Topsail Island
Encyclopedia
Topsail Island is a 26-mile (41.8 km) long barrier island
off the coast of North Carolina
, USA
just south of Camp Lejeune, the Bogue Banks
, and the Outer Banks
. It contains the communities of North Topsail Beach
, Surf City
and Topsail Beach
. Along with its thick maritime forest
s, Topsail Island is also a sanctuary for sea turtles and known for its beautiful beaches. The island lies in two counties: Onslow County in the north and Pender County in the south. There are only two ways on and off the island: the first is a high rise bridge on the North End and the second is a swing bridge thats brings you into Surf City.
used to hide in the channel between the island and the mainland waiting for merchant ships loaded with goods to pass. The pirates would attack the ships and claim the cargo as their own. Eventually the merchants became aware of the hiding place and began looking for the topsail
, which was supposedly the only part of the pirate ship that could be seen by the passing 'victim.' There is a legend that Blackbeard
hid his treasure on Topsail Island and that prior to WWII, treasure hunters searched for the hidden gems and gold throughout the islands' maritime forests.
the Navy began a joint venture with Johns Hopkins University and established the US Naval Ordnance Test Facilities at Topsail Island, North Carolina, for Operation Bumblebee
, a top-secret, experimental project to develop and test ramjet
missiles, which advanced the Nation's jet aircraft and missile programs. So successful were the tests conducted at the Topsail Island site that the ramjet proved its value, opened the way for the advance of supersonic jet aircraft design and brought the United States to the threshold of modern space technology with the Talos
, Terrier
, Tartar
and Sea Sparrow missiles aboard naval vessels. Named after a bumblebee, which although aerodynamically is unable to fly, does not know this and flies anyway, this operation lead to the maturing of supersonic aircraft and shipboard missile design in the mid-20th century.
Topsail Island was the third of three widespread test sites established along the Atlantic seaboard in the closing years of World War II, and the first permanent ground for missile testing. The Topsail Island site, placed in operation in March 1947, incorporated rigid structures that were designed and built for specific uses related to the assembly, firing, monitoring and perfecting of experimental ramjet missiles. The buildings associated with this testing, the Assembly Building, Facility Control Tower and Observation Tower No. 2 possess exceptional importance because they are the only aboveground resources remaining at these three sites where the Nation's burgeoning ramjet missile program grew from experimentation to maturity. The Assembly Building is a one-and-a-half-story masonry building and the Control Tower is a three-story reinforced concrete building. Observation Tower #2 is an unaltered example of the seven instrument towers erected on Topsail Island.
Naval and Marine personnel, numbering 500 men, and led by Lieutenant Commander Tad Stanwick, arrived at the site by mid-1946 to begin installation of the facilities needed for the testing. During the next 18 months, an estimated 200 experimental rockets, each measuring six inches in diameter and between three and 13 feet in length, were fabricated at the Assembly Building, dispatched to the launch site, and fired along a northeasterly angular deflection of 15 degrees to the shoreline for a maximum clear distance of 40 miles. Despite the initial success of the US Naval Ordnance Testing facility at Topsail Island over its 18-month span, its location did not fulfill completely the needs of a permanent base because weather conditions and increased sea traffic interfered with testing, and the facility was abandoned and its equipment moved to other sites.
Barrier island
Barrier islands, a coastal landform and a type of barrier system, are relatively narrow strips of sand that parallel the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few islands to more than a dozen...
off the coast of North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
just south of Camp Lejeune, the Bogue Banks
Bogue Banks
Bogue Banks form a barrier island off the mainland of North Carolina in Carteret County. The island, separated from the mainland by Bogue Sound, runs east to west, with the ocean beaches facing due south...
, and the Outer Banks
Outer Banks
The Outer Banks is a 200-mile long string of narrow barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina, beginning in the southeastern corner of Virginia Beach on the east coast of the United States....
. It contains the communities of North Topsail Beach
North Topsail Beach, North Carolina
North Topsail Beach is a town in Onslow County, North Carolina, United States. The 2008 estimated population was 955. It is located on Topsail Island.North Topsail Beach is part of the Jacksonville, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, Surf City
Surf City, North Carolina
Surf City is a town in Pender and Onslow counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 2,057 at the 2008 census. It is located on Topsail Island....
and Topsail Beach
Topsail Beach, North Carolina
Topsail Beach is a town in Pender County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 581 at the 2008 census. It is part of the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Topsail Beach is located at ....
