Operation Geranium was a U.S. Army mission that dumped more than 3,000 tons of the
chemical agent lewisite into the ocean off the Florida coast in 1948.
Operation
Operation Geranium occurred from 15 – 20 December 1948
[ and involved the dumping of approximately 3,150 tons of stockpiled ]lewisite
Lewisite (L) (A-243) is an organoarsenic compound. It was once manufactured in the United States, Japan, Germany and the Soviet Union for use as a Chemical warfare, chemical weapon, acting as a vesicant (blister agent) and lung irritant. Although ...
into the Atlantic Ocean.[ "Geranium" was so called because lewisite has an odor reminiscent of geraniums.][ The materials dumped consisted of two types of bulk container, 60 were of the M14 variety, and another 3,700 bulk containers were dumped as well.][ The lewisite was shipped to Charleston from the Gulf Chemical Warfare Depot.][ The lewisite was then loaded aboard a World War II merchant ship, the ''SS Joshua Alexander''.][ The lewisite was then dumped, at sea, 300 miles off the coast of ]Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
.[Brankowitz, William R. ]
Summary of Some Chemical Munitions Sea Dumps by the United States
'', Meeting notes, 30 January 1989, p. 38, accessed 7 January 2009.
Dumping
Sea dumping was used by the U.S. Army to dispose of World War II lewisite stocks prior to Geranium.[ One such dumping operation was reported on by ''The New York Times'' in 1946, 10,000 tons of lewisite was dumped about off the Charleston, South Carolina coast.][ Before Operation Geranium, however, lewisite dumping was mostly accomplished by simply dropping loose munitions overboard.][ In this operation, the Army loaded the merchant hulk with the lewisite containers, sailed the vessel out to sea and then scuttled the ship with the munitions aboard.][Brankowitz, William R. ]
Chemical Weapons Movement History Compilation
', p. 9 (p. 13 in PDF), Office of the Program Manager for Chemical Munitions (Demilitarization and Binary) (Provisional), Aberdeen Proving Ground
Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) is a U.S. Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland, United States. More than 7,500 civilians and 5,000 military personnel work at APG. There are 11 major commands among the tenant units, ...
, Maryland, 27 April 1987, accessed 7 January 2009. Most of the 20,000 tons of lewisite produced during World War II by the U.S. was disposed of by dumping at sea.[ This method of operation and disposal was not used again for some time, though the Army did employ it again.][
]
See also
* Operation CHASE
References
{{U.S. chemical weapons
External links
Map of significant U.S. chemical agent dumps
(Operation Geranium marked at F1)
Geranium
Geraniums
Geranium
1948 in the United States