In 1959, at the height of the Cold War, an underground three silo Titan 1 missile complex was being built in Eastern Washington, north east of Yakima. Built at a cost of $31.6 million, the site was completed in just 21 months and placed online just in time for the Cuban Missile Crisis. The local groundwater presents problems in the construction: one portion reported that it's pumps had moved 175,000 gallons of water in just one day.
The installation is only active for a little over two years before it is shut down due to newer missiles becoming available. When the pumps that staunched the water stopped, the silos filled with water and have remained that way.
A group of adventurous divers from the shop we dive with, Seven Seas Scuba, heard about this dive and decided it sounded like something way, way out of the norm and a great adventure to try.
The trip is organized by Underseas Adventures of Kennewick, WA. You can find pricing and contact information on their site if you want to try to organize your own trip.
Welden Halloway was part of this intrepid crew who journeyed to the center of Washington to dive in these man-made caves. He wrote up this report about how the dives went and was kind enough to share it with us all.
The Larson Titan I Missile Silo Dive Report
Royal City, Washington
2010
Map Coordinates: 46.54.30 119.45.23
History: Royal City, located in Central Washington, was founded in 1956 and officially incorporated on February 14, 1962. Three Titan I missile complexes were commissioned in 1961 for the 568th SMS
(Strategic Missile Squadron), an air defense system of Larson AFB; five miles from Moses Lake. Construction of the underground launch centers was completed on the 16th of March 1962. One in Odessa, one in Warden and one in Royal city.
Washington State is no stranger to the nuclear age. The nearby Hanford reactors were used to create materials used to make the plutonium bomb “Fat Man” and the Uranium bomb “Little Boy” in 1945. The history of the area inspires awe, to say the least.
Since being deactivated on March 25th, 1965 the Royal City silo complex has flooded over time via ground water seepage.
The Trip: Always looking for a new challenge and unique places to dive, it's obvious why a flooded nuclear missile silo seemed to fit the bill. Bryan Strack eagerly contacted the Tri-Cities area dive shop Undersea Adventures and set up the dive excursion. Once lodging, travel and site details were sorted out, our team set out to be some of the first of a small handful of people in the world to experience this dive.
In our caravan was seven experienced Northwest divers including some public service divers, SCUBA Divemasters and instructors. Making up this crew were Brian Strack, Dan Vaughn, Justin Bush, Barry Schafer, Dan Robertson, Michael Hunter and myself, Welden Holloway.
Site Access: Access is limited to a vertical pipe protruding above ground that leads down to a small room with a low ceiling. Tanks were lowered down the 14 foot climb via rope and pulley where tables allowed a fairly convenient staging area, save for the lack of light.
The Dive: The complex is comprised of three silos connected by a network of tunnels and catwalks. Much of the metal that once made up the inner works of this nuclear base has been scrapped by clean up crews leaving behind such imposing hazards as missing floor panels, jagged metal, exposed wiring and loose pipes. Traversing the half-flooded tunnels was a matter of pure teamwork, using a “pass-it-on” system to alert the diver behind you of the next trip, snag or crossbeam while trying not to tip the canoe that carried our fins and cameras; which happened anyway.
Once at the junction, we headed toward silo one. With about one story of airspace above us, we hung buoyant on the surface in the first silo. The bottom of the shaft was 110 feet of fresh, clear, 48 degree water beneath us. Our guide gave us a quick re-brief as we grouped into our buddy teams and began descending into surprisingly glass clear water.
With no ambient light we lit our own way careful not to disturb the fine rust that rested on the structure's beams and the silo floor. Excellent buoyancy control was critical to not stir up the particulate. Some areas of the shaft offered an overhead environment. We did some more exploring in a smaller section to the left of Silo one and trekked back to the staging area.
Words I recall hearing and saying post dive were awesome, creepy, crazy, and interesting.
I don't think the guys who built this complex imagined this kind of exploration.
After a surface interval, Silo 2 was on the agenda for a dive. Similar but also much different from Silo 1 and not quite as pristine. The same maximum depth is one similar feature, but there is a tight spot to fit through before you're in the Silo itself . Doubles are not suitable for these narrow passageways.
There was old foam insulation that had been stripped floating in the more cloudy water of Silo 2. To our relief, in research of asbestos poisoning it was found that moist/submerged environments inhibit the inhalation of asbestos particles (probably a really good thing down here).
One other detail that caught all of our attention was a few sightings of rodent remains. That's correct, rodent remains. And that's not to mention some strange white mallowish blobs of gelatinous matter floating about and settled on the bottom. This was no trip to Bonaire, to be certain. Surely you can imaging some of the nervous jokes thrown about between the team as we shared a toast to a successful mission back at the cabin.
Bizarre, dark, dank, looming, ominous and exhilarating would be words used to describe this experience. Stepping back into another time going into this man-made cave system that once housed the most powerful of weapons created by man.
