Horn Island Chemical Warfare Service Quarantine Station, also known as the Horn Island Testing Station, was a U.S. biological weapons testing site during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was located on

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

's Horn Island and opened in 1943. When the war ended, the facility was closed.

History

Horn Island Chemical Warfare Service Quarantine Station was acquired in March 1943 by the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

for use as a

biological weapon Biological agents, also known as biological weapons or bioweapons, are pathogens used as weapons. In addition to these living or replicating pathogens, toxins and Toxin#Biotoxins, biotoxins are also included among the bio-agents. More than 1,2 ...

s testing site. Harris, Sheldon H. ''Factories of Death: Japanese Biological Warfare 1932-45 and the American Cover-Up'',
Google Books
, Routledge, 1994, pp. 155-56, (). The site was located on Horn Island, about south of

Pascagoula, Mississippi Pascagoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula metropolitan area, and is part of the Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi, Biloxi–Pascag ...

, and opened on October 29, 1943. The siteWhitby, Simon M. ''Biological Warfare Against Crops'',
Google Books
, Macmillan, 2002, pp. 73-74, (). on Horn Island was managed and built by the

Chemical Warfare Service The Chemical Corps is the branch of the United States Army tasked with defending against and using chemical weapon, chemical, biological agent, biological, radiological weapon, radiological, and nuclear weapon, nuclear (Chemical, biological, r ...

's (CWS) Special Projects Division (SPD).Lindler, Luther E. et al. ''Biological Weapons Defense: Infectious Diseases and Counterbioterrorism'',
Google Books
, Humana Press, 2005, p. 156, (). By May 1944 the U.S. bio-weapons program employed 1,500 people between its Horn Island facility and the facilities at

Camp Detrick Fort Detrick () is a United States Army Futures Command installation located in Frederick, Maryland. Fort Detrick was the center of the U.S. biological weapons program from 1943 to 1969. Since the discontinuation of that program, it has hosted m ...

. The work at Horn Island, like all of the work done at SPD facilities during

was highly classified and precautions were taken to ensure the work remained secret; during the Army's occupation of Horn Island the public was barred from the island. Soon after construction at the facility was complete it was found that the area was unsuitable for large-scale testing of

biological agent Biological agents, also known as biological weapons or bioweapons, are pathogens used as weapons. In addition to these living or replicating pathogens, toxins and Toxin#Biotoxins, biotoxins are also included among the bio-agents. More than 1,2 ...

s. At the time, shipping traffic on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, near the island, was rising. It was determined that bio-weapons trials in close proximity to human population was undesirable and testing on the island was limited. Shortly before the end of World War II, on August 11, 1945, an order from the CWS declared that the Special Projects Division was to cease its activities. Guillemin, Jeanne. ''Biological Weapons: From the Invention of State-sponsored Programs to Contemporary Bioterrorism'',
Google Books
, Columbia University Press, 2005, pp. 64-72, (). The facility at Horn Island was closed in 1946.

Mission and facilities

Horn Island was acquired for the sole purpose of becoming a

s test site for the

U.S. military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. U.S. federal law names six armed forces: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard. Since 1949, all of the armed forces, except th ...

. The site was established as one of several designed to assist the newly formed U.S. biological weapons program at Camp Detrick. Horn Island Testing Station was initially established to focus its studies on insects as biological weapons. When conceived and constructed the testing station at Horn Island was meant to be the primary bio-weapons field testing site for the United States. Regis, Ed. ''The Biology of Doom: The History of America's Secret Germ Warfare Project'',
Google Books
, Macmillan, 2000, pp. 63-77, (). The U.S. Army built facilities on the island for these purposes which included several buildings, roads, and a

narrow gauge railroad A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curv ...

. The Army also constructed an

incinerator Incineration is a list of solid waste treatment technologies, waste treatment process that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials. Industrial plants for waste incineration are commonly referred to as waste-to-ene ...

with a tall brick chimney on the island. After the Army abandoned the site, a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

destroyed most of the structures,Falls, Sr., Robert P. ''Exploring Gulf Islands National Seashore'',
Google Books
, Globe Pequot, 2001, p. 122, (). including the incinerator and chimney.McGinnis, Helen. ''Hiking Mississippi: A Guide to Trails and Natural Areas'',
Google Books
, University Press of Mississippi , 1995, pp. 101-02, (). The foundations of some of the military buildings are still visible on the island, which is now part of the

Gulf Islands National Seashore Gulf Islands National Seashore is an American National seashore that offers recreation opportunities and preserves natural and historic resources along the Gulf of Mexico barrier islands of Florida and Mississippi. In 2023, it was the fifth-mos ...

. Additionally, the remnants of the incinerator chimney were still visible into at least the 1980s.

Research and testing

Because of its proximity to human populations only two lethal agents, both toxins, were ever tested on the island,

botulin Botulinum toxin, or botulinum neurotoxin (commonly called botox), is a neurotoxic protein produced by the bacterium ''Clostridium botulinum'' and related species. It prevents the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from axon endi ...

and

ricin Ricin ( ) is a lectin (a carbohydrate-binding protein) and a highly potent toxin produced in the seeds of the castor oil plant, ''Ricinus communis''. The median lethal dose (LD50) of ricin for mice is around 22 micrograms per kilogram of body ...

. The

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

used the site during the war to study

mosquitoes Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a family of small flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by '' mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, ...

and

flies Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwin ...

that were native to the Pacific Islands. In addition, an

anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis'' or ''Bacillus cereus'' biovar ''anthracis''. Infection typically occurs by contact with the skin, inhalation, or intestinal absorption. Symptom onset occurs between one ...

simulant, '' Bacillus globigii'' was used in aerosol dispersion tests at the station. Testing at Horn Island with the toxin botulin showed that the agent was not a viable aerosol biological weapon. Pike, John E. (webmaster).
Botulinum Toxins
, ''Globalsecurity.org'', accessed January 15, 2009. Tests were undertaken using four pound bombs filled with botulin. These bombs were detonated over confined

guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy ( ), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'', family Caviidae. Animal fancy, Breeders tend to use the name "cavy" for the ani ...

s, just one of the animals died from inhaled botulin and another died after licking the toxin from its fur. America's Bio-Weapons Program
"The Living Weapon", American Experience, ''

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

'', (click on yellow icon in

to view relevant text), accessed January 15, 2009.

References

{{coord, 30.233942, -88.668758, display=title Biological warfare facilities Buildings and structures in Jackson County, Mississippi Military installations in Mississippi Former research facilities of the United States Army 1943 establishments in Mississippi United States biological weapons program

History

Mission and facilities

Research and testing

See also

References