Air Force the Official Service Journal - Air Force Historical Studies ...

Concordia Vega 11;1\ virt u.illv dcmolivhccl by a series of hr.rvv !J]OIY>dming [ulv. 1'J+f, Onlv two of the tanks in foreground remain intact.
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Zeitz, l'iilit/" Brux, BlechhaIllIller, J\Iersehurg, J\Iagc1ehurg,
Bohlen, Lutzkcuclorf, Ruhl.md, ILnnburg and Illany other».
Total !\;lI,i prod uction of oil prod nets decl ined stead ily and
incxor.rblv. By October the CJmntity avuil.rblc lIas less th.m
one-fourth of \\h;lt it had been, and the Vv'clmnucht \\,as
forced to dip hc.ivilv into its reserve».
Bv its \U~. unturc, an oil refinery is a good target. The
process of rcflning pctrolcmu requires instal l.rt ions that arc
rambling .mcl wcll spread out. offering bom b.udicrs wid«
areas upon whicl: to sigllt. SnlOkestaeks, often more than
100 feet tall. .md distillation cq u iprucu t situated well above
gronnd, make c;nnonfbge cx trcru clv difficult. And ideal
landmarks .irc provided by the clustcr, of t.mk farms which
arc used to accumul.itc crude oil to supplv the rcfincricx and
to store the finished products until shipment can be made,
Synthetic pl.mt -, too, need complicated facilities, The
manufacture of oil from coal shale b~ either the Bergins
method, which provide. the gre;ltest pl'lTenblge of .ivi.rt ion
gas, or the livchcr 'I'ropvch s\'Stem, requires pluuts for distillu
tion, ca rhonll,;l tion. com p reSSlOn, couvcrviou, ca ta lv-.is
and purificution. as well as OH'n houses, gas generators, brge
gas t.iu ks, in jector pL1l1t-. \\'a ter gas wor ks a ncl other specialized
equipment. Authorit i.« sav that it takes two years
to build a synthetic plant from the ground up,
In addition, the number of direct hits ncccssarv to incapacitate
a rcfincrv is smaller than for most targets. To
render a plant nnproduct ivc. onlv one of its corupoucnl s has
to be xcriou-Jv impeded, Dcstrurt ion of either the cr.ickiur;
plant. the distillation unit or the boiler house will suspend
normal opcr.ition of the refinen until It is repaired or rebuilt.
And the high vol.itilitv of the product itself. which m.iv
ignite from other causes whe-n even a ncar-miss occurs,
greath' increases the prob.ibilitv of d.uu.iac.
The Ccnn.ms have made frantic efforts to reduce this
vulncruhilitv, and then methods, di,seussed later in this
article, ha\'(~ been partially successful. One of the great prO\'ing
grounds for this epic race between o!1ense and defense
\\'as Plocst i. Th;lt l.rcct of the c;lmpaign is wort]: considering
in some detail. not oulv because it \I'as the greatest single
source of :\';Izi oil, but' also because the fields have since
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