America's Air Defense of South Florida
During and After the Cuban Missile Crisis: 1962-1979

B Battery
Click on photo to enlarge

See photos and battery rosters  on Links Page

Chronology

 1962 - 1965 - When A, C, and D Batteries were dispatched from Ft. Bliss, Texas to south Florida at the onset of the Cuban Missile Crisis, B Battery was on maneuvers on Johnston Island in the Pacific test firing Nike Hercules missiles with nuclear warhead as part of Operation Dominic.

OPERATION DOMINIC - Operation Dominic occurred during a period of high Cold War tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, since the Cuban Bay of Pigs Invasion had occurred not long before. Operation Dominic was a series of 105 nuclear test explosions conducted in 1962 and 1963 by the United States. Those conducted in the Pacific are sometimes called Dominic I. The blasts in Nevada are known as Dominic II. This test series was scheduled quickly, in order to take advantage of the Soviet abandonment of the 1958-1961 test moratoriums. Most of these shots were conducted with free-fall bombs dropped from B-52 bomber aircraft. Twenty of these shots were to test new weapons designs; six to test weapons effects; and several shots to confirm the reliability of existing weapons. The Thor missile was also used to loft warheads into near-space to conduct high altitude nuclear explosion tests. These shots were collectively called Operation Fishbowl.

November 4, 1962 - Johnston Island -. DOMINIC TIGHTROPE Nuclear test - This was a DOD sponsored live test of the Nike Hercules air defense missile system. The low-kiloton range W-31 warhead detonated at 21 km altitude 3 km SSW of Johnston Atoll. This was the last U.S. atmospheric test. On Johnston Island an intense white flash was accompanied by a strong heat pulse. A yellow-orange disc formed, slowly changing to a purple toroid which faded from view after several minutes.

Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev announced the end of a three-year moratorium on nuclear testing on August 30, 1961, and Soviet tests recommenced on 1 September, initiating a series of tests that included the detonation of the Tsar bombs.

President John F. Kennedy responded by authorizing Operation Dominic. It was the largest nuclear weapons testing program ever conducted by the United States, and the last atmospheric test series conducted by the U.S., as the Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed in Moscow the following year.

OPERATION FISHBOWL - B Battery participated in a test named Tightrope on 4 November 1962 from the Johnston Atoll with between 1–40 kiloton W31 warhead in Operation Fishbowl. The successful kill at 21 km (69000 ft) altitude, the Nike Hercules missile test is regarded to be the last true US atmospheric nuclear test.

B Battery Joins the Others in South Florida - Upon returning from the Pacific, B Battery (designated HM-66), originally located just outside the entrance to Everglades National Park off State Road 9336 (SW 392nd Street) adjacent to A Battery.

Battery Control Area - This area consisted of the administration tent, mess tents, motor pool tent, and six-man squad tents for the men. They had no traditional electricity or running water. Water was hauled in by a daily 500-gallon tank on a trailer from the Homestead fire station some twelve miles away. The water was used primarily for cooking, drinking, shaving and showers in overhead barrels with a pull-chain.


 In the same vicinity, the integrated fire control (IFC) radar towers (and support vans) were located. This entire area was approximately where the intersection of SW 227th and 232nd Avenues intersect and adjacent to A Battery. The latitude and longitude Google Earth© coordinates of the Admin/IFC area are approximately 25◦ 24' 13.20" N 80◦ 33' 56.99" W. 


Launch Control Area - This area consists of three sections of four missiles was located approximately a mile away just across the canal along the property line of Everglades National Park. The approximate location on a map today would be near the intersection of SW 227th and SW 237th Avenues. The latitude and longitude Google Earth© coordinates of the launch area are approximately 25◦ 24' 38" N 80◦34' 23.20" W.  The radars and missiles were exposed to the weather and sank in the muck.

1965 - 1979 - In 1965, B Battery was relocated to Key Largo and designated HM-40 to a permanent site built by the Army Corps of Engineers. The missile base was built in tropical hardwood hammock.

Battery Control Area - This area consisted of the new administration building and IFC towers were approximately just south and east of the intersection of Monroe County Road 905 and Card Sound Road. The latitude and longitude Google Earth© coordinates of the Admin/IFC area are approximately 25◦ 16' 34.08" N 80◦ 1 18' 07.26" W. 

Launch Control Area This area was consisted of three section barns was located approximately a mile away south on Monroe County Road 905.  The latitude and longitude Google Earth© coordinates of the launch area are approximately 25◦ 15' 41.83" N 80◦ 18 18' 49.04" W. 

(Click here for Nike SNAP video)

B Battery was decommissioned in the summer of 1979.

After 1979 - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - The USFW assumed ownership from the Army to create the Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge in 1980.

The Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge was established to protect critical breeding and nesting habitat for the endangered American crocodile and other wildlife.

The refuge is located in north Key Largo and is currently comprised of 6,700 acres including 650 acres of open water. It contains a mosaic of habitat types including tropical hardwood hammock, mangrove forest, and salt marsh. These habitats are critical for hundreds of plants and animals including six federally-listed species. Crocodile Lake NWR focuses management efforts on habitat restoration and enhancement in order to sustain the diverse array of resident and migratory wildlife. Management programs include hammock restoration, crocodile habitat enhancement, and Key Largo woodrat captive breeding.

Work began to remove all of the pads and buildings and re-plant the area with hammock species. The project was a multi-year undertaking that restored more than 10-acres of hammock and resulted in a remarkable transformation of the area when completed in October 2001. The restoration include structure and concrete pad removal in an area of .56 acres to be replanted as a hardwood hammock. It was estimated that 30% of the area would be recovered by 2006. The rubble from the demolition would provide nesting for the endangered woodrat for nesting. Species identified which would benefit included the Key Largo woodrat, Key Largo cotton mouse, and the Schaus swallowtail butterfly. The cost was estimated at between $ 77,500 and $ 88,665.

The project involved removal of the launch area of the former Nike Hercules missile base which was located on the site from 1965 - 1979. The Florida Keys Trust Fund handled $15,500 of the cost for the first missile section barn (0.56 acres). The remaining two missile section barns were subsequently dismantled for a total of 2.1 acres of hardwood hammock restoration area. Several rubble piles were created at all three building sites and are currently being used by Key Largo woodrats for nesting. Remaining clean rubble was deposited into the marina basin at the Carysfort site as part of that wetlands restoration project.

What can I do to help, you asked?

You can help preserve the history of all the Nike Hercules sites in south Florida in the following ways:
1. Volunteer to work at a Nike site in south Florida - Seasonal tours are conducted January through March. If you are interested in volunteering, see Links page.

2. Share Your Nike experiences for others to enjoy - Provide photographs, documents, and a written history of your experiences - See Links page

Charles D. Carter
3535 Peachtree Rd, NE
Suite 520-417
Atlanta, GA 30326

3. Conduct an oral interview over the phone - If you would agree to being interviewed over the telephone, see Links page.

 4. Make comments or suggestions to: NikeHistorian@Nike252.Org.