. Along with its thick maritime forest
Maritime forest
A maritime forest is an ocean coastal wooded habitat found on higher ground than dune areas within range of salt spray. They can be found along the Atlantic coast of the United States...
s, Topsail Island is also a sanctuary for sea turtles and known for its beautiful beaches. The island lies in two counties: Onslow County in the north and Pender County in the south. There are only two ways on and off the island: the first is a high rise bridge on the North End and the second is a swing bridge thats brings you into Surf City.
Name origin
Topsail Island's name is supposedly derived from its nefarious history, however, this is still debatable among the locals on the Island. According to popular belief, piratesPiracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
used to hide in the channel between the island and the mainland waiting for merchant ships loaded with goods to pass. The pirates would attack the ships and claim the cargo as their own. Eventually the merchants became aware of the hiding place and began looking for the topsail
Topsail
A topsail is a sail set above another sail; on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails.- Square rig :On a square rigged vessel, a topsail is a square sail rigged above the course sail and below the topgallant sail where carried...
, which was supposedly the only part of the pirate ship that could be seen by the passing 'victim.' There is a legend that Blackbeard
Blackbeard
Edward Teach , better known as Blackbeard, was a notorious English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of the American colonies....
hid his treasure on Topsail Island and that prior to WWII, treasure hunters searched for the hidden gems and gold throughout the islands' maritime forests.
Operation Bumblebee
At the end of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the Navy began a joint venture with Johns Hopkins University and established the US Naval Ordnance Test Facilities at Topsail Island, North Carolina, for Operation Bumblebee
Operation Bumblebee (US Navy)
Operation Bumblebee developed and tested US Navy ramjet missiles at the end of World War II. The Applied Physics Lab PTV-N-4 Cobra/BTV was flown in October 1945, and the program developed the operational RIM-8 Talos missile.-Origin:Navy ships were hit by air-launched Henschel Hs 293 glide bombs...
, a top-secret, experimental project to develop and test ramjet
Ramjet
A ramjet, sometimes referred to as a stovepipe jet, or an athodyd, is a form of airbreathing jet engine using the engine's forward motion to compress incoming air, without a rotary compressor. Ramjets cannot produce thrust at zero airspeed and thus cannot move an aircraft from a standstill...
missiles, which advanced the Nation's jet aircraft and missile programs. So successful were the tests conducted at the Topsail Island site that the ramjet proved its value, opened the way for the advance of supersonic jet aircraft design and brought the United States to the threshold of modern space technology with the Talos
Talos
In Greek mythology, Talos or Talon was a giant man of bronze who protected Europa in Crete from pirates and invaders by circling the island's shores three times daily while guarding it.- History :...
, Terrier
Terrier
A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, very active and fearless dogs. Terrier breeds vary greatly in size from just a couple of pounds to over 70 pounds and are usually categorized by size or function...
, Tartar
RIM-24 Tartar
The General Dynamics RIM-24 Tartar was a medium-range naval surface-to-air missile , and was among the earliest surface-to-air missiles to equip United States Navy ships...
and Sea Sparrow missiles aboard naval vessels. Named after a bumblebee, which although aerodynamically is unable to fly, does not know this and flies anyway, this operation lead to the maturing of supersonic aircraft and shipboard missile design in the mid-20th century.
Topsail Island was the third of three widespread test sites established along the Atlantic seaboard in the closing years of World War II, and the first permanent ground for missile testing. The Topsail Island site, placed in operation in March 1947, incorporated rigid structures that were designed and built for specific uses related to the assembly, firing, monitoring and perfecting of experimental ramjet missiles. The buildings associated with this testing, the Assembly Building, Facility Control Tower and Observation Tower No. 2 possess exceptional importance because they are the only aboveground resources remaining at these three sites where the Nation's burgeoning ramjet missile program grew from experimentation to maturity. The Assembly Building is a one-and-a-half-story masonry building and the Control Tower is a three-story reinforced concrete building. Observation Tower #2 is an unaltered example of the seven instrument towers erected on Topsail Island.
Naval and Marine personnel, numbering 500 men, and led by Lieutenant Commander Tad Stanwick, arrived at the site by mid-1946 to begin installation of the facilities needed for the testing. During the next 18 months, an estimated 200 experimental rockets, each measuring six inches in diameter and between three and 13 feet in length, were fabricated at the Assembly Building, dispatched to the launch site, and fired along a northeasterly angular deflection of 15 degrees to the shoreline for a maximum clear distance of 40 miles. Despite the initial success of the US Naval Ordnance Testing facility at Topsail Island over its 18-month span, its location did not fulfill completely the needs of a permanent base because weather conditions and increased sea traffic interfered with testing, and the facility was abandoned and its equipment moved to other sites.