Mars Bluff, South Carolina

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Mars Bluff, South Carolina
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Mars Bluff
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Mars Bluff
Coordinates: 34°12′20″N79°39′19″W / 34.20556°N 79.65528°W / 34.20556; -79.65528
Country United States
State South Carolina
County Florence County
Elevation
98 ft (30 m)
Time zone UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
  Summer (DST) UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code
29506
Area code(s) 843, 854
GNIS feature ID1246538 [1]

Mars Bluff is an unincorporated community in Florence County, South Carolina, United States that bears the distinction of having been inadvertently bombed with a nuclear weapon by the United States Air Force.

Contents

History

Originally known as Marr's Bluff during the American Revolution, the area west of the Great Pee Dee River eventually became known as Mars Bluff at some point before the American Civil War. [1] [2] Near the end of the American Civil War, the Mars Bluff Naval Yard was established, one of many inland Confederate naval yards. [3]

Nuclear bomb accident

Historical marker and access sign Atomic Bomb historical marker.jpg
Historical marker and access sign

On March 11, 1958 a U.S. Air Force B-47 Stratojet with a nuclear payload left for nuclear training exercises for war preparations in the United Kingdom and South Africa. The navigator mistakenly pulled the emergency release pin which resulted in the bomb falling out of the plane. Although the bomb was not armed with the plutonium core (a removable capsule of fissionable material which was securely stored in a containment area on board the plane), it nevertheless contained a high-explosive detonator. The resulting explosion created a crater estimated to be 75 feet (23 m) wide and 2535 feet (7.610.7 m) deep. It destroyed a local playhouse, near the residence of Walter Gregg, and leveled nearby trees. Nobody was killed by the blast but several people in Gregg's family were injured. [4] The site is located near US 301, but is difficult to access due to the site being on private property. [5]

Fragments of the bomb are on display at Florence County Museum. [6]

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The 1958 Mars Bluff B-47 nuclear weapon loss incident was the inadvertent release of a nuclear weapon from a United States Air Force B-47 bomber over Mars Bluff, South Carolina. The bomb, which lacked the fissile nuclear core, fell over the area, causing damage to buildings below. Though there was no nuclear detonation, six people were injured by the explosion of the bomb's conventional explosives. The Air Force was sued by the family of the victims, who received US$54,000, equivalent to $547,723 in 2022.

Operation Snow Flurry was an operation by the United States Air Force that consisted of B-47 Stratojet bombers flying from South Carolina to England to perform mock bomb drops. Data would be received on the ground from the planes, and this would later be used to track the accuracy of the mock drops. Aircraft involved would then fly to Strategic Air Command airfields in North Africa. In 1958, a B-47 en route from Hunter Air Force Base accidentally dropped an unarmed Mark 6 nuclear bomb over Mars Bluff, South Carolina, although the explosion damaged nearby buildings. Live bombs were carried on board in case the planes had to activate for a wartime situation, but had their fissile nuclear cores removed and could not cause a nuclear detonation.

References

  1. 1 2 "Mars Bluff, South Carolina". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  2. Reynolds, William (2012). Andrew Pickens: South Carolina patriot in the Revolutionary War. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN   978-0-7864-6694-8.
  3. "Mars Bluff and the CSS Pee Dee". Dixie Historical Society. June 11, 2009. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  4. Jackson, Gavin (July 25, 2013). "Accidental Mars Bluff bombing survivor dies at 92". The Morning News . Florence, South Carolina.
  5. "Atom Bomb Dropped Here". RoadsideAmerica.com.
  6. "Mars Bluff Bomb". Florence County Museum.