Nike Park and other Nike-Ajax launch locations:

Background:

Nine (eight permanent) Nike-Ajax missile sites were located around the Hampton-Roads area.

Web Sites -

http://www.cloudster.com/RealHardware/Nike/NikeAjaxTop.htm

http://ed-thelen.org/loc-v.html#Virginia

http://www.visitsmithfieldisleofwight.com/NikeSite.html

http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/nikesite/welcome.html

http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/vigilant/sus_intro.html

http://www.vtunderground.com/other/nike.htm

http://www.historicaerials.com/

[Click here to start GoogleEarth using Tom's .kmz file]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike_(rocket)

http://www.nikemissile.org/

Nike-Ajax missiles:

The first successful Nike test was during November 1951, intercepting a drone B-17 Flying Fortress. The first type, Nike Ajax (MIM-3), were deployed starting in 1953. The Army initially ordered 1,000 missiles and 60 sets of equipment. They were placed to protect strategic and tactical sites within the US. As a last-line of defense from air attack, they were positioned to protect cities as well as military installations. The missile was deployed first at Fort Meade, Maryland during December, 1953. A further 240 launch sites were built up to 1962. They replaced 896 radar-guided anti-aircraft guns, operated by the National Guard or Army to protect certain key sites. This left a handful of 75 mm Skysweeper emplacements as the only anti-aircraft artillery remaining in use by the US. By 1957 the Regular Army AAA units had been replaced by missile battalions. During 1958 the Army National Guard began to replace their guns and adopt the Ajax system. Each launch site had three parts, separated by at least 1,000 yards (914 m). One part (designated C) of about six acres (24,000 m²) contained the IFC (Integrated Fire Control) radar systems to detect incoming targets (acquisition and target tracking) and direct the missiles (missile tracking), along with the computer systems to plot and direct the intercept. The second part (designated L), around forty acres (160,000 m²), held 1-3 underground missile magazines each serving a group of four launch assemblies and included a safety zone. The site had a crew of 109 officers and men who ran the site continuously. One launcher would be on 15 minutes alert, two on 30 minutes and one on two hour alert. The third part was the administrative area (designated A), which was usually co-located with the IFC and contained the battery headquarters, barracks, mess, recreation hall, and motor pool. The actual configuration of the Nike sites differed depending on geography. Whenever possible the sites were placed on existing military bases or National Guard armories, otherwise land had to be purchased.

The Nike batteries were organized in Defense Areas and placed around population centers and strategic locations such as long-range bomber bases, nuclear plants, and (later) ICBM sites. The Nike sites in a Defense Area formed a circle around these cities and bases. There was no fixed number of Nike batteries in a Defense Area and the actual number of batteries varied from a low of two in the Barksdale AFB Defense Area to a high of 22 in the Chicago Defense Area. In the Continental United States the sites were numbered from 01 to 99 starting at the north and increasing clockwise. The numbers had no relation to actual compass headings, but generally Nike sites numbered 01 to 25 were to the northeast and east, those numbered 26 to 50 were to the southeast and south, those numbered 51 to 75 were to the southwest and west, and those numbered 76 to 99 were to the northwest and north. The Defense Areas in the Continental United States were identified by a one- or two-letter code which were related to the city name. Thus those Nike sites starting with C were in the Chicago Defense Area, those starting with HM were in the Homestead AFB/Miami Defense Area, those starting with NY were in the New York Defense Area, and so forth. As an example Nike Site SF-88L refers to the launcher area (L) of the battery located in the northwestern part (88) of the San Francisco Defense Area (SF).

During the early-to-mid 1960s the Nike Ajax batteries were upgraded to the Hercules system. The new missiles had greater range and destructive power, so about half as many batteries provided the same defensive capability. Regular Army batteries were either upgraded to the Hercules system or decommissioned. Army National Guard units continued to use the Ajax system until 1964, when they too upgraded to Hercules. Eventually, the Regular Army units were replaced by the National Guard as a cost saving measure, since the Guard units could return to their homes when off duty.

A Nike Ajax missile exploded accidentally at a battery in Leonardo, New Jersey on 22 May 1958. A memorial can be found at Fort Hancock in the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area.

In Marion, KY

Launcher

Missile	Nike Ajax
Length	10.36 m overall 6.41 m second stage
Diameter	0.30 m
Fin span	1.22 m
Mass	1,116 kg at launch 523 kg second stage
Maximum speed	Mach 2.25 (ca. 3,000 km/h)
Range	40 km
Ceiling	21,300 m
First stage	Solid-fuel (263 kN static thrust for 2.5 seconds)
Second stage	Liquid-fuel (11.6 kN static thrust for 21 seconds)
Third stage	None
Warhead conventional	3 warheads each surrounded with 2 layers of 1/4 in (6 mm) hardened steel cubes Nose: M2: 4.5 lb (2.0 kg) Composition B 12 lb (5.4 kg) total Mid-body: M3: 92 lb (42 kg) Comp. B, 176.8 lb (80.2 kg) total Aft: M4: 59 lb (27 kg) Comp B, 121.3 lb (55.0 kg) total
Warhead nuclear	Conventional warhead only

Underground, from SF-91

Nike-Ajax Missile Site N-75L & N-75C (1954 to Jun. 1961)

Carrollton, Isle of Wight County, VA

Nike Park in Carrollton, VA is an old Nike-Ajax launch site - Army Air-Defense Post

Each Nike-Ajax site also had a Integrated Fire Control (IFC) - Control Site

Video Tour Nike Park

Park sign.

