Author: Lee Wallender

Duress code.  Yes, it’s a real term and it means “panic code,” or a code that you give instead of your “real” code to indicate that you’re in trouble.  Or under duress.  I had never heard of it until reading The Nike Historical Society’s excellent section about security at Nike installations.

One reader wrote in with an anecdote about duress codes:

I was escorting a Major around the [Nike Missile] Launching Area during — I think it was a NAICP test. When we approached the Exclusion Area guard shack he asked me to give the guard the duress code. I said I can categorically vouch that everyone knows the duress code and will take appropriate action. He said I want you to give the code. I reluctantly complied. The guard without hesitation through the Major to the ground and cocked his weapon and put it directly on his temple. I had to physically pull him off and explain it was only a test and that there was no threat. It took some convincing but the guard backed off. I don’t think the Major ever did that again.

Here is a video some guy shot at the restored Nike Missile installation on the Marin Headlands, just north of San Francisco.  It could benefit from some editing, so just skip ahead to -1:00 so that you can see the beginning of the launch process, where the missile is raised.

I am reading an excellent book called Iron Coffins, by Commander Herbert A. Werner, who served on five German u-boats between 1941 and 1945.  Judging by this sailor’s uniform and the quality of the photo, I’d guess that this is WWI.  But I liked it anyway and thought I should include it.  In fact, there’s something “non-German” about the image that I cannot put my finger on, even though the site’s caption claims that it’s German.

What didn’t I know about u-boats?  Mostly everything.  For any reader with even a scant knowledge of boats and subs, none of this will be news–but it was news to me.  Here are some things I’ve picked up so far:

• By 1944-45, the u-boat losses skyrocketed.  I’m not quite sure I believe the chart in Iron Coffins, but here goes anyway:  600-700 boats lost during that period.  Can anyone verify?  That sounds huge.
• U-boats and subs in general do most of their operations top-side.  They only go under when they absolutely need to be hidden.
• Amount of diesel fuel was sufficient to take them far into the North Atlantic and return, though fuel stops did sometimes happen.
• The goal was to rack up tonnage, not number of ships sunk.  And certainly not number of men killed.  Death was not the primary goal.  In fact, they would usually send up an SOS call on an international frequency after they sunk a ship.
• Freighters were more valuable targets than military ships, though not always.
• They could dive within 45 seconds.
• Because of the angle of the dive, the stern would sometimes get hit by advancing enemy ships.