Era Comes to an End at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown

YORKTOWN, Va. (NNS) -- The Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Indian Head Division, Det. Yorktown, ended its experimental explosive development, June 30, bringing more than 70 years of weapons research to a close.

NWSC Det. Yorktown is located at Naval Weapons Station (WPNSTA) Yorktown-Cheatham Annex (CAX), Va., and is
scheduled to transfer operations to NSWC Indian Head Division in Maryland by late August 2011.

The relocation is part of the Base Re-alignment and Closure (BRAC) recommendations.

"This brings a major chapter in the history of Yorktown Weapons Station to a close," said Capt. Lowell Crow, commanding officer, WPNSTA Yorktown. "We will continue to support the warfighters and the Navy's mission as a 'Global Force for Good' by providing to the best ordnance support to the fleet."

The Yorktown detachment has been working with a variety of experimental explosive materials for many years. Their formulations and experiments have been under the oversight of the New Explosive Material Review Committee (NEMRC). YKT-79, new explosive formulation with potential as an improved booster material, is the last new formulation to be developed on board WPNSTA Yorktown-CAX.

Prior to 1940, Naval Mine Depot Yorktown was used for the receipt, reclamation, storage and issue of mines, depth charges and related materials.

For more news from Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, visit www.navy.mil/local/nwsyorktown/.