The Chrysler Air Raid Siren is an outdoor warning siren produced during the Cold War era that has an output of 138 dB(C) at 100 feet.
It was known as the Chrysler Bell Victory Siren during its first generation, which was between the end of World War II and the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is reputed to be the loudest air raid siren ever produced in the US.
Built during the Cold War era from 1952 to 1957 by Chrysler, its power plant contained a newly designed Firepower Hemi V8 engine with a displacement of 331 cubic inches (5.42 L) and producing 180 horsepower (130 kW). [1]
They are 12 feet (3.7 m) long, built atop a quarter section of a Dodge truck chassis rail, and weigh an estimated 3 short tons (2.7 t). Its six horns are each 3 feet (91 cm) long. The siren has an output of 138 dB(C) (30,000 watts), and can be heard as far as 25 miles (40 km) away.
In 1952, the cost of a Chrysler Air Raid Siren was $5,500 [1] (equivalent to $61,851 as of December 2022). The United States government helped buy sirens for selected state and county law enforcement agencies. In Los Angeles County, six were placed around key locations of populated areas, and another ten were sold to other government agencies in the state of California. These "Big Red Whistles" (as they were nicknamed) only saw testing use. Some were located so remotely that they deteriorated due to lack of maintenance.
The main purpose of the siren was to warn the public in the event of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The operator's job was to start the engine and bring it up to operating speed, then to pull and release the transmission handle to start the wailing signal generation. The Chrysler Air Raid Siren produced the loudest sound ever achieved by an air raid siren. [1]
Some sirens are still located above buildings and watchtowers. Many are rusted, and in some cases, the salvage value is less than the cost to remove them. A majority have been moved to museums, and some have been restored to fully functioning condition.[ citation needed ]
In Seattle's Phinney Ridge neighborhood, a decommissioned air-raid siren remains standing as a local landmark. Since 2014, the air raid tower is decorated as a Holiday GloCone annually from Thanksgiving to New Year's. [2]
| City, State | Number of sirens and status |
|---|---|
| Camden, New Jersey | 2, removed [3] |
| Chicago, Illinois | 5, removed |
| Dayton, Ohio | 4, removed |
| Detroit, Michigan | 20, removed |
| Grand Rapids, Michigan | 4, removed |
| Greenville, South Carolina | 1, standing, non-operational |
| Horsham, Pennsylvania | 1, removed |
| Jackson, Michigan | 1, removed and replaced with a Thunderbolt in 1982 |
| Kansas City, Missouri | 3, 2 removed, 1 non-operational [4] |
| Lansing, Michigan | 1, removed |
| Los Angeles County, California | 24, most removed, a few still in place and operated once a year to honor the Battle of Los Angeles. |
| Miami, Florida | 10, removed |
| Minneapolis, Minnesota | 1, removed |
| Newark, Delaware | 1, removed |
| Oakland, California | 5, removed |
| Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | 10, 2 removed and in private possession [5] [6] [7] [8] |
| Pomona, California | 1, removed [9] |
| Portland, Oregon | 7, removed [10] |
| Rochester, New York | 2, 1 standing, other one's status is unknown |
| Rockford, Illinois | 3, removed, one in private possession |
| Salt Lake City, Utah | 3, removed |
| San Francisco, California | 1, removed |
| Seattle, Washington | 6, 4 removed, 2 standing and non-operational |
| Spokane, Washington | 3, removed [11] |
| Trenton, Michigan | 3, removed |
| Sacramento, California | 1, removed |
| Raleigh, North Carolina | 1, removed |
A bomber is a military combat aircraft air-to-ground weaponry, launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an aircraft occurred in the Italo-Turkish War, with the first major deployments coming in the First World War and Second World War by all major airforces causing devastating damage to cities, towns, and rural areas. The first purpose built bombers were the Italian Caproni Ca 30 and British Bristol T.B.8, both of 1913. Some bombers were decorated with nose art or victory markings.
A civil defense siren, also known as an air-raid siren or tornado siren, is a siren used to provide an emergency population warning to the general population of approaching danger. Initially designed to warn city dwellers of air raids during World War II, they were later used to warn of nuclear attack and natural disasters, such as tornadoes. The generalized nature of sirens led to many of them being replaced with more specific warnings, such as the broadcast-based Emergency Alert System and the Cell Broadcast-based Wireless Emergency Alerts and EU-Alert mobile technologies.
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress, the Superfortress was designed for high-altitude strategic bombing, but also excelled in low-altitude night incendiary bombing, and in dropping naval mines to blockade Japan. B-29s dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only aircraft ever to drop nuclear weapons in combat.
