THUMS Islands

Island Grissom, one of the THUMS Islands, the closest to land and most camouflaged

The THUMS Islands are a set of four artificial islands in San Pedro Bay off the coast of Long Beach, California. The THUMS Islands were built in 1965 to tap into the East Wilmington Oil Field. The landscaping and sound walls were designed to camouflage the operation and reduce noise, and they are the only decorated oil islands in the United States.[1] The islands were named for the company who bid for original operating contract, THUMS, a consortium named after its parent companies: Texaco, Humble, Unocal, Mobil, and Shell.

Since 1967, they have also been known as the Astronaut Islands, each individual island having been named in honor of an American astronaut who lost their lives in the service of NASA. Island Freeman (Theodore C. "Ted" Freeman) is named for the first astronaut to perish in active duty (piloting a T-38 Talon jet trainer).[2][3] Islands Chaffee (Roger B. Chaffee), Grissom (Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom) and White (Ed White) are named after the Apollo 1 astronauts killed in a launch pad accident.

  1. ^ Kathy Strong, Kathy (2007). Southern California Off the Beaten Path, 7th (Off the Beaten Path Series) (7th ed.). Guilford, Conn: Globe Pequot. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-7627-4429-9.
  2. ^ "City of Long Beach Enterprise Zone (map)". Archived from the original on July 13, 2010. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
  3. ^ Brittingham, Hazel (March 21, 2004). "Book highlights life, death of last USAF Captain Freeman". Arlington National Cemeter. Retrieved January 30, 2011.