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ViewsWorld War 2 - Disposal of Chemical WeaponsFrom SN Guides
[edit] IntroductionAt the end of WW2 there were large stockpiles of chemical weapons. They needed to be disposed of for reasons of safety and to ensure they didn't fall into the wrong hands. This entry provides background information and describes how most of these weapons were disposed of in Europe by loading them into ships and scuttling them. The current version of this entry only covers Europe. Further chemical weapons disposal was carried out by the United States, Japan, Australia and probably Canada but this has not been researched.
[edit] BackgroundChemical weapons were banned by International treaties after WW1 but still manufactured clandestinely. This is certainly true of the Germans and Japanese and maybe also the Allies. It is clear from the account below that Britain was producing mustard gas ammunition in 1942; there may be more information forthcoming on this topic but that is the limit of information whilst producing this entry up to 25 Feb 2008. [edit] German Chemical WeaponsAt the end of WW2 it was found that Germany had developed a number of superior chemical weapons in addition to the old types, like mustard gas, phosgene and chlorine, that were used in WW1. The new agents are now referred to as “nerve gas” and were Tabun, Sarin and Soman. These worked in a different way to the chemical weapons of WW1 by paralysing muscles including those involved in breathing thereby asphyxiating anyone inhaling them. At the beginning of the war, Germany had large stockpiles of chemical weapons and the capability for using them. And yet poison gas was not used by the Germans to any significant extent during WW2, though there were apparently a number of cases where it was used on the Russian front. There can be little doubt that the Germans had significant and superior capability in chemical weapons.
[edit] UK Chemical WeaponsIn a speech made on 10 May 1942, Winston Churchill said that, although the Britain would not be the first to use poison gas, it would use it if the Germans used it first, and that its use against Russian allies, would provoke retaliation as if it had been used against Britain. ".... we will use our great and growing air superiority in the West to carry gas warfare on the largest possible scale, far and wide, against military objectives in Germany. It is thus for Hitler to choose whether he wishes to add this additional horror to aerial warfare".
There were probably other sites involved in the manufacture of chemical weapons in Britain as well. Anyone having information about this is invited to contact Benjidog with details so they can be added to this entry. There are a number of references on the Internet to Britain supplying Australia with the raw material to manufacture chemical weapons as there was concern that they would be used by the Japanese in an invasion. The Japanese had used chemical weapons against the Chinese already.
[edit] Types of Ammunition[edit] German standard ammunition with chemical warfare agentsThe tables below, containing information extracted from External resource #1, provide details of the standard German ammunition containing chemical warfare agents.
[edit] British standard ammunition with chemical warfare agentsNot currently known.
[edit] Disposal Sites[edit] Disposal aboard scuttled shipsExternal resource #2 provides a list of ships that were loaded with chemical weapons and scuttled together with (in most cases) the locations. There are no less than 89 ships of various types listed; many are likely to have been Liberty ships judging by their names. Note that in the tables in this section: Minesveiper = minesweeper Torpedojager = Torpedo boat (literally torpedo fighter) [edit] Scuttled ships - Skagarrak areaFølgende fartøyer er antatt senket i Skagerrak. Dumpingsfeltet ser ut til å strekke seg fra Svenskegrensen i øst til Lista i vest. Det kan dokumenteres at det ble senket fartøyer utenfor Arendal (ca 650-700 meters dyp), Måseskjär (ca 200 meters dyp) og sørvest av Lista på ca 300 meters dyp.
[edit] Scuttled ships - North Sea AreaFølgende skip skal ha blitt senket i ”Nordsjøen”. Senkingsområdet er sansynligvis farvannet utenfor Helgoland. The following ships have been sunk in the “North Sea”. Sinking area is probably deep sea outside Helgoland.
[edit] Scuttled ships - Bay of Biscay AreaFølgende skip skal ha blitt senket i Biscaya: The following ships have been sunk in the Bay of Biscay
[edit] Scuttled ships - Atlantic Ocean areaFølgende skip skal ha blitt senket i Atlanterhavet: The following have been sunk in the Atlantic Ocean
[edit] Scuttled ships - Location not knownThe following vessels are noted only as “Scuttled at sea”
[edit] Scuttled ships - Sank after explosion in cargoFølgende skip sank i Kattegat etter eksplosjon i lasten. Skipet skulle dumpes: The following ship sank in the Kattegat after an explosion in the cargo. The ship was to dump (its cargo)
[edit] Disposals in the Beaufort TrenchThe Beaufort Trench is an area of deep water between Scotland and Northern Ireland that has been used for dumping munitions since WW1. A large number of munitions, including chemical weapons, were dumped there after the end of WW2. Detailed information is not currently available. The following is an extract from Hansard (UK Parliament - written answers) on 23 Apr 2002 - see External resource #4. Dr Moonie was the UK Junior Defence Minister at that time and Mrs. Curtis-Thomas was Member of Parliament for Crosby (Merseyside). Beaufort Trench (Mustard Gas) Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much mustard gas is stored in the Beaufort trench; and what recent assessment has been carried out to determine the health risks associated with the site. [51570] Dr. Moonie: Detailed inventories of chemical weapons and other munitions disposed of in Beaufort's Dyke are no longer available; many records were destroyed after the disposals as a matter of routine custom and practice in view of the fact that sea dumping of munitions, including CW-filled items, was then an acceptable method of disposal. Where records of disposals do remain in existence, they have been released to the Public Record Office. From those existing records, it is known that some 14,500 tons of 5 inch artillery rockets filled with phosgene were dumped in Beaufort's Dyke in July 1945. There are no records which indicate that other chemical weapons, including mustard gas, have been disposed of to that dump
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