did Milwaukee ever have an ABM site?
pa...@aol.com
It was not an ABM site, but a Nike missile site from the 50's. The
Nike
was supposed to hit bombers. Not real accurate. COuld call them a
SAM in today's lingo.
Jim McGuigan
There was an old missle site at the Havenwoods Nature Preserve on the
northwest side. I'm not sure which type.
Chris Roth wrote:
>
> I'm familiar with anti-ballistic missile systems. Although the
> Gulf War TV reports showcased the Patriot system, the technology actually
> goes back many years.
>
> Decades ago, the Pentagon envisioned placing fast anti-missiles
> in major population centers. The idea is that an incoming nuclear
> warhead could be stopped near the end of its long flight from
> the USSR to the USA.
>
> Of course, these systems have been a failure. Hitting a bullet
> with a bullet just isn't practical. Many of these antimissile
> site plans were scrapped.
>
> Now, a few years ago I walked around a golf course on the
> south side of Milwaukeeland. Right on Lake Michigan.
> I dimly recall seeing a concrete bunker of some sort.
>
> Is there any chance that this was intended to be an antimissile
> base during the Cold War? Do any
> old-timers (a term applying to more and more Internet users) recall
> if there was ever <any> antimissile base constructed here in
> SE WI?
>
> (Two historical notes. I'm familiar with the system put
> in place in one of the Dakotas around 1975. And there's
> the Galosh system around Moscow. The ABM treaty always allowed
> both sides to have one system. But I'm wondering what
> was going on well before the ABM treay involving population
> centers like Milwaukee and Los Angeles.)
>
> Chris Roth
> cr...@omnifest.uwm.edu
>
> cc: milw.general
Paul Curtis Smith
Chris Roth (cr...@omnifest.uwm.edu) wrote:
: Now, a few years ago I walked around a golf course on the
: south side of Milwaukeeland. Right on Lake Michigan.
: I dimly recall seeing a concrete bunker of some sort.
:
: Is there any chance that this was intended to be an antimissile
: base during the Cold War? Do any
: old-timers (a term applying to more and more Internet users) recall
: if there was ever <any> antimissile base constructed here in
: SE WI?
There were several Nike ABM sites in the Milwaukee area. I am most
familiar with the site out near Lannon in Waukesha County, as I used to
crawl around inside the bunker as a kid.
About three or four weeks ago the Journal-Sentinel had a couple of
stories about the final demolition of the north shore ABM site's bunker.
The article had some details (of course, of questionable accuracy...) about
the extent and history of Milwaukee's sites.
Paul Smith
Dane M. Sandersen
: Is there any chance that this was intended to be an antimissile
: base during the Cold War? Do any
: old-timers (a term applying to more and more Internet users) recall
: if there was ever <any> antimissile base constructed here in
: SE WI?
Well, I know that there WERE some located ( I don't know what has become of
them ) at the 84th Division HQ on Silver Spring.
--
*******************************************************************************
* Dane Mansa Sandersen UWMSA Senator emeritus Office:BUS234,BOL206,LIB274 *
* President: ROTC @ UWM Phone:x2510,6421,6418 *
* *
* I&MT Unix and Microcomputer cons/tech E-mail: ma...@alpha2.csd.uwm.edu *
* Web: http://www.uwm.edu/~mansa *
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James R Coggins
On 2 Dec 1996, Bruno Wolff III wrote:
> There was a Nike site around Milwaukee. There was something about the
> old silos that made the news within the last year, so you may be able
> to get some more information on them by searching Journal Sentinal articles
> from the last year.
Somewhat off this thread but one of these sites was in River Hills
just north of Brown Deer Rd and east of Range Line. A few years a
rather large house was built on the site. Within the last few months,
the intact house was moved off and the area is being graded. Anyone
know details of what is going on?
Jim
Chris Roth
I'm familiar with anti-ballistic missile systems. Although the
Gulf War TV reports showcased the Patriot system, the technology actually
goes back many years.
Decades ago, the Pentagon envisioned placing fast anti-missiles
in major population centers. The idea is that an incoming nuclear
warhead could be stopped near the end of its long flight from
the USSR to the USA.
Of course, these systems have been a failure. Hitting a bullet
with a bullet just isn't practical. Many of these antimissile
site plans were scrapped.
Now, a few years ago I walked around a golf course on the
south side of Milwaukeeland. Right on Lake Michigan.
I dimly recall seeing a concrete bunker of some sort.
Is there any chance that this was intended to be an antimissile
base during the Cold War? Do any
old-timers (a term applying to more and more Internet users) recall
if there was ever <any> antimissile base constructed here in
SE WI?
(Two historical notes. I'm familiar with the system put
Chris Roth
response to pcsmith:
Where was the "north shore" bunker? How close to the shoreline?
I wonder why these bases were positioned near the Lake. Good
view of the sky?
Was I correct about the structure near the golf course on
the south end of greater Milwaukee? The structure near the Lake?
Chris Roth
pa...@aol.com
Just a small correction the Nikde sites were SAM's and not ABM,
(anti-balistic missiles) They were intended for LOW and SLOW flying
bombers not missile interceptions. They were built in the 50's.....
