Operation Steel Box

Operation Steel Box, also known as Operation Golden Python, was a 1990 joint U.S.-West German operation which moved 100,000 U.S. chemical weapons from Germany to Johnston Atoll.

At U.S. Army Site 59 coor. 49.265018,7.712617 near Clausen, West Germany 100,000 GB and VX filled American chemical munitions were stored in 15 concrete bunkers. These munitions were managed by the 330th Ordnance Company (EOD) and guarded by the 110th Military Police Company both headquartered in nearby Munchweiler. The propellants for these munitions were stored in Leimen Site 67. The BG and VX munitions had undergone a refurbishment in 1980 - 1982. The weapons in this depot were scheduled to be moved due to an agreement between the U.S. and West Germany. The 1986 agreement, between Ronald Reagan and Helmut Kohl, provided for the removal of 155 mm and 8 inch unitary chemical projectiles.

Operation Steel Box began on July 26, 1990 and ended on September 22, 1990, but the weapons did not reach their final destination until November. The move from the storage facility to an intermediate facility at Miesau utilized trucks and trains, civilian contractors, and U.S. and West German military personnel. The weapons were repacked and shipped by truck from their storage facility until they reached the railway in Miesau. The truck transport portion of the mission involved 28 road convoys which delivered the munitions the 30 miles from Clausen to Miesau.

The munitions were carried by special ammunition train from Miesau to the port of Nordenham. The train transport was well publicized and escorted by 80 U.S. and West German military and police vehicles. At the port the munitions were loaded onto two modified ships, the SS Gopher State and the SS Flickertail State, by the Army's Technical Escort Unit. The ships were operated by the U.S. Military Sealift Command, and upon leaving Nordenham they sailed for 46 straight days. The ships arrived at Johnston Atoll and on November 18 unloaded the last of their cargo containers.

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