Bunker
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A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to
Trench bunkers are small concrete structures, partly dug into the ground. Many artillery installations, especially for
A bunker's door must be at least as strong as the walls. In bunkers inhabited for prolonged periods, large amounts of ventilation or air conditioning must be provided. Bunkers can be destroyed with powerful explosives and bunker-busting warheads.
Etymology
The word bunker originates as a Scots word for "bench, seat" recorded 1758, alongside shortened bunk "sleeping berth".[2] The word possibly has a Scandinavian origin: Old Swedish bunke means "boards used to protect the cargo of a ship".[3] In the 19th century the word came to describe a
In the
By 1947 the word was familiar enough in English that
Types
Trench
This type of bunker is a small concrete structure, partly dug into the ground, which is usually a part of a trench system. Such bunkers give the defending soldiers better protection than the open
Artillery
Many artillery installations, especially for
Industrial
Typical industrial bunkers include mining sites, food storage areas, dumps for materials, data storage, and sometimes living quarters. They were built mainly by nations like Germany during World War II to protect important industries from aerial bombardment. Industrial bunkers are also built for control rooms of dangerous activities, such as tests of rocket engines or explosive experiments. They are also built in order to perform dangerous experiments in them or to store radioactive or explosive goods. Such bunkers also exist on non-military facilities.
Personal
When a house is purpose-built with a bunker, the normal location is a reinforced below-ground bathroom with large cabinets.[citation needed] One common design approach uses fibre-reinforced plastic shells. Compressive protection may be provided by inexpensive earth arching.[citation needed] The overburden is designed to shield from radiation.[citation needed] To prevent the shelter from floating to the surface in high groundwater, some designs have a skirt held down with the overburden.[12] It may also serve the purpose of a safe room.[citation needed]
Munitions storage
Munitions storage bunkers are designed to securely store
A specialized version of the munitions bunker called a
Design
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Inside the Hill 60 Bunker, Port Kembla, New South Wales, Australia. One of many bunkers south of Sydney
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In a Project 131 tunnel under the hills of Hubei
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Object 17/5001 Prenden, Germany
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Bunker of the Harparskog Line in Raseborg, Finland
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Beach bunker with improvised art in Blåvand, Denmark
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Bunker in Singapore
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The entrance to Ouvrage Schoenenbourg along the Maginot Line in France.
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German single person bunker for reconnaissance personnel in the field
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Bunker of type Winkel in Brandenburg an der Havel
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Munitions bunker atPossum Park, Queensland, Australia.
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Gravel Gertie at the Pantex nuclear weapons plant, Amarillo, Texas.
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West Ukraine
Blast protection
Bunkers deflect the blast wave from nearby explosions to prevent ear and internal injuries to people sheltering in the bunker. While frame buildings collapse from as little as 21 kPa (3 psi; 0.21 bar) of overpressure, bunkers are regularly constructed to survive over 1,000 kPa (150 psi; 10 bar). This substantially decreases the likelihood that a bomb (other than a bunker buster) can harm the structure.
The basic plan is to provide a structure that is very strong in
A large ground shock can move the walls of a bunker several centimeters in a few milliseconds. Bunkers designed for large ground shocks must have sprung internal buildings to protect inhabitants from the walls and floors.[14]
Nuclear protection
Nuclear bunkers must also cope with the underpressure that lasts for several seconds after the shock wave passes, and block radiation. Usually, these features are easy to provide. The overburden (soil) and structure provide substantial radiation shielding, and the negative pressure is usually only 1⁄3 of the overpressure.[15]
General features
The doors must be at least as strong as the walls. The usual design is now starting to incorporate vault doors. To reduce the weight, the door is normally constructed of steel, with a fitted steel lintel and frame. Very thick wood also serves and is more resistant to heat because it chars rather than melts.[citation needed] If the door is on the surface and will be exposed to the blast wave, the edge of the door is normally counter-sunk in the frame so that the blast wave or a reflection cannot lift the edge. A bunker should have two doors. Door shafts may double as ventilation shafts to reduce digging.
In bunkers inhabited for prolonged periods, large amounts of
Countermeasures
Bunkers can be destroyed with powerful explosives and bunkerbusting warheads. The crew of a
Famous installations
Famous bunkers include the post-World War I
The
See also
- Palestinian tunnel warfare in the Gaza Strip
- Air raid shelter
- Bomb shelter
- Underground hangar
- Submarine pen
- Fallout shelter
- Pillbox (military)
- Regelbau
- Continuity of government
- Civil Defense
- Paramilitary
Notes
- ^ For the difference between bunkers and blockhouses see Schneider & Kitchen 2002, p. 87, BACM Research 2009, p. 263, Davis 2007, p. 290
- ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary". Archived from the original on 16 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016. Online Etymology Dictionary
- ISBN 9781573247207. Retrieved 19 December 2022 – via Google Books.
- ^ Bunker at Oxford English Dictionary; retrieved 9 August 2018
- ^ Harry Horstmann, Der Soldat: In Sprache und Tradition (2010), p. 153.
- ^ "DWDS – Bunker". Archived from the original on 16 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016. Das Wortauskunftssystem zur deutschen Sprache in Geschichte und Gegenwart
- ^ "The German term Bunker was used to denote a type of shelter which was of permanent construction. It can be distinguished from the improvised type built in cellars or by reinforcing ordinary buildings. Bunkers were of two types: underground and tower" (Morale Division (1945). The effect of bombing on health and medical care in Germany. Reports: European war, United States Strategic Bombing Survey. Vol. 65 (2 ed.). United States War Department. p. 189 (footnote "*").)
- ^ a b War Pictorial, cited after "bunker, n.1.c". Oxford English Dictionary (Second ed.). Oxford University Press. December 2011 [1989]. (subscription required)
- ISBN 978-1-135-76455-5.
- ^ An archival look at World War I Archived 19 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine from the Queen's University Archives, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Accessed 2008-02-10
- ^ "Accueil". Muse du Mur de l'Atlantique d'Audinghen website. Archived from the original on 10 January 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
- ISBN 0-942487-01-X. Retrieved 19 June 2008. NOTE: Kearny recommends stockpiling materials for a blast or fallout shelterand constructing it only if war appears very likely.
- ^ "Bunker: What is it, types and all you need to know". News9live. 5 March 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
- ^ "Bunker Thoughts". prepare-and-protect.net. 25 January 2014. Archived from the original on 30 September 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
- ISBN 0224020595
- ^ "App. D: Expedient Blast Shelters". Arnold Jagt. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
- ^ "Flame Thrower". Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
- ^ Foppa Grande
- ^ Nalewicki, Jennifer (23 March 2016). "Switzerland's Historic Bunkers Get a New Lease on Life". The Smithsonian. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
References
- BACM Research (2009), Vietnam War After Action Reports, BACM Research, p. 263
- Davis, Tracy C. (2007), Stages of emergency: Cold War nuclear civil defense (illustrated ed.), Duke University Press, p. 290, ISBN 978-0-8223-3970-0
- Schneider, Richard Harold; Kitchen, Ted (2002), Planning for crime prevention: a transatlantic perspective, RTPI library series, vol. 3 (illustrated ed.), Routledge, p. 87, ISBN 978-0-415-24136-6
External links
1. abmm.org: Australian Bunker And Military Museum
2. BunkerBlog: All about German fortifications 1933-1945
3. Bunkersite.com: About bunkers built by the Germans during 1933–1945 in the whole of Europe
4. German bunkers in Poland: Fortified Front Odra-Warta rivers, Boryszyn Loop