Spartan Gold: Dresden bombings and more

pg 230

"It's what I named the 77 (sub), after my wife; she died in the Dresden bombings."

During the final months of World War II, Dresden, Germany became a haven to some 600,000 refugees, with a total population of 1.2 million. Dresden was attacked seven times between 1944 and 1945, and was occupied by the Red Army after German capitulation.

The bombing of Dresden by the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force between 13 and 15 February 1945 remains a controversial Allied action of the Western European theatre of war.

The inner city of Dresden was largely destroyed by 722 RAF and 527 USAAF bombers that dropped 2431 tons of high explosive bombs, and 1475.9 tons of incendiaries. The high explosive bombs damaged buildings and exposed their wooden structures, while the incendiaries ignited them, severely reducing the number of shelters available to the retreating German troops and refugees.

The bombing raid on Dresden destroyed almost all of the ancient centre of the city in three waves of attacks. Widely quoted Nazi propaganda reports claimed 200,000 deaths. The German Dresden Historians' Commission, in an official 2010 report published after five years of research concluded there were up to 25,000 casualties, while right-wing groups continue to claim that up to 500,000 people died.

The inhabited city centre was almost wiped out, while larger residential, industrial and military sites on the outskirts were relatively unscathed. The Allies described the operation as the legitimate bombing of a military and industrial target. A report from the British Bomber Command stated the military target was the railway marshalling yard Dresden-Friedrichstadt. Prime Minister Winston Churchill later distanced himself from the attack, even though he was heavily involved with the planning of the raid.

"Manfred was supposed to sail up Chesapeake Bay and attack the navy base at Norfolk."

The land on which the naval station is located was originally the site of the 1907 Jamestown Exposition. During this exposition, high-ranking naval officers agreed that this site was ideal for a naval activity. A bill was passed in 1908 proposing that the U.S. Congress allow $1 million for the purchase of the property and buildings, but it died when the Assistant Secretary of the Navy was given a choice between this property and a new coal ship. He replied that a new ship was an absolute necessity. However, immediately after the United States entered World War I in April 1917, the Secretary of the Navy was persuaded to buy the property. A bill was passed for the purchase of 474 acres (1.9 km²); it set aside the sum of $1.2 million as payment for the property and an additional $1.6 million for the development of the base, including piers, aviation facilities, storehouses, facilities for fuel and oil storage, a recruit training station, a submarine base and recreation grounds for fleet personnel. Rear Admiral Dillingham was assigned the task of coordinating the area's development.

Construction of the training camp began on Independence Day 1917, and within the first 30 days housing for 7,500 men had been completed. The next six months saw the establishment of the 5th Naval District Headquarters and the Naval Operating Base, which included the Naval Training Center, Naval Air Station, Naval Hospital and Submarine Station. By Armistice Day 1918, there were 34,000 enlisted men at the base. When the available land became insufficient, a large part of the flats on the west and north were filled from dredging done to allow large ships to dock. During the fall and winter of 1917, approximately 8 million cubic yards (6,000,000 m³) of dredging took place.

< The Naval Base has been in operation ever since.

"I was to attack the ammunition depot in Charleston."

Sixty W-80-0 Tomahawk SLCM munitions and 85 nuclear aerial bombs for deck-based aircraft are stored at Charleston Naval Weapons Station, located on the west bank of the Cooper River, 40 km from Charleston, South Carolina.

The mission of the Naval Weapons Station Charleston is to maintain and operate facilities and provide, as appropriate, services and material to support operations of commands of the operating forces of the Navy, and other organizations designated by the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), and to perform such other functions and tasks as may be directed by higher authority. The facility also supports the Maritime Prepositioning Force (MPF) Program; and serves as homeport for ships as directed by the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), and Commander, Military Sealift Command (MSC).

Naval Weapons Station, Charleston (NAVWPNSTA CHASN) was commissioned as the US Naval Ammunition Depot on 5 November 1941. The 6,701 acre original site was purchased when it became apparent that ammunition could no longer be safely handled in large quantities at the Naval Station. One year later, an additional 5,187 acre tract was purchased. During World War II the mission of the depot was to receive ammunition from inland plants and issue it to ships being built at the Charleston Naval Shipyard. Following the war, the depot was tasked with handling the removal of ammunition from some 370 ships being deactivated. In 1947 the depot was nearly deactivated and returned to private ownership; however, in 1948 it was placed in standby status. Only those operations required to store ammunition for ships undergoing overhaul at the shipyard were conducted. This condition continued until the mid 1950s. The mission was then expanded to include handling of guided missiles and loading new Polaris submarines.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Base_Charleston
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/charleston_nws.htm