitsapNaval Base Kitsap
Naval Base Kitsap is a U.S. Navy base located on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington state. It was created in 2004 by merging the former Naval Station Bremerton with Naval Submarine Base Bangor...
and rigged for detonation at 4000 feet (1.2 kilometers). On 23 May 1966 the tow cable parted en route to the planned disposal area. Navy tugs USS Tatnuck (ATA-195)
USS Tatnuck (ATA-195)
was laid down on 15 November 1944 at Orange, Texas, by the Levingston Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 14 December 1944; and commissioned on 26 February 1945, Lt. John Pakron in command...
and USS Koka (ATA-185)
USS Koka (ATA-185)
USS Koka was a US Navy tugboat. Koka is from the phonetic spelling of Coca, formerly an Indian village in southern Arizona. Originally designated as ATR-112, she was redesignated as ATA-185 on 15 May 1944; launched 11 September 1944, by Levingston Shipbuilding Co., Orange, Texas; and...
recovered the tow within six hours, but the location of sinking was changed by the delay.
CHASE 6
Horace Greeley was loaded at the Naval Weapons Station EarleNaval Weapons Station Earle
Naval Weapons Station Earle is a United States Navy base in New Jersey. Its distinguishing feature is a 2.9-mile pier in Sandy Hook Bay where ammunition can be loaded and unloaded from warships at a safe distance from land....
, rigged for detonation at 4000 feet (1.2 kilometers), and detonated on 28 July 1966.
CHASE 7
Michael J. Monahan was loaded with overage UGM-27 PolarisUGM-27 Polaris
The Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fuel nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile built during the Cold War by Lockheed Corporation of California for the United States Navy....
motors at the Naval Weapons Station Charleston and sunk without detonation on 30 April 1967.
CHASE 8
The first chemical weapons disposal via the program was in 1967 and designated CHASE 8. CHASE 8 disposed of mustard gas and GB-filledSarin
Sarin, or GB, is an organophosphorus compound with the formula [2CHO]CH3PF. It is a colorless, odorless liquid, which is used as a chemical weapon. It has been classified as a weapon of mass destruction in UN Resolution 687...
M-55 rockets.
CHASE 10
CHASE 10 dumped 3,000 tons of United States Army nerve agentNerve agent
Nerve agents are a class of phosphorus-containing organic chemicals that disrupt the mechanism by which nerves transfer messages to organs...
filled rockets encased in concrete vaults. Public controversy delayed CHASE 10 disposal until August 1970. Public awareness of operation CHASE 10 was increased by mass media reporting following delivery of information from the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
to the office of U.S. Representative Richard McCarthy
Richard D. McCarthy
Richard Dean McCarthy was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from New York, also known as Richard Max McCarthy or Max McCarthy.-Life:He served in the United States Navy from November 1945 until August 1946, and in the United States Army from November...
in 1969. Both American television and print media followed the story with heavy coverage. In 1970, 58 separate reports were aired on the three major network news programs on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
and CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
concerning Operation CHASE. Similarly, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
included Operation CHASE coverage in 42 separate issues during 1970, 21 of those in the month of August.
CHASE 11
CHASE 11 occurred in June 1968 and disposed of United States Army GB and VXVX (nerve agent)
VX, IUPAC name O-ethyl S-[2-ethyl] methylphosphonothioate, is an extremely toxic substance whose only application is in chemical warfare as a nerve agent. As a chemical weapon, it is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations in UN Resolution 687...
, all sealed in tin containers.
CHASE 12
CHASE 12, in August 1968, again disposed of United States Army mustard agent and was numerically (although not chronologically) the final mission to dispose of chemical weapons.Aftermath
Operation CHASE was exposed to the public during a time when the Army was under increasing public criticism, especially the Army's Chemical Corps. CHASE was one of the incidents which led to the near-disbanding of the Chemical Corps in the aftermath of the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Concerns were raised over the programs effect on the ocean environment as well as the risk of chemical weapons washing up on shore. The concerns led to the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act
Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act
Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 or Ocean Dumping Act is one of several key environmental laws passed by the US Congress in 1972. The Act has two essential aims: to regulate intentional ocean disposal of materials, and to authorize any related research...
in 1972, which prohibited future such missions.