SNARK, ZUNI, MATADOR, PETREL, REGULUS, BOMARC, MASTODON (oh my)

“Perhaps you have read of the rockets that have been going astray recently? The multi-stage SNARK, for instance, that ended its flight in the forests of Brazil instead of the depths of the South Atlantic?”

DR NO Chapter 16

“There have been other failures, decisive failures, from the long list of prototypes–the ZUNI, MATADOR, PETREL, REGULUS, BOMARC–so many names, so many changes, I can’t even remember them all. Well, Mister Bond,”

DR NO Chapter 16

“You do not believe me? No matter. Others do. Others who have seen the complete abandonment of one series, the MASTODON, because of its recurring navigational errors, its failure to obey the radio directions from Turks Island.

DR NO Chapter 16

Doctor No is feeling pretty good about things and is showing off a little to his guests James Bond and Honeychile Rider. He reveals that all these recent failed missile tests are a result of a million dollars worth of equipment on his installation there on Crab Key.

As usual, Ian Fleming is mixing in real events with the story, giving it a stronger feel of plausibility. All but one of the named missiles were real.

SNARK: (Northrop SM-62 Snark) An intercontinental cruise missile used by the USAF from 1958 through 1961. It was meant to be able to carry a nuclear warhead as a deterrent to the U.S.S.R. It had landing skids, making it able to be re-used. In a 1956 test, a Snark flew too far and refused its destruct command, and disappeared over Brazil, just as Doctor No said. (“You recall that it refused to obey the telemetred instructions to change its course, even to destroy itself. It developed a will of its own?“)

Snark Ground-Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM)

ZUNI: A 5 inch air-to-air and air-to-ground missile developed in the early 1950’s by the U.S. Navy and approved for production in 1957. Designed to carry a variety of warheads, this missile was used extensively in the Vietnam war and continues in use to this day.

Zuni Aircraft Rocket

MATADOR: (Martin MGM-1 Matador) The first operational surface-to-surface cruise missile developed by the U.S. Deployed in 1953, these were made to carry a nuclear payload. A total of about 1200 were produced before being taken out of service in 1962. The missile was guided via radio link which made it vulnerable to radio jamming by Doctor No’s team.

Matador

PETREL: (AUM-N-2 Petrel, or Kingfisher C) An air-to-surface missile intended for use against ships or surfaced submarines. It carried a torpedo as its payload. It came into operation in 1956, but was cancelled in 1959.

REGULUS: (SSM-N-8 Regulus) Developed by the U.S. Navy this was a turbojet cruise missile launched from ships and surfaced submarines, carrying a nuclear warhead. It was in service between 1955 and 1964.

BOMARC: (Boeing CIM-10 Bomarc IM-99 Weapon System) The world’s first long-range anti-aircraft missile. It was in service from 1959 to 1972. Produced by Boeing in collaboration with the Michigan Aeronautical Research Center (MARC) gave the missile its name.

CIM-10 Bomarc missile complex at Fort Dix, NJ, Oct 1960

MASTODON: Unless Fleming knew about a secret program by this name which was abandoned, it seems like this is the only fictional missile named in this group.

Dr No’s Dragon

What was it? Half a mile away, coming across the lake, was a shapeless thing with two glaring orange eyes with black pupils. From between these, where the mouth might be, fluttered a yard of blue flame. The grey luminescence of the stars showed some kind of domed head above two short batlike wings. The thing was making a low moaning roar that overlaid another noise, a deep rhythmic thud. It was coming towards them at about ten miles an hour, throwing up a creamy wake.

Dr. No, chapter 12

The Dragon of Crab Key is one of the more terrifying creations of the mind of Ian Fleming. It had a fearsome reputation which traveled across the Carribean and kept visitors from the island.

What do we know about the dragon?

