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Splash
of the Titans
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Looking
at the doorway that once led to the LOX bay and the giant tank
of liquid oxygen that supplied launcher #2. The tank is
gone and the door has been welded shut with plate steel. |
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When
last we saw our damp heroes, they had lost one of the fearless crew to
the merciless depths of propellant terminal #2. (see
Part VIII)
After
a brief period of mourning topside, with the daylight hours swiftly
ticking by, we paddled ass back into the tunnels, determined to conquer
the rest of the complex in tribute to my dearly-departed camera.
But
wait, what about propellant terminal #2? We went there, my camera
was lost, but there is more to the story. These few photos show
what we saw.
With
my good camera appearing to be mortally wet, I got out my backup
camera-- a cheaper, lower resolution Minolta. It had followed me
into other Titan sites in the past so I knew it was up to the task.
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The
"mysterious" concrete box on the upper level of the
propellant terminal.
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The
water level was perhaps 10 or 12 feet deep which put us at the upper level of
the terminal. We orbited around the reinforced concrete platform that
was the enigmatic foyer for the LOX bay.
As
we circled it's cracked and damaged ramparts, we mused over various
theories as to its purpose: Why was it there? What purpose did it
serve?
At
the time, we never hit on a solid theory as to why it was there, but I
think I might have an idea (just hatched) that explains the concrete
"box" that surrounds the doorway to the LOX bay.
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Pretty
much everything was taken from this room. Only some spring
supports, light fixtures and conduit were left behind.
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My
theory (which is mine) is this: the concrete box appears to enclose many
of the larger valves employed in the transfer of liquid oxygen-- a
substance that is very hazardous and reactive, and as such would be a
good candidate for something best kept from spilling all over the
place. I think the concrete was a very large catch basin to
contain any large spills that might occur from the valves and keep it
from poisoning personnel or damaging equipment.
Liquid
oxygen causes many materials to become extremely brittle due to its
extremely low temperature which can make gaskets in piping fail and leak
and is also highly oxidative, resulting in vigorous reactions (read:
explosions!) and also readily boils off in ambient indoor temperatures
enjoyed by humans (it boils at -297.33°F) giving off
alarmingly-high levels of (big surprise!) O2 which can in
turn incite hyperoxia-- aka: oxygen poisoning.
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Well
well. Look at that. light fixtures and
conduit. These lines were some of the 4800v power drops to
equipment in the terminal.
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Yes,
too much of a good thing rears its ugly head when you breathe too much
oxygen. Oddly, the effects are similar to that of hypoxia, or too
little oxygen: dizziness, disorientation, visual disturbances (tunnel
vision) and trouble breathing amongst other unpleasantries.
Given
all liquid O2's tendency toward mischief, it seems no small
wonder that extra precautions might be taken to prevent it from getting
all over the place.
However,
it must be stated that I am still not sure about the concrete barrier in
the propellant terminals.
For
a while we scouted for a good place to moor the USS Moistbottom in an
attempt to make landfall on the concrete island, but the looming threat
of falling ass-over-espresso-machine into the questionable waters held
us at bay. Seeing very little on the platform, we decided to leave
it in peace and relative dryness.
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Access
to the completed terminal was through this 10' diameter ceiling
hatch. All the major equipment and services-- tanks,
piping and such were lowered into the terminal via the hatch
which was later sealed with asphaltic sealant and plugged with a
giant concrete and steel cap.
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What
little there was left to see in the propellant terminal was mostly
hidden beneath the murky water that filled the structure roughly half
full.
Somewhere
below, the LOX tunnel joined the silo in the depths. I began to
long for a wetsuit and requisite dive training!
What
secrets lay at the bottom of those deep, dark silos? Would I ever
find out?
Leaning
over the side, we could see the pads where once very large cylinders of
nitrogen and helium were secured to the floor in clusters. Other
shapes, barely visible in the poor light played tricks on our eyes as we
strained to see what they were.
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A
lateral spring support with a broken fluorescent tube floating
next to it. These springs supported most of the upper
platforms and would dampen any shockwaves that might otherwise
damage the delicate piping and controls which filled this room.
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Unable
to contain ourselves, (also we were getting rather cold from being wet
from the waist down) we squeezed back out of the fateful tunnel that had
claimed my camera and made the long trip back to the blast lock.
Walter
swiftly paddled the kayak back through the rusted tunnels as I snapped a
bunch of reverse angle shots.
The
cold clutch of discomfort swiftly returned as we soaked up the chill
waters once more, but all that was so very far away. We were now
on our way to launcher area #3 for real.
Launcher
Area no. 3 - Cribwork at Last
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Blast
Lock #1 - Back for more, this time we head for launcher
area #3.