The PGM-11 Redstone was the first large American ballistic missile. A short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), it was in active service with the United States Army in West Germany from June 1958 to June 1964 as part of NATO's Cold War defense of Western Europe. It was the first US missile to carry a live nuclear warhead, in the 1958 Pacific Ocean weapons test, Hardtack Teak.
Nuclear propulsion includes a wide variety of propulsion methods that use some form of nuclear reaction as their primary power source. The idea of using nuclear material for propulsion dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. In 1903 it was hypothesized that radioactive material, radium, might be a suitable fuel for engines to propel cars, planes, and boats. H. G. Wells picked up this idea in his 1914 fiction work The World Set Free. Many aircraft carriers and submarines currently use uranium fueled nuclear reactors that can provide propulsion for long periods without refueling. There are also applications in the space sector with nuclear thermal and nuclear electric engines which could be more efficient than conventional rocket engines.
Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time.
The Chrysler turbine engine is a series of gas turbine engines developed by Chrysler intended to be used in road vehicles. In 1954, Chrysler Corporation disclosed the development and successful road testing of a production model Plymouth sport coupe which was powered by a turbine engine.
A siren is a loud noise-making device. Civil defense sirens are mounted in fixed locations and used to warn of natural disasters or attacks. Sirens are used on emergency service vehicles such as ambulances, police cars, and fire engines. There are two general types: mechanical and electronic.
The Dodge Dakota, known as the Ram Dakota for the final two years of production, is a mid-size pickup truck from Chrysler's Ram division. The first Dakota was introduced in late 1986 as a 1987 model. From its introduction through 2009, it was marketed under the Dodge brand, and for the final two years under the Ram brand.
The Dodge Durango is a mid-size/full-size SUV produced by Dodge starting with the 1998 model year. The first two generations were very similar in that both were based on the Dodge Dakota and Dodge Ram, both featured a body-on-frame construction and both were produced at the Newark Assembly Plant in Newark, Delaware through the 2009 model year.
An emergency population warning is a method where by local, regional, or national authorities can contact members of the public to warn them of an impending emergency. These warnings may be necessary for a number of reasons, including:
Air-independent propulsion (AIP), or air-independent power, is any marine propulsion technology that allows a non-nuclear submarine to operate without access to atmospheric oxygen. AIP can augment or replace the diesel-electric propulsion system of non-nuclear vessels.
In physics, energy density is the amount of energy stored in a given system or region of space per unit volume. It is sometimes confused with energy per unit mass which is properly called specific energy or gravimetric energy density.
The Chrysler Hemi engines, known by the trademark Hemi or HEMI, are a series of American V8 gasoline engines built by Chrysler with overhead valve hemispherical combustion chambers. Three different types of Hemi engines have been built by Chrysler for automobiles: the first from 1951 to 1958, the second from 1964 to 1971, and the third from 2003 to 2024. Although Chrysler is most identified with the use of "Hemi" as a marketing term, many other auto manufacturers have incorporated similar designs. The engine block and cylinder heads were cast and manufactured at Indianapolis Foundry.
Multijet is Stellantis's term for its current common rail direct injection turbodiesel engine range. Most of the Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Lancia range, as well as certain Chrysler, RAM Trucks, Jeep, and Maserati vehicles, are equipped with Multijet engines. Ownership of some Fiat Multijet designs is shared with General Motors as part of a settlement of the failed merger between the two auto conglomerates. The GM Powertrain Torino group in Turin, Italy, manages its interest in these engines. Some PSA Peugeot Citroën diesel engines are also rebadged JTD units, and vice versa. Fiat's common-rail diesel engine is also known as JTD, an initialism of Jet Turbo Diesel.
Detroit Assembly Complex – Mack, previously known as the Mack Avenue Engine Complex, is a Stellantis North America automobile assembly factory in Detroit, Michigan. The plant is located adjacent to the Detroit Assembly Complex – Jefferson plant.
In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement.
The Dodge Viper is a sports car that was manufactured by Dodge, a division of American car manufacturer FCA US LLC from 1992 until 2017, having taken a brief hiatus in 2007, and from 2010 to 2012. Production of the two-seat sports car began at New Mack Assembly Plant in 1991 and moved to Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in October 1995.
All clear is the signal, generally given by a civil defence siren, which indicates that an air raid or other hazard has finished and that it is safe for civilians to leave their shelters; it is commonly used in radios as well.
The Viper engine is a high-performance naturally-aspirated pushrod 2 valves-per-cylinder 90° V10 engine designed by Chrysler but with aluminum block castings designed by Lamborghini for use in the Dodge Viper. Despite its large displacement, it is based on the Chrysler LA V8.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)