Neighbor just mentioned he had heard on the radio about an explosion at the ammo plant @ Lake city.
Anyone heard anything about this?
Thx
Charlie-Painter777
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Neighbor just mentioned he had heard on the radio about an explosion at the ammo plant @ Lake city.
Anyone heard anything about this?
Thx
Charlie-Painter777
Primer mixing plant- Usually these are automated processes. I had the misfortune of investigating a similar incident back in the 1980's. The primer mixing plant was putting out primers that were not meeting specs instead of doing the process by computer. The worker, a young lady, decided it took too long for the computer to adjust the right pressure on the primer mix into the primer case and decided to do it manually. Unfortunately she put too much pressure on the primer and it detonated along with the shot glass size container of primer mix. The explosion blew the roof off of the building (which it was designed to do). By the time I got at the site of the explosion there was still pieces of her rib bones imbedded in the cider block walls. It was not pretty. The plant manufactured 40mm Grenade rounds for Uncle Sam.
--fjruple
How about the one they had a Frankford Arsenal in 1917... Philadelphia, PA Frankford Arsenal Explosions, Sep 1917 | GenDisasters ... Genealogy in Tragedy, Disasters, Fires, Floods
The Eddystone explosion dwarfed the one at Frankford.
These were the wives and daughters of the men making the rifles we cherish....
Eddystone explosion - Wikipedia
That was the one I sought first but forgot the location...I knew there was a particularly bad one.Quote:
Originally Posted by WarPig1976
Nothing comes close to this one though as far as a non-nuclear explosions go ~ https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&r...VqhTvH6Hl4kd6w
https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&r...wORIaQ2qL1kkAQ
Some idea of the scale ~ At 9:04:35 am, the out-of-control fire aboard Mont-Blanc finally set off her highly explosive cargo.[53] The ship was completely blown apart and a powerful blast wave radiated away from the explosion at more than 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) per second. Temperatures of 5,000 °C (9,030 °F) and pressures of thousands of atmospheres accompanied the moment of detonation at the centre of the explosion.[54][23] White-hot shards of iron fell down upon Halifax and Dartmouth.[55] Mont-Blanc's forward 90 mm gun, its barrel melted away, landed approximately 5.6 kilometres (3.5 mi) north of the explosion site near Albro Lake in Dartmouth, while the shank of her anchor, weighing half a ton, landed 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) south at Armdale.[56]
Death toll and injured ~ Over 1,600 people were killed instantly and 9,000 were injured, more than 300 of whom later died.[23] Every building within a 2.6-kilometre (1.6 mi) radius, over 12,000 in total, was destroyed or badly damaged
Thing is both in fact all the ones in this thread are pretty damn awful, put the clock back to those early years where treatment of patients were woefully inadequate for the numbers that were to flood the hospitals and transport system well what was left of the system.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CINDERS
How does 2.7 kilotons stack up to your 2.9.
they found the anchor 2 miles away in a hole 10 feet deep.
Texas City disaster - Wikipedia
Another explosion was the 1926 explosions of several million pounds of explosives at the US Navy's Lake Denmark Powder Depot. At the time the Lake Denmark facility was attached to the US Army Picatinny Arsenal. They are still finding wrecked M1903s from the explosions in the hills and woods surrounding the base. Several of which are in the post museum.
Picatinny Arsenal - Wikipedia
Being somewhat local to this event, I have been watching it...looks like the feds arrived the other day to check out the who what where and why's to all this....the snews said they had 16 folks to check out why it happened.
Jim -- There was another incident in WWII at the Frankford Arsenal. The incident was smaller in nature but just as deadly. I believe I indicated that I had investigated several of these incident over the years. I remember as part my training an incident that took place in WWII. I believe everyone knows that the Frankford Arsenal (Northern Philadelphia) in WWII manufactured many different types of munitions for the US government. Especially .30-06 Springfield ammo, one of the workers on the production line duties was to take buckets of rifle primers and feed the primers into the primer seating machine. While carrying two buckets of loose primers, one of the buckets detonated which in turn set off the other bucket. It appears the worker was jostling the buckets as he walked to and from the primer seating machine. Of course he was killed and several others seriously injuried.Quote:
Originally Posted by browningautorifle
--fjruple
---------- Post added at 06:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:39 PM ----------
This property was next to the Eddystone Rifle manufacturing facilities which was leased from Baldwin. In fact the Eddystone munitions company where the explosion took place was owned and operated by the Baldwin Locomotive works. I bet it blew a lot of the glass windows out the Rifle factory.Quote:
Originally Posted by browningautorifle
--fjruple
Yes, I was aware but this one was the one I think I first heard about years ago in a discussion.Quote:
Originally Posted by fjruple
Wern't primers made of picric acid or was that eons ago as that stuff did not take much to detonate it.
