The purpose of this page is to offer a detailed report of the events of September 25/26,1983, forever known as Doomsday to the world.
For primary-documentary information, Associated Press reports from that infamous day are available. The times on the chart below represent the time the missiles were launched by the USSR, and not the time the missiles first struck their targets.
WARNING: THIS LIST IS INCOMPLETE. DO NOT ASSUME A LOCATION WAS MISSED JUST BECAUSE IT IS NOT HERE. DO YOUR RESEARCH.
Fort Dix-McGuire Air Force Base (Burlington Co., NJ)
Fort George Meade (Odenton, MD)
Fort Hunter Liggett, CA
Fort Irwin, CA
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Fort Leonard Wood (Pulaski Co., MO)
Fort Monmouth (Monmouth Co., NJ)
Fort Ord, CA
Fort Polk (Leesville, LA)
Fort Sill (Lawton, OK)
Fort Smith, AR
Fort Stewart, GA
Fort Wayne, IN
Fort Worth, TX
Francis E. Warren Air Force Base (Cheyenne, WY)
Franklin, ME
Franklin Township, NJ
Fresno, CA
Galveston, TX
Gary, IN
Goldsboro, NC
Griffis AFB (Rome and Utica, NY)
Grissom Air Force Base (Kokomo, IN)
Groom Lake AFB (Area 51, Groom Lake, NV)
Gulfport, MS
Hackensack, NJ
Harrisburg, PA
Hartford, CT
Havelock, NC
Hawthorne Army Depot (Hawthorne, NV)
Hempstead, NY
Homestead AFB (Homestead, FL)
Honolulu, HI
Houston, TX
Huntsville, AL
Indiana Army Ammunitions Plant (Charlestown, IN)
Indianapolis, IN
Jackson, MS
Jefferson City, MO
Jersey City, NJ
Joliet, IL
K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base (Marquette, MI)
Kansas City, MO
The first of several thermonuclear bombs to hit the Kansas City area on Doomsday evening. This picture was taken right after impact by a student traveling on Kansas Highway 10 going west towards Lawrence, just past the DeSoto exit.
Kansas City, KS
Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral, FL)
Key West NAS, FL
Killeen, TX
Lake Charles, LA
Lakehurst Naval Air Station (Lakehurst, NJ)
Lancaster-Palmdale, CA
Langley Air Force Base (Hampton, VA)
Las Cruces, NM
Las Vegas Valley, NV (including Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, & Henderson)
Little Rock AFB (Little Rock, AR)
Louisville, KY (includes the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant between nearby Charlestown, IN and Jeffersonville, IN)
Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove (Willow Grove, PA)
Naval Air Station Lemoore (Lemoore, CA)
Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake (China Lake, CA)
Newark, NJ
New City, NY
New London, CT
New Orleans, LA
New York City (include all five boroughs, all of Long Island except for an area from Hampton Bays up to Hither Woods and the Yonkers/Mount Vernon/New Rochelle/Pelham/White Plains area)File:620px-New York gets nuked.jpg
"Burning of New York" an artist's rendering of what New York might have looked like when it was attacked.
Newport, RI
Norfolk-Newport News, VA
Norton Air Force Base (San Bernardino, CA)
Oakland, CA
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, TN)
Oceana Naval Air Station (Virginia Beach, VA)
Offutt Air Force Base (Omaha, NE and Council Bluffs, IA)
Oklahoma City, OK
Omaha, NE
Pacific Missile Range, Kauai, HI
Parris Island, SC
Paterson, NJ
Pease Air Force Base (Portsmouth, NH)
Peoria, IL
Perth Amboy, NJ
Phenix City, AL
Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix, AZ metropolitan area
Pittsburgh, PA
Plattsburgh Air Force Base (Plattsburgh, NY and Burlington, VT)
Portland, ME
Portland, OR
Portsmouth, NH
Providence, RI
Raleigh, NC
Raven Rock Mountain Complex
Richmond, KY
Richmond, VA
Rochester, NY
Rockford, IL
Russellville, AR
Sacramento, CA
Saint Louis, MO (East St. Louis destroyed as well)
The last picture of London, taken at the moment a Soviet ICBM detonated.
There were three waves of Nuclear detonations across the UK,
The first wave of strategic nuclear weapons detonated across the UK military bases between 1.52am and 1.58am. 150 kilotonnes detonations occured over Portsmouth, Southamton and Plymouth (probably due to their large military bases) as well as two one megatonne detonations over the City of London.
