disposed of its cargo are certainly of interest to both rhose whose building debris, and other waste borh in rhe United Stares and work takes them to sea and those who may never step foor near abroad, sea disposal was viewed as a responsible method to dispose the shore. To accurately plot the track of the Elinor, researchers re- of chemical warfare materials to prevent human exposure. The War viewed rhe positions recorded in rhe deck log, however, two Department, later known as the Department of Defense, like other problems were noted in the review of rhe data. The Elinor only federal, stare, and municipal entities, as well as private industry, reported her latitude and longitude fourteen times during the six- relied on sea disposal as one of the methods of safe, permanent day period. As expected for 1919, rhe Elinor only reported degrees elimination of some waste materials through 1970. Because sea disposal of waste was routine and minutes while omitting and many military records have seconds, therefore adding a 3 Rs OF EXPLOSIVE SAFETY a retention period of only a few measure of uncertainty to her Military munitions are designed for use in warfare with the inyears before they are destroyed, precise location . Several days tent to kill, injure the enemy, or to destroy enemy equipment. only a limited number of these in rhe log show no coordinates Regardless of size, type, age, or condition, all military munirecords are available. Today, berecorded at all. tions should be considered extremely dangero us. cause of advances in technology In 2006 , the clam proTo protect yo urself and rhose around you, the Department of and the expansion of the use cessing plant from which the Defense recommends rhat you learn, and remember the 3 Rs of of the oceans into areas once initial projectile originated inexplosives safety: thought of as beyond human tercepted six additional 75-mm RECOGNIZE when you may have encountered a munition; reach or of little value, we face mustard shells and turned them the unintended consequences over to the Army for disposal. RETREAT do not touch, move or disturb ir, but leave the area; of our past. The National Oceanic and REPORT call 911 on land or the Coast Guard ar sea and advise Who would have rhoughr Atmospheric Administration rhem what yo u saw and where you saw it. that munitions made nearly a (NOAA), working with the clam processing plant and commercial fishing industry, identified century ago and shipped to France for the "war that would end all the general area where the munitions were recovered. As part of wars" would be found on a rural Delaware driveway? Surely, the its management of the Surf Clam Fishery, NOAA requires that echoes of World War I will be heard for quite some time. !. fishermen tag each basket of clams so that the location where it was harves ted in can be identified. Based on these rags, NOAA Geoffrey Carton is a senior analyst with CALIBRE Systems, Inc., plotted the approximate positions of rhe recovered munitions and Alexandria, VA, and has done research on sea-disposed munitions determined that they were, indeed, on the estimated track of Elinor. for the past several years. Kathleen Ciolfi is an historian with the Just this past summer, in June, while clam dredging approxi- Army Research, Development and Engineering Command Aberdeen mately fifty miles off the coast ofLong Island, New York, a commer- Proving Ground, MD. Mike Overfield [deceased] was a marine cial fishing vessel, ESS Pursuit, reportedly recovered approximately archaeologist with NOM, based in Silver Spring, MD. eight munitions, believed to be World War I era 75-mm projectiles. When a crewmember observed one of rhe munitions leaking black NOTES liquid, he tossed them back into rhe ocean. Apparently, some of 1Memorandum to The Adjutant General of the Army, Subject: rhe liquid spilled on him and about five hours after exposure, "SS ELINOR," Voyage #3, November 23, 1918", dated 26 Nov. painful blisters developed. Upon learning of the exposure, rhe 1918; "Office ofTransport Quartermaster, USS Elinor. Narrative US Coast Guard ordered the vessel to irs srarion in New Bedford, Report-Voyage #3," undated; Memorandum, Army Transport Massachusetts, where ir and irs catch were quarantined. The muni- Service, Office of rhe Chief Checker, Base Section No. 1, Nantes, tions recovered by the Pursuit came from rhe same general area as Cargo Classification on the SS Yselhaven and SS Elinor, 7 January rhose previously recovered. 1919; William Sibert, Major General US Army, Director Chemical Because rhe seas had been regularly used for disposal of refuse, Warfare Service, Special Orders 28, 3 February 1919. National Archives and Records Administration RG 175/290/2/35/02-04 Entry 10, Box 37. 2 "Gas Shells Go to Ocean Borrom," 11 February 1919. 3 "Will 1hrow Gas into Sea, Ship wirh Masked C rew Soon To Leave Baltimore with 3,100 Tons," 7 February 1919, p. 13. 4 "War Gas Dumped Far Our ar Sea, Some Large Drums and 200,000 Loaded Shells Rest in 1,500 Feet of Water," 9 March 1919, p. 18. 5"Fumes Swept Back, Expert Riflemen in Great Danger During Process of Sinking Poison Gas Tanks," 18 February 1919. (left) In June 2010, the US Coast Guard issued an order for the fishing vessel ESS Pursuit to be decontaminated after three crewmembers were taken to a local hospital and treated for symptoms ofexposure to a hazardous/chemical substance that they pulled up from the sea.floor offLong Island, New York.
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SEA HISTORY 133 WINTER 2010- 11