Unconfirmed Rumors

Secret testing base during WWII
Location of interest: Somewhere in Bellaire, Texas
Previous: Farmland/Cattle Range
Coordinates: Unspecified

Where there's smoke there's fire. 

Sometimes myths and rumors are a lot like smoke. Little attention is given to wafts or puffs until smoke bellows or there are raging flames. It's the same with old stories or what seem like half-baked tales. The tendency is to dismiss them as nonsense. But ... occasionally there is one that keeps resurfacing—refusing to remain submerged as if to intentionally work its way back, demanding a closer look. And so it is with the story of a top secret military torpedo testing facility, located somewhere in the City of Bellaire. This one is also a bit of a tease because it's so elusive while just viable enough to be true.

Bellaire has its fair share of myths and legends, to be sure. And it's easy enough to scoff at the idea of the US Navy putting a secret testing site somewhere near a bayou, hidden beneath a small community of truck farms and wood cottages, literally out in the middle of nowhere. Or, perhaps that is exactly where you'd want to hide a facility testing a new torpedo guidance system. After all, few would think to look 50 miles inland from the coast where the only water sits in ditches or the sleepy bayou to the south of town. Pff ... no way. Right?

Mike McCorkle is a life-long Bellaire resident. He's published a picture book on the history of life in Bellaire, which is not only sells well, but it recently earned an award from a UK publisher. McCorkle makes no claims that he's a historian. And he is not afraid to take the bait and explore a rumor. But McCorkle's no fool either—he knows he has to get something more than the vague recollection of a random story told by a father or uncle. So here's the thing, he keeps coming across mentions of the testing facility, but almost never the same exact story twice. It's as if the accounts vary, as you would expect in real life, with the experiences by different people from the same place.

So, what's the story?

The central theme of the story is that at some point during World War II, and somewhere in Bellaire, the US Department of the Navy set up a secret test site for the development of a new torpedo guidance system. Common to all or most accounts is that the facility included massive underground firing tubes, not unlike huge drain pipes and measuring  one or two hundred yards long. Also described as part of the facility was a 40-ft deep underground pool.

Other elements of the story include a fabrication site for the torpedo casings at a Cameron Iron shop potentially located between the South Rice and Anderson Streets.

Mentioning their experience to McCorkle was a fellow resident who grew up in Bellaire. He recounts accidentally encroaching on the site with a group of friends riding around on bikes. Officials ran them off as torpedoes were being loaded onto a rail flatcar.

Photo: (Top) The Mark 14 was the only torpedo carried by U.S. fleet boats when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. (Bottom) The Mk 6, Mod 1 magnetic influence detonator, photographed at the U.S. Naval Torpedo Station, Newport, R.I. (U.S. Navy photos courtesy of Norman Polmar)

Where could it be located?

The Bellaire of the 21st century little resembles the town of the 1940s. The place to start is with maps and one from Harris County snapshots the area during the war. The map itself shows little other than streets and vast tracts of land. But, a natural place to locate such a facility would be south of Bellaire along Braes Bayou. Little was there at the time, and the railroad did run conveniently nearby.

Map: The map is a county map from the war period. It indicates a likely location for the facility. Little to nothing was in the area near Braes Bayou.

Looking at a modern aerial image, there is the current civil facility located exactly where a clandestine test site would ideally be. Of course, it's now a Houston water treatment plant. However, and interestingly, Bellaire has its own treatment site just off the a northern branch of Braes Bayou. In the days of planning, would two, independent treatment plants be needed? Even if they were, the metro site is massive with a number of empty buildings and abandoned work areas. The footprint alone is enough to have hidden a skunkwerks. 

Admittedly this is all speculation and enabling no more conclusion than an objective read of Chariots of the Gods. And the truth is that most torpedos were tested on an open water, allowing a 600-ft test. Still, the notion of a secret site continues to pop up in Bellaire lore and Mike McCorkle remains open minded about the possibility, although he is not seduced into being convinced either. So he goes on in search of hard evidence. Who knows, one day a package may mysteriously appear on his front porch, containing photos and documents. 

-SH-