  • Diesel engine (“deep rhythmic thud“)
  • Some kind of domed cabin above two short batlike wings
  • Flamethrower
  • Giant, solid rubber tires, at least two feet across, twice as tall as
    Bond. (“giant aeroplane tyres probably
  • Single tire in rear width of motor
  • Iron fin painted black and gold
  • A long snout mocked-up with gaping jaws and
    gold paint to look like a dragon’s mouth.
  • Iron tractor seats

Bond still had no idea what this contraption was. Under the black and gold paint and the rest of the fancy dress it was some sort of a tractor, but of a kind he had never seen or heard of. The wheels, with their vast smooth rubber tyres, were nearly twice as tall as himself. He had seen no trade name on the tyres, it had been too dark, but they were certainly either solid or filled with porous rubber. At the rear there had been a small trailing wheel for stability. An iron fin, painted black and gold, had been added to help the dragon effect. The high mudguards had been extended into short backswept wings. A long metal dragon’s head had been added to the front of the radiator and the headlamps had been given black centres to make ‘eyes’. That was all there was to it, except that the cabin had been covered with an armoured dome and the flame-thrower added. It was, as Bond had thought, a tractor dressed up to frighten and burn–though why it had a flame-thrower instead of a machine gun he couldn’t imagine. It was clearly the only sort of vehicle that could travel the island. Its huge wide wheels would ride over mangrove and swamp and across the shallow lake. It would negotiate the rough coral uplands and, since its threat would be at night, the heat in the iron cabin would remain at least tolerable.

I’ve had a hard time figuring out this contraption as well. My best guess is that it was some sort of gulf marsh buggy:

Picturing this contraption has been a challenge, I first attempted to use the above marsh buggy as a starting point and tried to add in the rest of the details. My art skills, however, are non-existent. This was what I came up with:

Please don’t laugh!

I tried to incorporate the huge tires, the mudguards turned into short, backswept bat wings, the long metal dragon’s head added to the front, with the existing headlights turned into the dragon’s eyes, the armored dome on top and the fin. Definitely a crude sketch, but I think it at least gives us an idea.

I then went and looked at the 1960 comic strips for Dr No which appeared in Express Newspapers and examined the strips drawn by Martin Asbury which show the dragon. Here are a couple of them:

From The Complete Ian Fleming’s James Bond Dr No The Classic Comic Strip Collection.
From The Complete Ian Fleming’s James Bond Dr No The Classic Comic Strip Collection.

The tires are not quite the same as described by Fleming, but the other details check out. Interestingly the head of the dragon here is elongated, which is something that hadn’t occurred to me but makes sense. The lower picture shows the bat-like wings over the tires, which match up pretty well with my version. 

Illustration from May 1962 edition of STAG Magazine

Berns Martin Triple-Draw Holster

In Dr No, James Bond has just been given the news that against his preference, he will be receiving a new weapon, the Walther PPK 7.65 mm. Bond reluctantly accepts the decision of the Armourer as to choice of weapon, and the inquires as to the best way to carry the gun.

“Berns Martin Triple-draw holster,” said Major Boothroyd succinctly. “Best worn inside the trouser band to the left. But it’s all right below the shoulder. Stiff saddle leather. Holds the gun in with a spring. Should make for a quicker draw than that,” he gestured towards the desk. “Three-fifths of a second to hit a man at twenty feet would be about right.”

The recent release of the book The Man With The Golden Typewriter is a boon for Bond researchers as it shows you directly how Fleming got much of his information. In this case a fan named Geoffrey Boothroyd. There is an entire chapter in the book entitled ‘Conversations with the Armourer’, in which the extensive correspondence between Fleming and Boothroyd is chronicled.

Geoffrey Boothroyd and Ian Fleming
Geoffrey Boothroyd and Ian Fleming

In his very first letter to Fleming, Boothroyd gives his opinions on the firearms Bond is said to use and what he should use. He suggests a Smith and Wesson .38 Centennial Airweight. (In a later letter he mentions the Walther PPK 7.65 mm) Then he says:

Now to gun harness, rigs or what have you. First of all, not a shoulder holster for general wear, please. I suggest that the gun is carried in a Berns Martin Triple Draw holster. This type of holster holds the gun in by means of a spring and can be worn on the belt or as a shoulder holster. I have played about with various types of holster for quite a time now and this one is the best.

Boothroyd sent Fleming a series of prints to show the various ways in which the holster could be worn.

‘A’ Series. Holster worn on belt at right side. Pistol drawn with right hand.
(Boothroyd notes: This draw can be done in 3/5ths of a second by me. With practice and lots of it you could hit in figure at 20 feet in that time.)

‘B’ Series. Shoulder holster. Gun upside down on left side. Held in by spring. Drawn with right hand.

‘C’ Series. Holster worn as in A, but gun drawn with left hand.

‘D’ Series. Holster word on shoulder, as in ‘B’ series, but gun drawn with left hand.

Boothroyd provided Fleming with 2-4 points of note under each of these series.