Overall, it was well worth the trip. A challenge, a historical wonder and an educational adventure. I would recommend this dive to experienced divers with precise buoyancy control and a sense of adventure.
Recommended Experience Level: Rescue Diver or higher, confined space/overhead environment training a plus.
Recommended Gear Configuration: High capacity single tank with secondary air source in a front mounted sling set up. A pony mount may cause inability to access some areas. Sidemount configuration also recommended. Traditional back-mounted doubles are not useful in this sometimes tight environment. Appropriate EANx blends encouraged.
Barry Schafer
Drysuits, gloves, and hoods are the recommended exposure protection. Michael Hunter is outfitted against the cold with his drysuit, drygloves and (maybe sadly) his Seahawks cap.
Justin Bush was a member of the team that dove the silos. He wrote up this commentary about what he felt it was like to dive there:
The silo dive is the most bizarre diving I've ever done. It is not for the faint at heart; it's gritty, grimy, dark and has an apocalyptic feel--somewhat like watching a sci-fi movie where a crew finds an abandoned spaceship, enters it--only to find that everyone is mysteriously gone. Then they all get picked off one by one by a mystery monster. This feeling was reinforced by the fact that one silo was welded shut, but the dive operation torched it open. They wouldn't go back there because of "debris".
Walking in waist deep water from the entrance point to the silos was very interesting. The majority of the floor covering was scrapped, leaving divers to walk in black water on pipes--being careful not to fall into unseen holes or drop gear into the blackness.
The silos themselves are amazing. Think about diving in a shipwreck, but in a cylinder. After leaving the cramped tunnels and dark water you're immediately greeted by a large open area. You can see the bottom of the silo some 110' down and 50' above you are the blast doors. Upon descent you drop straight to the bottom, investigating catwalks, piping and all manner of odd shaped devices that supported one of the original weapons of mass destruction. One can almost still hear the drills, sirens, code reading and red phones ringing as our armed forces braced themselves for potential nuclear annihilation with the Soviets. It's interesting to think that we were visiting one of the most top secret areas from the 60's--let alone diving in it! After seeing the bottom, ascent was one large corkscrew maneuver--one of the slowest ascents in my dive log. One wants to see every marvelous piece of flooded history--always hoping and searching that a badge, pin, Id marker... something would be found to memorialize the trip!
We were the first group they'd brought in since it had been shut down due to contamination reports. We were the Guinea pigs and there is much refinement to be done to make it a totally safe destination. If one were to have an accident....and that is a real potential with this unrefined site...rescue would be very difficult and take a long time. All things to consider in this other worldly environment.
The most fun was the flooded equipment storage areas adjacent to the silo. This area had an elevator and was three stories in height. We dropped down the vacant shaft and spent time searching each level in teams of two. This was a serious overhead environment with a real potential to suffer disaster if the viz went to heck or a critical out of gas situation were to occur. Swimming through the doorways and navigating the connected rooms was amazing. I almost wished I had a poop-valve (Justin- Pat here. We're working on it but it is top-top secret. Out) when upon entering one of the furthest rooms saw "DANGER" spray painted on the concrete wall. I stopped cold and analyzed the potential dangers in the room to see what the sign was for. I concluded that it likely involved a wiring panel--now flooded and destroyed. Nonetheless, I silent thanked the scrap worker for the reminder and helicopter-turned to exit the room. The sign was still a good reminder, even today, when navigating an overhead environment.
This dive felt ominous and scary; like danger is just around the bend. If you like a good chill, come check out the silo--it's a dive unlike anything else, I promise you. And one you won't soon forget.
In retrospect, it was sensory overload at the time. Who isn't afraid of the dark, the unknown, black water and being underground in tight areas? However, the dive master guided us through every passage--telling us about each potential issue or misstep. Looking back, it was hard not to let your imagination run wild diving the silo--and one reason why a percentage of the divers involved want to return.
This article is made possible by the contributions of-
Welden Halloway is a scuba instructor with Seven Seas Scuba.
His write up of the dives formed the core of this article and I want to thank him for his work. I have dove with him several times but this picture from his Clear Lake dives is undoubtedly his coolest shot of many.
Dan Vaughn is also scuba instructor and general all-around-cool guy. I dove with him in the Bahamas (this picture is from that trip) and he is a great guy that I would dive with any day of the week. Dan took most of the photos in this posting.
Justin Bush is a divemaster with Seven Seas Scuba and is also certified in Tec Diving. He is enthusiastic about diving and generally adds to the greatness of the sport and it's people. He also thinks he is a pirate and yes, the knife is real.
Brian Strack is a scuba instructor and participates in assisting with law enforcement and public safety dive operations as well.
Dan Robertson is a scuba instructor with Seven Seas Scuba. He also manages their service department and is big into Tec diving and teaching that as well.