Tudor Hill.
Link to James Baker e-mails.
|
Navy Re-union, Tudor Hill & SOSUS.
One of my reasons for choosing September 2014 for a visit to Bermuda was that it would coincide with an Annual re-union event for any US Navy personnel who were ever stationed in Bermuda, organized by a remarkable lady, Renee Nunn, who should be hired by the Bermuda Tourism Authority for her energy and enthusiasm in promoting Bermuda to the Navy veterans. I met Renee for an hour (too short!), but unfortunately was unable to meet with any of the other attendees - our busy schedules just didn't quite gybe. Maybe next year!! There were a few connections between SOFAR and the Navy units stationed in Bermuda, particularly when SMILS was operational. And on occasion, Sir Horace would don her old garb, becoming USS Redpoll again, to take part in Navy and NATO exercises in the Atlantic. But there was another connection, a bit nebulous, that was seldom talked about. There was a highly secret Naval Facility at Tudor Hill in Southampton that was part of the US Navy submarine detection system (SOSUS) which was keeping track of Russian submarines far out in the Atlantic. They had a nice brand new IBM 1620 (??) computer, and we were allowed to use this for our work analyzing Ants Piip's Velocity Profile data, plotting MILS data, and preliminary work on acoustic ray tracing. We would prepare our 80-column punch card data decks in St. David's, drive (or ride) up to Tudor Hill, and hand the data in at the entrance to the building, and wait outside for the results to be handed back. Mostly, Bill Archer, Sheila Craig or Gordon Lees made the drive up to Southampton, but occasionally, I drew the short straw and made the journey on my bike. On one such run, the heavens opened while I was waiting in the car park, and the guard on duty took pity on me and invited me into the covered entranceway. I took a quick peek in the door when he was otherwise occupied. Rather boring, as I recall, just the smell of burning paper!! At the 2013 re-union, Renee had an attendee who had worked there, who rode out to Tudor Hill but was unable to get beyond the locked main gate. I had hoped that there would be someone from Tudor Hill attending the 2014 event - no such luck. Undaunted, I managed to talk my way in, and was able to take some photos. As I recall, 'Tudor Hill' consisted of 2 entities - NUSC (Naval Underwater Systems Center), and the Naval Facility. The first was dedicated to research in underwater acoustics and communication, while the NavFac put their (and others, including SOFAR's) research results into practical use, listening, identifying, and pin-pointing the location of Russian submarines. They received the signals from the many hydrophones strung out along the 2 arrays - one heading several hundred miles South-West of Argus island, and the other heading several hundred miles to the North West. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When SOFAR moved to Florida, Frank Watlington (and perhaps some others) transferred from SOFAR to Tudor Hill, but I understand that working there wasn't nearly as much fun as it had been at SOFAR!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
NAVFAC. I wonder if it still works!
^^^ A concrete platform somewhat isolated from the buildings, which (I am guessing) was either for an emergency generator, or was the base for a radio communication tower. It is now used by the Cable companies for a TV transmitting tower.
|
|
NUSC. <<< The North Wall. As I recall, this is where the entrance into the building was located. It is all overgrown with Mexican Pepper trees, and totally impenetrable. The roof of the main building has collapsed. |
|
|
|
|
^^^ Panoramic of the East wall. As I recall, this was the car park, and the entrance was past the clump of trees on the right. The structure in the left hand picture still has much of it's roof, and the boarding on one of the windows had come loose. I managed to squeeze my camera through the gap, and snapped the photos below. It looks like maybe it was the canteen. vvv
The view through the doorway is into the main building, where the roof has collapsed, and vegetation has started to take hold.
|
|
This is the best view I could get of the South wall. Some of the framing of the roof is still intact, but you can see the casuarina tree growing up inside the building.
(There was no way to get a photo of the West side of the building.)
(There was no way to get a photo of the West side of the building.)
Posted May 2015
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NUSC (Bell Labs) from the water.
The roof has collapsed, and the casuarinas have taken root inside.
Note the 'Beach Box' at the shore, where the cables from Argus Island (and perhaps elsewhere) came ashore.
Photographer:- Deena Thompson Smith. 26 Sept. 2020.
Posted Oct. 2020
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
A quick 6-minute tour of the inside of Tudor Hill NUSC ----> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQKNQo8rWWU
Posted Oct. 2020 |
There are also some photos at ----> http://foreignunderground.com/2016/05/08/abandonednavyfacility/
Take a look and reminisce!! Posted Oct. 2020 |