This is a common misconception!! Baldwin was the landlord, period. There was a convoluted corporate deal between Baldwin and a fellow named Marcellus Hartley a big time investor in Remington and a new company was formed called Remington Arms of Delaware.Quote:
Originally Posted by fjruple
When Baldwin agreed to build the new building they where constructed in such a way as to be easily converted to train sheds. All the tooling was Remington's, the employees where employed by Remington of Delaware. There's even more to the story but the bottom line is, not a single Eddystone or ERA "Eddystone Remington Arms" marked rifle was built by Baldwin.
Sorry for the rant but I live here so it interests me. :)
Mercury fulminate...Quote:
Originally Posted by CINDERS
WarPig1976-- I understand. I live just across the river from Eddystone and have been on the property many times over the years before they built the "Wally World" on the location of the old rifle factory. I believe the only parts still left is the first set of buildings just off of the railroad tracks up from Rt.291. I have the same type pet peeve when someone tells me all Eddystone M1917 rifles were made by Remington of Delaware when in fact the company changed hands in January 2, 1918 and was then owned by Midvale Steel and Ordnance Company. Point of fact is that all of the machinery for Eddystone Rifle Company was bought and paid for by the British government. The US government then bought the machinery and tooling to build the m1917 .30-06 at give away prices. When they closed the plant at the end of WWI, they estimated it took a freight train about 16 miles long to remove all of the machinery, tools and leftover spare parts. I guess in war there is always an opportunity to save a little money.Quote:
Originally Posted by WarPig1976
Cheers
--fjruple
Yes sort of, it was used in the detonators of WW2 German bombsQuote:
Originally Posted by CINDERS
Yup, like I said there's more to the story. I had pics I posted a few years back I can't seem to find of the three original buildings that remain. The Kimberly Clarke paper company occupies the site today. Wally World is about a mile N.E on Chester Pike.Quote:
Originally Posted by fjruple
We're so far in the weeds now I can't see out..:surrender:
Mike ~ that is what pricked up in my mind probably from reading Softly Tread The Brave I think it was used in the Gaine in the Aerial mines
Folks
I apologize for hi-jacking this thread but I thought I would post a picture of what today remains of the Eddystone Rifle Plant which produced the Eddystone Pattern 1914 and Model of 1917 Rifles. The long series of buildings in the foreground are all that remains of the plant area. The road on the left side of the picture is Simpson Street. To the right of Simpson Street in the upper section of the picture in the parking lot is where most of the main production and assembly buildings were located. The large building down from the parking is "Wally World". The art deco building in the upper right of the picture that looks like a prison is now the headquarters for the local office of the Federal Railroad Administration.
--fjruple
Attachment 82900
A huge difference in buildings if you study the buildings from 100 years ago and now. Just the one left, and the admin building...
Jim-- You are quite right. The Baldwin Locomative administration building on the upper right which now houses the Federal Railroad Administration was not built until 1928.Quote:
Originally Posted by browningautorifle
--fjruple
Now, with all that...there was an explosion there? What exactly would have been destroyed, or was it just structural and minor? Glass as was suggested(there was sure enough of it).Quote:
Originally Posted by fjruple
Jim -- The Eddystone Munition Plant was located on the other side of the Industrial Highway (Rt.291) and the railroad tracks that you seen to the right in the picture. I am going to attached a map to this post to show where everything is located at the Baldwin Works. There is a very grainy aerial photo of the Eddystone Munitions works (#17 &18 on the map which was rebuilt after the explosion) needless to say it is pretty flat. The site of the Eddystone munitions Works is now occupied by a power generation plant. The only part of the old Eddystone Rifle Plant (#24 on the map) still standing is the Power Steam Building #27 in the attached map.Quote:
Originally Posted by browningautorifle
Cheers
fjruple
Attachment 82912
That's an enormous spread of buildings compared to what there later was, and certainly people must have no idea with what remains... A mere shadow...