A later letter to Fleming has Boothroyd answering the writer’s query as to where he can find more about the holster:

The Berns Martin people live in Calhoun City, Mississippi, and a note to Jack Martin, who is a first class chap and a true gunslinger, will bring you illustrations of his work. Bond’s chamois leather pouch will be ideal for carrying a gun, but God help him if he has to get the gun out when the other fellow is counting the holes in Bond’s tummy.

Berns-MartinLightnincut

 

Here is a closeup of the brand mark on the holster:

berns-martin

And then here is the entire rig:

berns-martin-rig

 

Even after getting the information here, it was still a little inaccurate. When Fleming wrote Dr No, he had Bond issued the Berns Martin Triple Draw holster, but with the Walther PPK. Boothroyd wrote to tell him that the holster could only be used with a revolver (such as the Smith and Wesson) and not his new Walther, which was an automatic.

Colt Detective Special

As Moonraker opens, Bond is in the firing range in the basement of the headquarters building, getting some firing work in with the Instructor.

THE TWO thirty-eights roared simultaneously.

The walls of the underground room took the crash of sound and batted it to and fro between them until there was silence. James Bond watched the smoke being sucked from each end of the room towards the central Ventaxia fan. The memory in his right hand of how he had drawn and fired with one sweep from the left made him confident. He broke the chamber sideways out of the Colt Detective Special and waited, his gun pointing at the floor, while the Instructor walked the twenty yards towards him through the half-light of the gallery.

(A sidenote – the reference to the Ventaxia fan is yet another product placement by Ian Fleming. The company is actually Vent-Axia and provides exactly the type of fan described here.)

The Colt Detective Special is short-barrelled revolver favored by detectives for both its stopping power (.38 Special) and ease of concealment.

Bond was likely using a second series CDS here, which were manufactured between 1947 and 1972.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

This is a 1956 model, so about a year or two away from the events of Moonraker, but as part of the second series of the CDS, the overall design would’ve been the same as the one James Bond was using.

Tee-Hee in Live and Let Die also carried a .38 Colt Detective Special, which Bond took off him after knocking him out. Bond then used the gun to shoot his way out of the garage.

Champion Harpoon Gun, Wilkinsons Commando Dagger

When James Bond is reviewing his equipment for his undersea trek to the Isle of Surprise in Live and Let Die, he inventories it as follows:

There was a new and powerful Champion harpoon gun and a commando dagger of the type devised by Wilkinsons during the war. Finally, in a box covered with danger-labels, there was the heavy limpet mine, a flat cone of explosive on a base, studded with wide copper bosses, so powerfully magnetized that the mine would stick like a clam to any metal hull. There were a dozen pencil-shaped metal and glass fuses set for ten minutes to eight hours and a careful memorandum of instructions that were as simple as the rest of the gear. There was even a box of benzedrine tablets to give endurance and heightened perception during the operation and an assortment of underwater torches, including one that threw only a tiny pencil-thin beam.

For the Champion harpoon gun, someone can correct me if I’m mistaken, but I’m assuming it was the Arbalete Champion speargun which Bond had received.

$_57

 

$_57 (1)

I can’t say for sure this is what Bond used – I don’t even know what year this gun is, but hopefully this allows you to picture at least the type of speargun he was using.

In The Hildebrand Rarity, Bond also has a Champion:

Bond had a Champion harpoon-gun with double rubbers. The harpoon was tipped with a needle-sharp trident – a short-range weapon, but the best for reef work.

The double rubbers described here refers to bands, which give the gun its power:

Two factors affect a band’s power potential: stretch and diameter. All other things being equal, a 9/16-inch band provides less potential power than a 5/8-inch band. Adding additional bands increases the power potential in a linear fashion (i.e. two 5/8-inch bands yielding 100 pounds (45.4kg) of power potential. – How to Choose the Right Speargun

As for the commando dagger devised by Wilkinsons, there are many to choose from. We’ll go with these for now:

wilkinsons

While these three knives may look the same, and indeed were designed to look alike, the top knife above is the Wilkinson, and the other two are look alikes from the same era.

For more on the Wilkinson knives, check out this excellent website: The Wilkinson F-S Collection.

As for the limpet mine, it sounds like it looked like this.

limpet-mine

 

And this shows you the components of the mine, including the copper bosses and magnetized bottom:

limpet-mine-2

 

 

He also has a supply of Benzedrine tablets. (Note the entire section Fleming and Bond get in that wikipedia entry.)