Hawthorne Ordnance Museum – Hawthorne, Nevada - Atlas Obscura
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Hawthorne Ordnance Museum

Hawthorne, Nevada

Once a staging site for World War II munitions.  

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Hawthorne Ordnance Museum Xtonx (Atlas Obscura User)
Hawthorne Ordnance Museum Xtonx (Atlas Obscura User)
Shells with a section of 16-inch naval gun barrel (the gray cylinder in the foreground.) You can see the rifling (spiral grooves) inside. slgwv (Atlas Obscura User)
Missiles, one for Tonopah Test Range. slgwv (Atlas Obscura User)
Assorted machine guns. slgwv (Atlas Obscura User)
WW II 250 and 500 lb bombs. slgwv (Atlas Obscura User)
Electronics control system for DASH, ca. early 1960s. slgwv (Atlas Obscura User)
Another view of the Gyrodyne helicopter drone. slgwv (Atlas Obscura User)
U.S. Navy Gyrodyne helicopter drone (DASH, Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter). Interpretive sign shows the drone armed with MK 44 acoustic homing torpedos. slgwv (Atlas Obscura User)
Various shells near the main entrance. slgwv (Atlas Obscura User)
WW II vintage 14-inch projectiles flanking the museum entrance. slgwv (Atlas Obscura User)
Hawthorne Ordnance Museum Xtonx (Atlas Obscura User)
Hawthorne Ordnance Museum Xtonx (Atlas Obscura User)
Hawthorne Ordnance Museum Xtonx (Atlas Obscura User)
Hawthorne Ordnance Museum Xtonx (Atlas Obscura User)
Mark 25 mine, 1960s vintage. slgwv (Atlas Obscura User)
Hawthorne Ordnance Museum Xtonx (Atlas Obscura User)
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After a lightning strike set off millions of pounds of explosives at the Navy’s Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, the remote town of Hawthorne Nevada was chosen to host the Navy’s West Coast ordinance supply.

First operational in 1930, this depot was the staging site for most of the munitions used by the United States during World War II. The landscape now pockmarked by over 2400 bunkers serves to store a tremendous amount of reserve ammunition and supplies for the US Military.

With an M47 Patton tank standing vigil by the road, the Hawthorne Ordnance Museum stands as a monument to this massive depot and how it came to be. The museum features a wide range of weaponry and ordinance from missiles and bombs to shells for battleship guns.

weapons war history world war ii
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julianfkeller99
slgwv
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Published
November 10, 2022
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