Tour Report: U.S. Nuclear Weapons Depot D.

Two weeks into the year 2018, it was time for our first tour of the year. The day before, my mother had spontaneously decided to join us, which totally made sense, because we were going to take her car anyway :)
It was a beautiful sunny Sunday morning. We left early, and we arrived at our first spot after about two and a half hours of driving.
For the first location, we had decided to check out an abandoned nuclear weapons depot of the US Army. Supposedly, it wasn't secured at all and more or less a local recreational area, so entering wouldn't be troublesome, and we expected a nice walk in the park, so to speak.
And that is exactly what we got - a really nice walk in the park.
There were no fences to be climbed, and the entire area was completely open.
We were there at around ten in the morning, but there already were people walking their dogs, and the later it got, the more people were coming and going, some with their children, some with cameras, and some were alone just walking around.
Anyway, we actually did what everyone else was doing - having a good time. We took our time walking around in the morning sun and checking out very corner of the ample premises. We also went a little off-road and got to explore an ammunition depot of the German Luftwaffe, which was situated right next to the nuclear weapons depot.
Shortly before noon, some fog came up and really added a nice touch to the atmosphere. Unfortunately, the fog was gone as quickly as it had come.
Before we left, I made a little climb up the guard tower (of course), and after about two hours of walking through the cold, we arrived back at the car and started heading for the next location.


To find out about the history of this relic from the Cold War and to check out all the photos, click the button below.

Remnants of the Cold War - Nuclear Weapons Depot (Part 2)

Since the visit to the Special Ammunitions Site (SAS) was not planned at all, the drive there was a little adventure.
I knew where the site was, but I had no idea how to get there and what condition the roads - if any - were in. The last nuclear weapons depot was also situated in a very rural area and the anti-tank barriers were still there and we had to walk pretty far, so I reckoned it would be the same here. But there were no tank traps, just a couple of very muddy off-limits farm roads.
As it turned out, there would have been a road directly to the main gate, as the facility is partly used by civilian institutions such as the local forestry office - but with the chance of getting caught...

Anyway, here's the rest of the pictures.

Part 1 | Part 2

Remnants of the Cold War - Nuclear Weapons Depot

It was a rainy Saturday and the shopping trip with my wife and my mother-in-law was surprisingly short, so the three of us went for a spontaneous tour to a former U.S. Special Ammunitions Site (SAS).
I knew about this location but I didn't think that we would find the time. But we did!
In these depots, of which there are a lot in Germany, maintained and guarded by the U.S. Army, nuclear warheads were stored for use with German carrier systems within the scope of the so-called "nuclear sharing" in case of a nuclear war.
The layout of these depots was always the same (check out my visit to a different depot here): There was an inner ring, guarded by soldiers from the U.S. Army unit responsible for the depot, and an outer ring that was guarded by soldiers from the host nation - in this case Germany.
In this particular depot, the nucelar ammunition for the 2nd Panzergrenadierdivision (Armored Infantry Division) was stored, more specific warheads for the tactical short-range missile "Honest John", artillery grenades 203mm (8 inches) for the M110 howitzer and artillery grenades 155mm for the M109 howitzer.
The depot was active from 1962 until 1992.

Part 1 | Part 2

Abandoned Nuclear Weapons Depot (Part 2)

Did I mention that I went to explore an old US Nuclear Weapons depot in northern Germany last weekend?
I do think so.
Nonetheless, I also made some HDR photos that would like to share with you.
Since it was my first visit there, the focus was on documenting the site, so I only managed three pictures in HDR.
Here they are:

Part 1 | Part 2

Abandoned Nuclear Weapons Depot

Embedded right into the landscape somewhere in northern Germany lies this object almost entirely forgotten by history.
It used to be an American SAS (Special Ammunition Site).
These facilities were used to store, guard and service different types of nuclear weapons. In this facility, among others, W-52-warheads for MGM-29 Seargant short-range ballistic missiles were stored.

The site was built in 1960 and was guarded in two "rings", of which the outer ring alone was guarded by a batallion of soldiers.

When the American troops left in late 1991, they didn't leave much, obviusly. The buildings have been left, but with no interior left whatsoever.
But the area combined with its history sure makes for a very interesting trip and a great photo location!

Part 1 | Part 2