John G Dobnick
From article <57u1ga$7...@omnifest.uwm.edu>, by cr...@omnifest.uwm.edu (Chris Roth):
> Do any
> old-timers (a term applying to more and more Internet users) recall
> if there was ever <any> antimissile base constructed here in
> SE WI?
[Hey! Watch who you're calling an "old timer", you young
whippersnapper! :-)]
ABM's, as in anti-ballistic missiles? No.
However, Milwaukee _was_ ringed with a series of anti-*aircraft*
missiles -- Nikes specifically. (No, not the M Jordan type.)
Recalling that Milwaukee was known as "The Machine Shop of the Nation",
it was thus a prime strategic target for Soviet bombers. Hence the
protective ring of Nike anti-aircraft missiles.s
I can only recall two installations (others have pointed out some other
locations in the area). One was at the former Army Disciplinary Barracks
site on Silver Spring. I think this is now a park and/or nature preserve.
The other site I recall was located on the Lake Michigan shoreline,
near the old Maitland Field. (Who remembers that?) My increasingly
fuzzy memory tells me that this is about where the Henry Meier Festival
Park grounds are currently located.
--
John G Dobnick "Knowing how things work is the basis
Information & Media Technologies for appreciation, and is thus a
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee source of civilized delight."
j...@csd.uwm.edu ATTnet: (414) 229-5727 -- William Safire
Paul Curtis Smith
John G Dobnick (j...@alpha1.csd.uwm.edu) wrote:
: The other site I recall was located on the Lake Michigan shoreline,
: near the old Maitland Field. (Who remembers that?) My increasingly
: fuzzy memory tells me that this is about where the Henry Meier Festival
: Park grounds are currently located.
I have a photograph of the field taken from the Johnson Controls
Michigan street building. As far as I can tell, the field was a bit north of
the current Festival Park, which was at the time (I think...) the coachyards
(RR complex).
You should hear the gasps of surprise when I tell folks it's a
photograph of Milwaukee's lakefront airport. I'd love to hear more about the
area/time from people who remember it.
Paul Smith
Chris Roth
response to pcsmith@:
The downtown public library has a nice coffee table book
titled _Zany Afternoons_ by Bruce McCall. Printed in Italy.
Inside, there's a painting of the old airport that used to
be in Central Park. It's a realistic painting, with a detailed
(text) explanation of when it was dismantled, and what it was
like to be a passenger looking <up> at people who live in
the upper floors of apartment buildings. During a landing.
Of course, that airport never existed. McCall is an aviation
buff, and he faked all of the details so well that the casual
reader might actually think that the airport did exist.
McCall's book also has realistic paintings of a liner many
times bigger than the Titanic.
Chris Roth
John G Dobnick
From article <5816e6$c...@uwm.edu>, by pcs...@alpha2.csd.uwm.edu (Paul Curtis Smith):
> John G Dobnick (j...@alpha1.csd.uwm.edu) wrote:
>
> : The other site I recall was located on the Lake Michigan shoreline,
> : near the old Maitland Field. (Who remembers that?) My increasingly
>
> Michigan street building. As far as I can tell, the field was a bit north of
> the current Festival Park, which was at the time (I think...) the coachyards
> (RR complex).
Yeah, you're probably right about that. (Well, I *said* my memory was getting
fuzzy on this subject!)
Meier Park would be in the middle of the old Northwest RR [or Pacific
Northwest RR? If Rasmussen is reading this, I'm sure he'll correct me
:-)] yard, or at least east of it. Maitland would have to be further
north, but still within the inner harbor area, I think. There was a
seaplane landing area at this airport. (Now I'm going to _have_ to
research this myself!)
> You should hear the gasps of surprise when I tell folks it's a
> photograph of Milwaukee's lakefront airport. I'd love to hear more about the
> area/time from people who remember it.
I'll bet. How many think it's Chicago, and the late (but not yet
dismantled) Meigs Field?
Dale Prellwitz
In article <57ur8a$6...@omnifest.uwm.edu>, cr...@omnifest.uwm.edu÷ says...
On the south side of Milwaukee, (Cudahy to be exact), there was a Nike missile
site at the south end of Warnimont golf Course. Some of the original
buildings were still there as of a few years ago. I believe they were being
used as a senior cititzen's center.
The reason for the Nike sites around Milwaukee and particularily along the
south shoreline was Gen. Billy Mitchell Field. The other sites around
Milwaukee would be, as already mentioned, Milwaukee's industrial plants.
Remember, in the 50's the Cold War and threat of atomic bombs was a very real
fear in mainstream America.
dale
Steven J Scott
> Actually, the Nike system was a rather long-run generation of SAM's,
the last generation which was the Nike-Herculeus (or was that the
Nike-Zeus?) In any case, it was configured to carry a nuclear warhead for
use against MIRV-warhead ICBM's, and was very accurate, despite the fact
it did not have to be. It was radar guided, as was the whole system. What
made the system obsolete, among other things, was all the ground guidance
apurture was of tube technology.
And one more thing, as far as rocketry and computer-guided systems go,
you can thank the Germans for both of those. The race for space would
have been impossible had it not been for the German scientists and
engineers that the Soviets captured, and likewise their colleagues who
managed to escape in this direction.