Misplaced Pages

Naval Weapons Station Earle
Monmouth County, New Jersey
Naval Weapons Station Earle Insignia
Naval Weapons Station EarleShow map of Monmouth County, New JerseyNaval Weapons Station EarleShow map of New Jersey
Coordinates	40°15′54″N 74°09′41″W / 40.2649°N 74.1613°W / 40.2649; -74.1613
Type	Military base
Site information
Controlled by	United States Navy
Condition	Operational
Site history
In use	December 13, 1943 - Present
Garrison information
Current commander	Captain Kent D. Smith

Naval Weapons Station Earle, originally known as the Naval Ammunition Depot Earle, is a United States Navy base in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. Its distinguishing feature is a 2.1-mile (3.4 km) pier in Sandy Hook Bay where ammunition can be loaded and unloaded from warships at a safe distance from heavily populated areas.

The station is divided into two sections: Mainside, located in parts of Colts Neck, Howell, Wall Township, and Tinton Falls at 40°15′00″N 74°09′00″W / 40.25000°N 74.15000°W / 40.25000; -74.15000; and the Waterfront Area (which includes the pier complex), on Sandy Hook Bay, located in the Leonardo section of Middletown, at 40°24′30″N 74°04′30″W / 40.40833°N 74.07500°W / 40.40833; -74.07500. The areas are connected by Normandy Road, a 15-mile (24 km) military road and rail line that crosses and bypasses multiple public roads.

History

World War II operations demanded an ammunition depot near the greater New York metropolitan area but away from high-population sectors. Planning was hastened in early 1943 after the ammunition ship SS El Estero caught fire while moored in Bayonne, New Jersey. If the stowed and dockside explosives had detonated at once, in the manner of the great Halifax Explosion, the blast could have damaged parts of Bayonne and even Lower Manhattan. A board was established to locate a suitable site, and chose Sandy Hook Bay, which featured a safe, sheltered, and nearby port where ships could take on ammunition. Rail lines could bring in the ammunition from the west, where the majority of ammunition shipments originated. The rural area meant few local residents would be affected.

On August 2, 1943, construction began on Naval Ammunition Depot Earle, named after Rear Admiral Ralph Earle, the chief of the Bureau of Ordnance during World War I. The depot was commissioned on December 13, 1943, though work continued on the military road and railway connecting the mainside complex, the waterfront complex and the pier, which stretches 2.9 miles (4.7 km) into the Sandy Hook Bay.

Earle continued to develop after World War II, keeping pace with the changing needs of the navy. In 1974, the depot's name was changed to Naval Weapons Station Earle.

School-aged children of active military personnel at the station in grades K through 8 attend the schools of the Tinton Falls School District. Since the start of the 2016–17 school year, students in grades 9 through 12 started attending Colts Neck High School, as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Freehold Regional High School District, before which they had attended Monmouth Regional High School in Tinton Falls.

NWS Earle is also the homeport to USNS Supply (T-AOE 6), USNS Arctic (T-AOE-8), and Combat Logistics Squadron 2.

In 2015, the largest solar farm in New Jersey, the Ben Moreell Solar Farm, a 28.5 MW system on 170 acres (69 ha), was completed at the station.

Facilities

• Mainside: The 10,000 acres (40 km) in Colts Neck house most of Earle's departments and facilities. The Navy Munitions Command, Detachment Earle, performs the station's primary mission: storing and providing ammunition to the fleet. Military and civilian personnel operate the inland storage, renovation, transshipment and demilitarization facilities.
• Waterfront: At the Waterfront Complex, the Navy Munitions Command provides ammunition for nearly every class of ship operated by the navy and United States Coast Guard as well as commercial vessels from other countries.
• Pier Complex: The station's pier complex is one of the longest "finger piers" in the world. A two-mile (3 km) trestle connects to three finger piers. One mile from the shore the trestle branches off to Pier 1. At the junction of Piers 2, 3 and 4, a concrete platform supports a forklift/battery-recharging shop and the port operations building. This area is known as the "wye."

See also

• 2024 New Jersey drone sightings
• PS Alexander Hamilton

References

1. Leadership, Naval Weapons Station Earle, Accessed July 8, 2024.
2. "Weird NJ: Don't go there! Mystery road ends badly". Asbury Park Press. August 9, 2014. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
3. Daniels, Rosemary. "NWS Earle Students To Attend Colts Neck HS", The Two River Times, April 20, 2016. Accessed December 17, 2024. "Thanks to an agreement between the Navy, Monmouth County School Administration, and the Freehold Regional School District, 15 high school-age children from the Naval Weapons Station (NWS Earle) will transition from Monmouth Regional High School, Tinton Falls, to Colts Neck High School as of September 2016.... The main side of the Earle complex is located in Colts Neck, and according to public relations liaison William Addison, the residents there patronize many of the local businesses."
4. Lewis, Michelle (2020-05-18). "New Jersey's largest solar farm has been completed". Electrek. Retrieved 2020-05-26.