Less than 10 minutes later a second wave hit the 15 largest population centres across the UK between 2.02am and 2.11am. These were London (seven seperate blasts), Birmingham, Glasgow (missed, detonated to the west of the city over Dunbarton), Liverpool (missed, detonated over the north of the city near Aintree), Leeds, Sheffield, Edinburgh (hit the nearby port of Leith), Bristol, Manchester, Leicester, Coventry, Kingston upon Hull (airblast over the river Humber to the south of the city), Bradford, Cardiff and Belfast.
The third and final wave hit the remaining population centres and re-hit some of the population centres hit in the first and second waves. These hit between 2.22am and 2.36am.
In total between 65 and 70 large (100 kilotonne+) nuclear weapons fall on major UK cities, and around 70 tactical nuclear weapons (10 kilotonnes) fall on military base throughout the UK on doomsday. Nuclear blast totals in the UK exceded 15 megatonnes.
Due to the time of the attack the first many people knew of the attack was a bright flash that woke them up followed by the blast wave that killed them. Of those who were awake at the time of the attack and survived to tell their stories, tell of seeing a new (or in some cases a second or third) sun in the sky followed by hurricane force winds that were burning hot.
Infamous picture of people running away from an explosion in London. Recently recovered in an expedition to the ruins of London.
Although details of the destruction of London are sketchy, it is believed that at least 12 nuclear detonations occured in the Greater London area, two detonation in first wave (over the City of London), seven detonations in second wave, three more in the third wave. A Celtic Alliance pilot on a reconnaissance flight over the area in 2007 described it as "craters, rubble, and glass". The Greater London area is currently off limits to all but official scientific and military personnel. A comprehensive expedition into the wasteland is scheduled for 2012.
The major cities hit included:
Manchester - second wave (200 KT), re-hit with third wave (100KT)
Birmingham - second wave (200 KT), re-hit with third wave (100 KT)
Belfast - second wave (200 KT)
Edinburgh - second wave (200KT) - Hit the nearby port of Lieth.
Leeds - second wave (200KT), re-hit with third wave (100KT)
Sheffield - second wave (200KT), re-hit with third wave (100KT)
Bradford - second wave (100KT)
York - third wave (100KT)
Kingston upon Hull - second wave (100KT) - hit to the south of the city over the River Humber
Newcastle - third wave (200KT)
Sunderland - third wave (200KT)
Bristol - second wave (100KT)
Leicester - second wave (200KT)
Norwich- third wave (100KT)
Coventry - second wave (100KT)
Cardiff - second wave (200KT)
Stoke on Trent - third wave (100KT)
Wolverhamton - third wave (100KT)
Nottingham -third wave (200KT)
Plymouth - three or possibly four detonations over naval bases. - first wave (150KT), re-hit in third wave (2 or 3 x 200KT)
Portsmouth - two or possibly three detonations over HMNB Portsmouth (HMS Nelson) area.- first wave (150KT), re-hit in third wave (1 or 2 x 200KT)
Southampton - three detonations over port area.- first wave (150KT), re-hit in third wave (2 x 200KT). Also destroyed in the attack was RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 which was still undergoing a major refit after the Falklands war.
Reading - third wave (100KT)
Dudley - third wave (100KT)
Northamton - third wave (200KT)
Durham - third wave (100KT)
Luton - third wave (200KT)
Swansea - third wave (200KT)
Bournmouth - third wave (200KT)
Southend on Sea - third wave (100KT)
Swindon - third wave (100KT)
Huddersfield - third wave (100KT)
Oxford - third wave (100KT)
Cambridge - third wave (100KT)
Stockport - third wave (100KT)
Peterborough - third wave (100KT)
Slough - third wave (100KT)
Brighton - third wave (100KT)
Gloucester - third wave (100KT)
Rotherham - third wave (100KT)
Newport - third wave (100KT)
Several major cities in the United Kingdom avoided complete destruction, due to malfunctioning missiles, these included.
Middlesbrough - one 100KT hit over the North Sea NE of Hartlepool, one 100KT over the North Yorkshire Moors, and one 100 KT bomb discovered unexploded in 2010.
Liverpool - (200KT) hit to the north of the city, over Aintree.
Glasgow - (200KT) hit to the west of the city, over Dunbarton.
West Germany
Ansbach
Bamburg
Bitburg
Bochum
Bonn
Braunschweig
Bremen
Bremerhaven
Dortmund
Duisburg
Düsseldorf
Erfurt
Essen
Frankfurt am Main (Several strikes in the vicinity)
.png){kind=link}