Old SEVRA launch site

On August 22, 2009 over 75 visitors joined local historian Albert Burckard for a slide presentation and walking tour of Nike Park. The event was hosted by Isle of Wight County Historic Resources.

Specialist 4th Class Ralph Wilkerson at the main gate. Photo from R. Wilkerson

At the conclusion of World War II, tension arose between the Soviet Union with its Warsaw Pact allies and the western democracies united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This tension, or Cold War, continued until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. During this time of widening ideological conflict, both sides increased defense spending, developed propaganda, developed sophisticated weapons, practiced espionage and participated in a conventional and nuclear arms race.

Fear of Soviet bombings sparked the United States’ creation of a surface- to-air missile system ready to protect major metropolitan areas as well as large military installations like those found in Hampton Roads. In the United States, these air defense bases encompassed the areas that they were built to protect.

The Carrollton Nike Missile Battery was operational by 1954 and was one of eight bases that made up the Norfolk Defense Area. As with all continental bases, it consisted of two areas: a launch site and a control site. The two were connected by an underground cable system that enabled them to communicate with each other.

Nike-Ajax missile on the elevator Photo from R. Wilkerson

In the event of an impending attack, the main alert would come from Norfolk, and all bases in the area prepared to fire. At Carrollton, troops manned their stations and stood ready to deploy 32 20-foot missiles. Once missiles were fired, the radar system at Jones Creek would guide them to their target.

After the Nike-Ajax system was upgraded to the Nike-Hercules system which carried nuclear warheads. Some bases, but not N-75, were converted to house both Ajax and Hercules missiles.

In 1961, the base was no longer used as a missile site, and the Army Signal Corps used it as a communications site.

Launch site today

1963 picture

Pad A today

Pad C today. Pad B is now a skate park.

Fueling Pad today

Missile Test & Assembly Building today

Photos: Brett England

Housing today

The former Nike-Ajax missile base is now home to the Isle of Wight County Parks and Recreation Department. Many buildings still stand including the barracks, mess hall, administration and recreation building and officer/non-commissioned officer family housing.

Visitors can also see the fueling area and concrete slabs that mark the location of the underground missile magazines.

The park, over 100 acres in size, offers different recreational activities and features
softball and soccer fields, basketball, volleyball, and tennis courts, picnic areas, nature and mountain bike trails, skate park, playgrounds, senior center and a recreation hall. In addition, there are fishing opportunities in Jones Creek.

Visitors are welcome to walk or drive through Site N-75 and recall the experience of soldiers stationed in remote areas.

The park is open daily from dawn until dusk.
13036 Nike Park Road, Carrollton, VA 23314

Nike-Ajax IFC - Control Site today 1963 picture

Now it is a city boat ramp

Nike-Ajax Missile Site N-02L & N-02C

Fox Hill in Hampton, VA

Launch site today. Fenced off.

1963 picture

IFC today 1963 picture

Nike-Ajax Missile Site N-20

Ocean View in Norfolk, VA

Ocean View Ave., temporary site, battery ops to Fort Story. No signs left.

Nike-Ajax Missile Site N-25 and N-29

Fort Story in Virginia Beach, VA

Launch site today

1963 picture

http://www.vtunderground.com/other/nike.htm Launch site today

IFC today 1963 picture

Nike-Ajax Missile Site N-36L & N36C

Kempsville in Virginia Beach, VA

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/02/remains-virginia-beach-nike-missile-site-could-become-history

Barry Shockley, a facilities manager for Virginia Beach, walks on top of a magazine that was part of the Nike missile site. (David B. Hollingsworth | The Virginian-Pilot)

By Deirdre Fernandes
The Virginian-Pilot
© February 25, 2008

VIRGINIA BEACH

Nearly half a century ago, missiles sat poised in this field, ready to strike Soviet bombers and protect Hampton Roads’ maritime and military interests. Then the federal government removed the missiles and left the property not far from Salem High School on Lynnhaven Parkway – to the city. The building where Cold War-era missiles were armed became a welding shop for Virginia Beach’s Parks and Recreation Department. Ping pong tables, therapeutic balls, and boxes of candles took over the base’s former mess hall. Last year, the Army Corps of Engineers finally came by and filled the empty missile magazines with concrete. Soon, any remaining evidence of this Nike missile site, one of eight that once stood guard in Hampton Roads, could disappear.

Launch site today