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For many years as I came upon the toll booths on BW-8 near the Ship Channel Bridge I noticed a few bunkers off the sides of the road. Never paid a lot of attention until last week when I had a chance to drive by them and take a look. While you can see half a dozen off the road, there are probably close to 100 intact back in the woods, mostly to the east of the toll road.
I did some research to find out more about the history of this place. Here is some of what I found.
The San Jacinto Ordnance Depot operated from November 1941 well into the 1950's, and was declared surplus and eventually sold to Houston Channel Industrial Corp in 1964. During it's operation it handled over 329 million pounds of ammunition, of all types (except smoke).
It was from this depot that the Merchant Vessel National Pride departed on 25 November 1959 with 438 short tons of obsolete ammunition destined for the disposal grounds 122 miles south of Galveston. She was never heard from again, her capsized hull was found two days later 54 miles from Galveston. All eleven men aboard perished, with only 2 bodies recovered.
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/docs/boards/natpride.pdf
Another interesting item is that there seem to be at least 4 chemical weapons lost on the site. Reports indicate that two 500 lb Phosgene bombs and a 500 lb Mustard bomb were buried on the site. Another 500 lb Phosgene bomb appears to have been lost about 1 mile from the docks. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports that there is almost no chance these things are dangerous, and have probably decomposed.
While many of the bunkers have lost their protective layer of dirt and vegetation once used for protection and camouflage, many still have it intact. Below are some Google Earth pictures of the site and two of the bunkers. There is one site dedicated to this place, and a few other entries found when searching, including a Wikki entry.
San Jacinto Ordnance Depot - World War II
SAN JACINTO ORDNANCE DEPOT | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)
San Jacinto Ordnance Depot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I did some research to find out more about the history of this place. Here is some of what I found.
The San Jacinto Ordnance Depot operated from November 1941 well into the 1950's, and was declared surplus and eventually sold to Houston Channel Industrial Corp in 1964. During it's operation it handled over 329 million pounds of ammunition, of all types (except smoke).
It was from this depot that the Merchant Vessel National Pride departed on 25 November 1959 with 438 short tons of obsolete ammunition destined for the disposal grounds 122 miles south of Galveston. She was never heard from again, her capsized hull was found two days later 54 miles from Galveston. All eleven men aboard perished, with only 2 bodies recovered.
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/docs/boards/natpride.pdf
Another interesting item is that there seem to be at least 4 chemical weapons lost on the site. Reports indicate that two 500 lb Phosgene bombs and a 500 lb Mustard bomb were buried on the site. Another 500 lb Phosgene bomb appears to have been lost about 1 mile from the docks. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports that there is almost no chance these things are dangerous, and have probably decomposed.
While many of the bunkers have lost their protective layer of dirt and vegetation once used for protection and camouflage, many still have it intact. Below are some Google Earth pictures of the site and two of the bunkers. There is one site dedicated to this place, and a few other entries found when searching, including a Wikki entry.
San Jacinto Ordnance Depot - World War II
SAN JACINTO ORDNANCE DEPOT | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)
San Jacinto Ordnance Depot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
