Presque Isle: land of the Oriental Pearl, the Northeastland, and one of the last remaining Shop N' Save locations. Barring tourists who don't bother to look up (or read) when using Exit 186, it's got nearly everything Bangor has including an old nuclear missile base that's since turned into an industrial park. On Skyway drive you'll find an odd collection of long, narrow, hangar type buildings that used to house the the 69 foot Snark intercontinental range missile. The very first offensive weapon in the United States with the capability to deliver an H bomb payload to Russia. Also of note: if the warhead wasn't dropped, the Snark could land itself.
Originally part of Presque Isle Army Airfield that was established in 1941, a squadron of (four) Snark missiles were placed here on alert in February of 1961 and deactivated in June 1961, in service for about four months.After deactivation of the 702nd Missile Wing, the base was reclassified as a national air guard facility. While a premature end to the Snark's operational life and the resulting economic impact to the Presque Isle area may be considered unfortunate, the story nearly had a much more unfortunate ending:
"We had gone to full power for the last sixty seconds before simulated launch. The bird was out on the launch pad. Screaming, I had counted down the last ten seconds over the intercom and pointed at ... the launch switch ...normally, we would retard to idle, let the engine cool down, go to "engine stop," lower the launcher and tow the bird around to the other end of the building where it would be checked over and readied for another run. But not this time...."
If you click the attribution above, you can read the full story. While the Air Force told the citizens of Presque Isle that no missiles would be test launched, that didn't mean that they wouldn't be tested at all. During a drill, the engines actually fired while still on the launcher, going at full throttle while attached to the ground and depleting its fuel stores. Poetically described as "reared up on its launcher with its wings spread, thundering away, shaking the ground and the building, proudly telling all the base, the town of Presque Isle and all the surrounding territory for miles around that it was one great big powerful monster lunging at its leash", Capt. Berrall's account of this faulty missile becomes chilling as he explains that once the missile went from its external stores to its internal ones that, without pressurization to keep the missile body in shape (since the thing wasn't actually flying) that it would have collapsed, potentially spraying its easily combustible fuel everywhere in what could have been quite the toxic fireball.
As this was the first missile we had capable of reaching another continent, it popped up in media quite often:
News articles:
- 12/14/1957 - The Bulletin - makes it very clear that the Snark base in Presque Isle was the very first operational missile base in the US capable of striking Russia.
- 12/14/1957 - The Miami News - mentions the Snark missile in a writeup of political disagreements related to defense appropriation.
- 12/16/1957 - The Beaver Valley Times - runs the byline "Russia will be in range of 5,000-mile missile" Cost is outlined at 12 million dollars, and mentions that the Snark was capable of dropping an H bomb within four miles of its target.
- 12/19/1957 - Spokane Daily Chronicle - touts the 5,000 mile range of the Snark missile and mentions its deployment in Presque Isle. Article also mentions the Air Forces "WS-110" aircraft, which never materialized. (Not hard to figure out why.)
- 04/04/1958 - Lewiston Evening Journal - Article identifies base components while serving notice that construction was open for bids soon. Base to include six assembly buildings, a power/water pumping plant, an engine run-up building, six compressor houses, fuel distribution infrastructure and sewers.
- 05/25/1958 - The Reading Eagle - reports that the Snark missile base in Presque Isle may have aroused safety concerns from locals, and states that the Snarks were nuclear and not to be fired or test fired unless a war actually were to occur. All crew testing and training occurred in Florida.
- 01/19/1959 - The Milwaukee Journal - The Snark base at Presque Isle was presented as a complementary force to the Atlas missile program. Article indicates 30 were meant to be stored there. Also of note are plans for development of a 'nuclear powered warplane.'
- 05/20/1959 - Lewiston Daily Sun - Article indicates construction is nearly complete.
- 09/26/1959 - The Spokesman Review - tells of a failed Snark test flight, but claims that the 'rocket' has been fired over 60 times and is one of the more reliable missiles in the US arsenal. (This article also has a great picture of Khrushchev...)
- 06/09/1960 - Lewiston Evening Journal - An eight man Snark missile crew from Presque Isle successfully tested a 5,000 mile guided missile test in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
- 12/06/1960 - The Ocala Star - reported the last test flight of a Snark missile, as it was made obsolete by the Atlas. The Presque Isle base is mentioned as the only Snark base once again, and is described as running interference for bombers should war break out.
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