Operation Davy Jones' Locker

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The operation Davy Jones' Locker was an action of the United States Armed Forces and the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom from 1946 to 1948 for the destruction of German chemical weapons after the end of World War II in Germany .

background

When the victorious powers occupied the German Reich , they were confronted with around 65,000 to 70,000 tons of chemical warfare agents.

Estimated quantities of chemical warfare agents produced in the German Reich
Type Quantity (tons)
Chloroacetophenone 7,100
Clark I 1,500
Clark ii 100
Adamsite 3,900
Arsine oil 7,500
Phosgene 5,900
S-Lost 25,000
N-Lost 2,000
Taboo 12,000

The above-mentioned amount is the pure amount of warfare agent, as this was often filled in grenades, resulting in a much larger mass (weight) of sunk ammunition.

Even before the occupation of Germany, people had thought about how to deal with German chemical weapons. The choices were:

  • Sinking of the ammunition potash mine shafts
  • industrial dismantling of ammunition
  • Sinking on the high seas (deep sea dumping)

Since time was of the essence and large quantities of ammunition were to be dealt with, it was decided to sink the ammunition.

Course of the operation

The ammunition was loaded onto prepared Hulks in the ports of Kiel and Emden and brought to the dump area in a convoy, mostly consisting of the Hulks, a tug and an armed escort boat. The Hulks had been prepared in advance in the shipyards by removing the intermediate bulkheads for rapid sinking, and during loading care was taken to stow conventional ammunition both above and below the chemical weapons in order to prevent possible floating.

In the dumping area, the Hulks were sunk with the help of prepared explosive charges, if this did not succeed, the ships were sunk by shooting with on-board weapons.

The Norwegian government granted permission to sink the weapons off its coast 25 nm southeast of Arendal over an area of ​​14 km × 4 km and at a depth of 600 to 700 m and off Måseskär .

Operation Davy Jones' Locker sinking areas

Arendal sinkhole

  • About 19 nm to 25 nm southeast of Arendal
  • Area 14 km × 4 km
  • Depth 600 m to 700 m

A total of 38 ships with ammunition were sunk with 14 convoys.

T-63 and Warbreaker 3 in Nordenham
On the way to sinking

Ships sunk by the US included:

  • T-63 ⊙ loaded with 1,526 tons. ammunition
  • UJ-305 (KFK 541) ⊙ loaded with 671 to. ammunition
  • George Hawley (1,120 tons) ⊙
  • Alco Banner (3.097 tons) ⊙
  • James Harrod (3,360 tons) ⊙
  • James Otis (4.091 to.) ⊙
  • James Sewell (4,480 tons) ⊙
  • Nesbitt (6,720 tons) ⊙
  • War barrier breaker 3 ⊙ loaded with 1,349 tons. ammunition

Ships sunk by the UK included:

  • Edith Howaldt (3,000 tons) ⊙
  • Duborg (5,000 tons) ⊙
  • Taurus (1,000 tons) ⊙
  • Emmy Friedrich (8,000 to.) ⊙
  • Falkenfels (10,000 tons) ⊙
  • Fechenheim (8.036 tons) ⊙
  • Hugo Oldendorff (8.036 tons) ⊙
  • Theda Fritzen (2,466 tons) ⊙
  • Jantje Fritzen (6,600 tons) ⊙
  • Sesostris (2,000 tons) ⊙
  • Empire Severn ⊙
  • Eider (5,000 tons) ⊙
  • Ludwigshaven (1.721 tons) ⊙
  • Germany (1,061 tons) ⊙
  • Rhon (1.061 tons) ⊙
  • Patagonia (8,000 tons) ⊙
  • Tagila (2,600 tons) ⊙
  • Balkans (3,500 tons) ⊙
  • Drau (8,000 tons) ⊙
  • Oder current (2.465 tons) ⊙
  • Olga Siemers (5,000 tons) ⊙
  • Trude Schunemann (1,500 tons) ⊙
  • Karl Leonhard (8,000 tons) ⊙
  • Lotte (2115 to.) ⊙
  • Louise Schröder (1327 to.) ⊙

Måseskär sinkhole

  • About 19 nm to 25 nm southeast of the island of Måseskär
  • Depth 190 m to 220 m

About 28 ships with ammunition were sunk.

Ships sunk by the UK included:

  • Monte Pascoal (6,000 tons) ⊙
  • T-65 (6,000 tons)
  • Swabia (6,000 tons) ⊙
  • T-38 ⊙
  • T-39 ⊙
  • M-16 (874 tons) ⊙
  • M-522 (652 tons) ⊙
  • S 7 (86 to.) ⊙
  • S 9 (86 to.) ⊙
  • S 12 (92 to.) ⊙
  • F-192 (240 to.) ⊙
  • TF-1 (489 tons) ⊙

Dump area western Skagerrak (Vest Agder)

T-21 on the way to sinking
  • T-21 (1098 to.) ⊙
  • T-37 (2190 tons) ⊙
  • M-280 (775 tons) ⊙
  • Z 29 (2657 to.) ⊙
  • Z 34 (2657 to.) ⊙
  • V-156 (brake) (796 to.) ⊙
  • V-190 (Claus von Bevern) (796 to.) ⊙
  • Leipzig (6515 tons) ⊙

Dump area Tampen

After protests, two additional ships were sunk in ropes at 1000 m.The ships were:

  • Marcy (2,800 tons) ⊙
  • Philip Heiniken (2,240 tons) ⊙

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Small inquiry: Printed matter 13/2733
  2. ↑ a b Manfred Messer: German Disarmament - The "Destruction" of the German CW - ammunition stocks in SKAGERRAK in the years 1945 - 1947. (pdf) March 16, 2019, accessed on August 20, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Chemical weapons in Skagerak. Ny Tid, January 28, 2004, accessed August 20, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Case studies on wrecks filled with ammunitions. DAIMON Project, accessed on August 20, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b John Aa Tørnes: WP 3.2 Case studies on wrecks filled with chemical munitions. (pdf) Norwegian Defense Research Establishment, February 6, 2019, accessed August 20, 2020 .
  6. ↑ a b c d e H. Lindsey Arison III: European Disposal Operations: The Sea Disposal of Chemical Weapons . CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4699-1405-3 , pp. 159 .
  7. ↑ Empire Severn
  8. ↑ JF Lindgren, I. Dahllöf, V. Paka, H. Niemikoski, L. Kotwicki, A. Tengberg, P. Vannine, IM. Hassellöv: The Måseskär dump site - concentrations of chemical warfare agents, and possible management options. (pdf) Norwegian Defense Research Establishment, February 7, 2019, accessed August 20, 2020 .
  9. ↑ JF Lindgren, I. Dahllöf, V. Paka, H. Niemikoski, L. Kotwicki, A. Tengberg, P. Vannine, IM. Hassellöv: Miljörisker sjunkna vrak II. (Pdf) Sjöfartsverket, October 2015, accessed on August 21, 2020 (Swedish).
  10. ↑ a b Toernes, Voie, Ljoenes, Opstad, Bjerkeseth, Hussain: Forsvarets forskningsinstitutt Norway - Investigation and Risk Assessment of Ships Loaded with Chemical Ammunition Scuttled in Skagerrak. (pdf) Norwegian Defense Research Establishment, 2011, accessed August 21, 2020 (Swedish).