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Back
at blast lock #1 again, we took the other tunnel, passing more silly graffiti
and absurd spray-paint vandalism. I checked my camera to ensure
I hadn't destroyed the backup and swapped out batteries. I also
managed to get some video (which will be uploaded to this website eventually,
so keep your eyes peeled for it in future updates) as well which will
better convey the experience of seeing a flooded Titan I site to those
who are not able to see one for themselves.
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Graffiti
always amuses me when I think about the trouble one has
to go through just to bring cans of aerosol paint along
and then try to do "art" on a wall while
floating in a small watercraft.
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Just
about to turn toward launcher #3. A lot of cable
and conduit used to pass through here but little was
left when I got there.
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I
took the opportunity to get more shots of the blast lock as we sailed
through again. I wonder just how long this site has been flooded
like this? It appears that perhaps at one time it was dry and
getting around the tunnels was of course much easier, allowing someone
to spray paint all over the walls for instance.
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Looking
toward the entrance to the tunnels to launcher area #2.
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Coming
about: Launcher area #3 dead ahead
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This
blast lock is much more colorful than those in Colorado, and has the
bright orange/red paint flanking the doorways. What a difference
a little color makes; but why stop there? The ambience of this
room could be greatly enhanced by the judicious use of caution
stripes, warning signs and placards to carry the theme of menace and
danger and draw the eye to its other industrial features.
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Blast
lock area of launcher area #3. This is a short concrete
tunnel with blast doors at either end.
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It
was fun to watch the waves play along the walls as we moved
through. It was rather like being in some big wave chamber
watching them recede and then bounce back to collide with other waves.
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The
tunnel to launcher #3 lays just ahead, you can see where
the round tunnel meets the blast lock corridor
here. The blast door has been removed from the
opening ahead.
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Nearing
the long tunnel to the launcher area, I could not contain my
excitement about the cribwork. We decided to bypass propellant
terminal #3 and make straight for the launcher silo.
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The
tunnel to launcher #3
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The
Ascension
At
this point in the voyage, I was a bit gun-shy with my remaining
digital camera, fearing that I might destroy them both and have no way
to get pictures of the areas I was most excited to see. As a
result, I took few pictures (almost none in fact) of the trip to
launcher area #3. I did shoot some video instead however.
With
luck, we found the entrance to silo #3 well open and we squeezed
through the short opening and emerged in a very strange place
indeed. Tall columns of steel thrust up into the inky darkness
above and dove down into the unexpectedly clear water below.
Crescents of foam glass pipe insulation bobbed all around us under
disquieting signs warning of the many hazards of the place we now
beheld.
For
a minute, we said nothing, simply trying to twist our heads about to
see it all and strained our eyes to pierce the water below and the
darkness above. Walter spun the kayak in a circle so we could
see the entire space that enclosed us.
Above
us, perhaps another 4 stories of dry cribwork extended into the darkness, inviting
us to climb up and see the secrets it held. First, however, we
had a bit of a problem.
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One
of the typically unsettling sights to be enjoyed in
place as strange as a flooded missile complex: a sign
warning "DANGER - HIGH VOLTAGE" hangs perhaps
two feet above the water in which we were
floating. Even though there was obviously no
power-- could not possibly be any power--
something visceral is felt when existing in a situation
of such obvious logical contradiction as to be floating
in water near such a sign.
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We
looked around skeptically at the slippery vertical steelwork
surrounding us, both thinking the same thing: "How the hell
do we get off this thing without taking a bath?"
There
really was no ideal place for such maneuvers anywhere: no pier, no
dock, no good place to moor the SS Moistbottom for exploring
"ashore" that we could readily see.
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Hmm...
No good place to clamber out of a highly-unstable
watercraft here...
Submerged
counterweight guide rails and piping with a touch of
foam-glass insulation in silo #3 presenting little
opportunity for safe, dry landfall.
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We
circled about the silo looking for the best spot we could find--
something where we could reach a ladder up onto the cribwork and find
some footholds within reach. Nothing really promising presented
itself, but finally we settled on a spot just under a service ladder
and catwalk, that although not directly accessible, we could
climb to it easily if we managed not to capsize the kayak trying to
reach it.
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The
silo presented us with rather poor choices for
landing. Here we move around some of the steel
beams of the cribwork looking for a likely spot to climb
aboard. This photo shows how easy it was, with a
little illumination, to see under the water.
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Finally
we found a spot where we could steady the kayak on each end by holding
it against two beams. The plan was that Walter would exit first,
slowly and carefully standing up in the kayak-- not an easy move on
the water-- and grab a duct support above and cautiously pull himself up
off the kayak (hopefully without dumping me and my cameras into the
water) allowing me to move the the kayak so I could do the same,
leaving it tethered to a pipe for our return.
