Whiskey 601's Links to the Cold War

Prologue

Back in 1983, Whiskey 601 existed as an imaginary rectangle of ocean located approximately forty miles off the west coast of Vancouver Island. It was relative insignificant in size; a mere 20 miles wide and 10 miles high. However, it was its location, near the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, that made it significant.

Its official name on a nautical chart was Exercise Area W-601. However, it was more often referred to as “Whiskey Six Oh One”, or as Canadian Navy sailors had shortened it, “Whiskey”. Of course, the name gives the notion that there is a connection with libation; however, the curious title is simply due to the military’s desire to use the phonetic alphabet to spell out letters. This is why the “W” in W-601 is vocalized as “Whiskey.” As one might surmise, there is not an actual drop of whiskey to be found in the entire area. The only exceptions may be a few stray bottles that were held in the liquor cabinets, lockers, or bars belonging to the crews of ships that might transit the area.

Ironically, a bottle of whiskey was a certain luxury that one should probably have brought along if they were headed anywhere in the vicinity of Whiskey 601. There was nothing romantic or luxurious about Whiskey 601, as the name might imply. Naturally, there were simply no luxuries at Whisky 601.

The area is neither scenic nor remarkable in any way. No stoic landmasses rise up from the ocean depths to form islands. Essentially, to the naked eye, there is nothing that may be seen. Actually, it's rather boring.

The only landmarks available to the eye are dozens of miles of ocean waves, occasionally broken up by an ocean going freighter or container ship that might sometime plod past the area, on their way inbo...

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... the fall of 1983, a US national television network took advantage of the uneasy feeling of the American public and released the television movie “The Day After”. A film that depicted the eventual extinction of humankind after a full-scale nuclear exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union, more than 100 million viewers watched the movie during its initial broadcast. Though fictional, it effectively alarmed multitudes of US citizens, and reportedly even startled Ronald Reagan himself.

When the Berlin Wall was torn down in 1989 the Cold War was said to have ended. Coincidentally, in 1989, Whiskey 601 was decommissioned as a Canadian Navy operation area. Was this a coincidence? Most likely, however, since Whiskey 601 was somewhat linked to the Cold War it is fitting that the end of the conflict might seem to have marked the end of Whiskey 601 as well.