CHAPTER 07 -- MUNITIONS COMPLEX
Chapter 07: MUNITIONS COMPLEX
The Fleet Munitions Complex is a large, sprawling affair, specifically designed to facilitate the receiving and storage of vast amounts of powder and shells. It has been deliberately placed in the most isolated location on the naval base to minimize the effects of accidental explosions.
Naval history is frequently punctuated with the sudden explosion of warships laying peacefully at anchor. One well known case is the loss of the USS Maine in Havana harbor. Sometimes it was the result of magazines located too close to coal bunkers – fires in coal bunkers were all too common among coal-burning vessels. In other instances, it was the result of aging and unstable powder in a ship’s magazine. In other situations, working parties ashore or afloat might become careless in their handling of explosives. So the only logical precaution was to isolate the munitions depot and separate the various components as widely as possible.
At the bottom of the picture below, there is a railyard for the storage of empty rolling stock. Just above that is a small basin with docks to accept seaborne supplies for the depot itself; building and repair materials, daily operating supplies, and the occasional ammunition delivery – though it was deemed safer to bring in munitions by rail.
Above the basin is a line of bunkers where various calibers of shell are stored. Beyond that is the railroad loading docks and through traffic rail lines. And at the north end of the compound are two large bunker complexes where the powder charges are stored. The railyard was deliberately placed between the two different bunker compounds to simplify the receiving, storage, and distribution of the materiel while providing some safety by separating the storage areas. In front of the bunker complex is a tugboat station to assist warships arriving or departing the actual “munitions piers” located at the end of causeways extending out into the harbor.
This is a closer view showing the layout of the shell storage bunkers. Note the high security fencing (by PEG) and the numerous water towers to protect against the ever-present danger of fires. Inspectors were tasked with performing regular, rotating inspections to guard against deterioration of the stored shells.
The row of shell storage bunkers is made up of the PEG “Small Ammunition Bunkers” from their Army Base series. The water towers are custom lots, with the tower borrowed from the old Maxis Movie Studio lot. The landscape uses custom tree filler lots and MMP work. I believe the dirt roads are from the PEG “Spam” agricultural sets, modified to make them more MMP-friendly.
The munitions handling arrangements are simple and straightforward. Munitions trains enter from the left and are shunted either right or left for unloading to their respective storage bunkers – shells to the right and powder charges to the left. The same tracks can be used by switch engines to load rolling stock with munitions to be delivered out to the warship loading piers. The center track can be used to move munitions directly to a warship loading pier as needed, or empty trains can shuttle through the switches on the front end and then exit via the center track through the rear of the compound. Simple and flexible. The handling platforms are the “PEG” CDK docks, re-purposed for use on land. The trucks and cranes are custom lots.
In this detail shot, the train is a traffic enabled custom lot using the PEG steam Tank Engine, modified to show “steam”.
167_Railyard Night
These are the powder storage bunkers on the north side of the complex. They contain the brass-cased main propellant charges as well as the smaller, bagged fore-charges for the ship’s main battery guns. A typical powder charge for a large, QF rifle might be a 157lb main charge with an additional 53lb fore-charge. Not to belabor the point, but that’s 210lb of a highly explosive material (often cordite) to fire one shell. Storing thousands of these charges was quite hazardous, so it was decided to place them on the north side of the compound. The open expanse of water beyond them would somewhat mitigate the blast effects of an accidental explosion.
This is a detail shot of the PEG “Large Ammunition Bunkers”. Note the small warehouse in the lower corner. This is where random testing would be conducted to ensure the stability and quality of the stored powder.
This is the tugboat station dedicated to service the warship munitions pier extending out into the harbor. The landscape is composed of custom tree filler lots with MMP work and MMP ground cover vegetation used to the rear of the station. The piers and attached sheds are modified “Somy” lots. The small oil tanks are custom-lotted props (old Maxis ??), and the control tower is borrowed from one of the Maxis airport lots. The very fine little steam tugs are courtesy of @WolfZe. The causeways on either side lead out to the warship piers and are constructed using NBVC Marina Seawalls.
The area between the bunker complex and the harbor seawalls took several attempts before the correct spacing was achieved. I used the wide “NAM 32” railroad curves to get the proper arc and connected them to the bunker complex with a complicated switching yoke of regular Maxis rail. This was mainly an “homage” to the more graceful rail system used at the US Navy Munitions Station at Point Luna, California – my chief inspiration.
Studying the picture below, you will notice a distinct “thinning” of the vegetation on the north side of the bunker complex, with a virtual absence of trees to the front. This is the direct result of an accidental explosion on the center causeway some years ago. A tank engine was pushing five carloads of powder about 100 meters along the causeway when car #3 disintegrated, took another car out, and dumped the locomotive, tender, and a third car into the harbor. Two cars remained on what was left of the rails and causeway, and the engine crew was fished out of the harbor, bruised, a bit bloody, but otherwise unharmed.
What had been the heavily forested area between the bunker complex and the causeway was now a flattened mass of broken and twisted timber. All three rail lines were blocked by fallen trees – some of which had been thrown into the complex, itself. Once everyone was accounted for and received medical treatment, work began immediately to restore the facility to operational readiness. A company of Deutsches Heer Railroad Construction Pioneers were called in to repair the tracks while a local battalion of Pommeranian Grenadiers were ordered in to clear the fallen timber. Ten days of round-the-clock work restored the complex to full operation, and since then, an ongoing program has been instituted to thin out the more heavily forested areas around the compound.
I would like to point out that my goal in creating a massive naval base was not only to showcase the magnificent warship models of @Barroco Hispano, but to demonstrate how much could be done with the lots and props that are available to the community as a whole. Using my meager “lotting” skills, combined with some serious lateral thinking and a hefty dose of “creativity”, I have been able to fill a large-sized map with almost all of the assets you would find in a naval base. About 80% of what you see is material that has been “re-purposed” directly from existing SC4 lots and props, while the remainder of essential items had already been created by PEG and were modified for use.
Moral to the story – If you think it can’t be done, then THINK AGAIN. “Nothing is written…...”
The “Munitions Complex” is quite large, so there will be one more “chapter” devoted to exploring the actual loading piers.
If you enjoyed anything you saw – please punch the “like” button so I will know. A comment would be even more informative.
Comments and critiques requested and gratefully accepted. All questions answered promptly to the best of my ability.
THANK YOU for your visit !
Next time…...The Munitions Piers.
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