Walter
managed to disembark without anyone getting dunked and climbed to a ladder
leading up to a nearby platform. I too was successful
at staying out of the water and quickly joined him on the catwalk. We were rather uncertain about getting
back on the kayak, but that was a problem for later! Now we had some
cribwork to explore!
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Access
ladder leading to the lowest catwalk near our
"landing site".
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The
catwalk we climbed up to after leaving the kayak
tethered below.
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There
were always ample choices for routes between different levels and
platforms as the cribwork could easily be described as a gigantic jungle
gym. Ladders, beams, bars, conduit, brackets and struts were
everywhere making, for the adventurous explorer with good upper body
strength, a very interesting exploration.
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Looking
down at the SS Moistbottom from the catwalk. The support we
used to climb up is right over the kayak in this
photo. The red pipe is part of the fire water
system of spray nozzles and the yellow pipe is the RP-1
(fuel) supply line for the missile.
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Once
we were both safely on what appeared to be solid "ground" on the
maintenance platform, Walter and I both proceeded to geek out and marvel at
all the details of the silo cribwork that surrounded us.
Now
Walter had been there before some years back, but he was still stoked as we
clambered about on the catwalks, platforms and service ladders that ran in just
about every direction.
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This
silo is one which was minimally salvaged and a lot of
it's original fixtures are still in place. Here,
piping or ductwork has been removed, but brackets and
hangers remain. Some Titan I silos have nearly
bare walls by comparison with almost nothing left
behind.
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Myself,
I went on a frenzy of photographic mayhem in an attempt to photo-document every
square nanometer of the silo. The flash on my camera was strobing so
often you'd have thought we were in some bizarre vertical discotheque.
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View
from one of the many narrow catwalks and platforms on
the cribwork. A damaged maint- enance platform can
be seen in the background looking rather unstable.
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Once
I was on the structure of the cribwork, the scale of the whole
thing was quite impressive. Even though the water was perhaps 20
feet below, I knew that below that water there was another 100 feet of
this massive steel work extending below the surface.
At
intervals on the cribwork, there were stops where the personnel elevator
accessed the different levels. At these levels
there were maintenance platforms which folded out to surround the
missile creating a nearly continuous work area for the crews to inspect,
repair and otherwise maintain the weapon.
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A
severely-damaged maintenance platform hangs askew some
25 feet above the water. These retractable
platforms were lowered for maintenance and checkout
procedures on the missile airframe at a number of levels
accessible by elevator and service ladders.
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It
appeared that these work platforms were all, or mostly still in place,
though many were badly damaged and appeared to have been struck by
falling steel or perhaps snagged on something as it was being hoisted
out of the silo. Some were twisted at odd angles, their hydraulics
torn loose, and others appeared to hang by a thread.
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Another
maintenance platform dangles nearby
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Looking
at the platform and opening for the personnel
elevator. No sign of the elevator car however.
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Everything
here, all the enormity and complexity, buried deep and hardened with all this
concrete and steel in this mazelike warren of tunnels and rooms existed for
the sake of this place, the silos' precious inhabitants, the mighty Titan I
missiles, and even though the missiles are long, long gone, there is a sense
of presence about this specific place that remains, assuring one that the
Titan was aptly named.
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Another
mangled maintenance platform about 30 feet below the
surface and some 20 feet above the water line
below.
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Looking
a bit further up you can see the accordion-style
elevator door, rusted but still in there at the
destroyed retractable platform.
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Scaling
the levels, I felt an elation at finally being at the locus,
the crux of the Titan 1 complex and joy at finally seeing for myself, at
last, the place where the Titans slumbered. This was something I
had waited over 15 years to see firsthand. I was ecstatic.
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Another
shot of the elevator doors and platform
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The
remnants of the cribwork, though battered and beaten by salvage,
weathered by time and neglect, were largely intact in their main
structure. Large parts had been cut away to facilitate removal of
features here and there, but in essence, the cribwork was by no means
disappointing or diminished.
As
we climbed higher I knew that ahead of me lay one more ultimate goal in
my exploration of the Titan I complex. This-- viewing the
cribwork--
had been one of those goals for many years, just like seeing
the silo catwalk level back at Lowry 724-C had been about 7 years earlier
and seeing the launcher air filtration facility a year before that had
been. One by one these goals have been checked off my list, but
this, this was a big one.
After
this, only a visit to the very bottom of a Titan I silo could top what I
was seeing this day! I wondered if I should ever be so
fortunate. What was down there, in that deep, dark place that was
always flooded, completely hidden and tantalizingly mysterious?
The
fatigue I might have otherwise felt after such a sleepless night before,
and the tiresome and demanding trek to get to this place was completely
banished by the excitement of being here. Time for rest later; I
had more climbing to do!
Tune
in soon for the next installment:
Part
Ten - The Upper Reaches
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