External links

• Naval Weapons Station Earle at the Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic official website
• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) documentation, filed under Sandy Hook Bay, Colts Neck, Monmouth County, NJ:
  • HAER No. NJ-142, "Naval Ammunition Depot Earle", 26 photos, 24 data pages, 5 photo caption pages
  • HAER No. NJ-142-A, "Naval Ammunition Depot Earle, Pier 2", 6 photos, 28 data pages, 3 photo caption pages
  • HAER No. NJ-142-B, "Naval Ammunition Depot Earle, Pier 3", 9 photos, 27 data pages, 3 photo caption pages
  • HAER No. NJ-142-C, "Naval Ammunition Depot Earle, Trestle 2", 7 photos, 22 data pages, 3 photo caption pages
  • HAER No. NJ-142-D, "Naval Ammunition Depot Earle, Trestle 3", 4 photos, 23 data pages, 2 photo caption pages

v t e  United States Navy
Category
Leadership	Secretary of the Navy Under Secretary of the Navy Chief of Naval Operations Vice Chief of Naval Operations Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy 4-star admirals 3-star admirals 1864–1959 2000–2009 2010–2019 2020–present 2-star admirals House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces Senate Subcommittee on Seapower
Structure	Navy Navy Reserve Fleet Marine Force Expeditionary Combat Command Merchant Marine Units Active ships Future ships Aircraft wings Aircraft squadrons Carrier strike group Installations Naval Observatory Master jet base Operating forces Fleet Forces Command Commander Pacific Fleet Commander Naval Forces Europe – Naval Forces Africa Naval Forces Central Command Naval Forces Southern Command Naval Special Warfare Command Naval Reserve Forces Operational Test and Evaluation Force Naval Network Warfare Command Military Sealift Command Shore Naval Sea Systems Command Naval Air Systems Command Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Naval Supply Systems Command Naval Information Warfare Systems Command Fleet Cyber Command Naval Academy Naval Education and Training Command Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command Office of Naval Intelligence Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center Naval Legal Service Command Naval Observatory Naval Safety Center Bureau of Naval Personnel Chief of Naval Personnel Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Navy Installations Command Navy Working Capital Fund Fleets Second Fleet Third Fleet Fourth Fleet Fifth Fleet Sixth Fleet Seventh Fleet Tenth Fleet Ships A–B C D–F G–H I–K L M N–O P Q–R S T–V W–Z Aircraft carriers Airships Amphibious warfare ships Auxiliaries Battleships Cruisers Destroyers Destroyer escorts Escort carriers Frigates Mine warfare vessels Monitors Patrol vessels Registered civilian vessels Sailing frigates Steam frigates Steam gunboats Ships of the line Sloops of war Submarines Torpedo boats Torpedo retrievers Unclassified miscellaneous vessels Yard and district craft
Personnel and training	People Officers Insignia Designators Enlisted Rates Ratings Classification Personnel Chaplain Corps Chief Deputy Chief Explosive ordnance disposal Medical Corps Dental Corps Nurse Corps Medical Service Corps Supply Corps Civil Engineer Corps JAG Corps JAG DJAG NCIS Boatswain's mates Hospital corpsman Naval Aviator SEALs Seabees Master-at-arms Operations specialist SWCCs Hispanic sailors Training Recruit Officer Candidate School STA-21 NROTC Naval University System (Naval War College, Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Academy, Naval Community College, Marine Corps University) BESS BFTT CNATT COMPTUEX NAWCTSD AIM Naval Chaplaincy School Naval Hospital Corps School Naval Justice School United States Armed Forces School of Music Navy Senior Enlisted Academy Navy Supply Corps School Nuclear Power School JMTC TOPGUN USNTPS Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Equipment	Uniforms Awards and decorations Badges Current fleet Future fleet Reserve fleet Current aircraft Weapons Naval reactors
History and traditions	History "Anchors Aweigh" Blue Angels Continental Navy Ensign Fleet bands Fleet Week Jack Line-crossing ceremony National Museum Navy Band Ceremonial Guard Navy Flag Navy Hymn Navy Memorial Navy service numbers Navy Weeks Revolt of the Admirals Sailor's Creed Ship commissioning Ship decommissioning Ship naming conventions Tingey House USS Constitution WAVES Wetting-down United States battleship retirement debate

• Weapons and ammunition installations of the United States Navy
• Military installations in New Jersey
• Buildings and structures in Monmouth County, New Jersey
• Historic American Engineering Record in New Jersey
• Raritan Bayshore
• Piers in New Jersey
• Colts Neck Township, New Jersey
• Howell Township, New Jersey
• Middletown Township, New Jersey
• Tinton Falls, New Jersey
• Wall Township, New Jersey
• Military Superfund sites
• Superfund sites in New Jersey
• 1943 establishments in New Jersey
• Military installations established in 1943