TMIOBY PH-15 Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size:
 (micro)
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The Missiles In Our Back Yards (TMIOBY) Cache series revealing the hidden Cold War remnants in our backyards.
Visit the main page "GC3V4NE TMIOBY" for more details and a list of all the caches in the series.
Remember to write down the coordinate provided with each cache to find the final
PH-15 (launch Site) Bristol (Newportville/Croydon)_The base was built on Lower Bucks County, PA farmland in 1955 by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The base was manned by the Army until 1960 when the Pennsylvania Army National Guard took over base reassignment documents Having defended the area for just shy of a decade, the Army decided to deactivate the base in 1964 as opposed to upgrading it the Nike Hercules system (the pits were not deep enough to accommodate the Nike Hercules Missiles.) After its closure, many of the PARNG servicemen relocated to the PH-99 Eureka / Warrington base. What does PH-15 stand for? Obviously "PH" stands for the Philadelphia Defense Area, but the 15 actually stands for the bases location -- 15 degrees from Philadelphia (City Hall) based on a 100 degree circle (0/100 N, 25 E, 50 S, 75 W.) The Philadelphia Defense Area included the cities of Philadelphia, PA, Chester, PA, and Camden, NJ.The Launch area was converted to an Army Reserve Center -- no traces of the base are left. Plans to redevelop the IFC area to a minimum security prison and recreational site in the 60s and 70s fell through and the site sat abandoned for decades. In the late 2000s, the PA Turnpike Commission started carrying out plans to build a PA Turnpike - I-95 interchange on the site.
Magazines
1B (Ajax converted to Hercules; modifications were made for the elevator to handle the increased weight) / 2C (Original Ajax - 3 satellite launchers, 1 launcher on elevator.)
Missiles:
30 Ajax
Launchers:
12 Ajax Launchers
(Battery/Missile Battalion/Artillery Regiment)
D/506th (1955-9/1958) US Army
D/3/60th (9/1958-4/1960) US Army
B/2/166th (4/1960-3/1964]) PA Army National Guard
Current conditions
Control Site
Location: Behind the Bristol Plaza Rt 413
Condition: Abandon. Building razed but roadways and concrete pads still in place. Fence around the perimeter is there more to support the vegetation and there are many gaps. Homeless have taken over parts of the compound.
Launch Site
Location: Ford Rd
Condition: Re-purposed as Army reserve depot
Remaining structure: Original site razed. From the air look for the rectangular parking lot it's been placed directly over what was the launch site
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ubyr