Draft:Bellingham Cold Storage

Overview
Bellingham Cold Storage (BCS) operates as a refrigerated warehousing facility in the US Pacific Northwest, conveniently positioned near the Canadian border. The company specializes in the storage and handling of a diverse range of frozen and chilled products, including seafood, vegetables, fruits, and meats. BCS extends its services beyond basic warehousing, offering additional options like freezing, ice sales, ship loading/unloading, and cargo pooling for its clientele.

History
Bellingham Cold Storage's (BCS) history stretches back to the summer of 1946, marked by the opening of its initial cold storage warehouse and ice production facility at the Squalicum Waterfront in Bellingham. Over the years, BCS has undergone significant expansion, establishing a total of 27 warehouses across five separate facilities. This extensive network of infrastructure, exceeding one million square feet in total area, has positioned BCS as a prominent player in the West Coast's portside cold storage and frozen food processing landscape.

Bellingham Shipyards
A.W. (Arch) Talbot arrived in Bellingham in the early 1940s, acquiring Bellingham Bay Shipyards. During World War II, the shipyard focused on building wooden hull minesweepers for military contracts. Their contributions were recognized through five Navy "E" awards, acknowledging their excellence in producing high-quality vessels on schedule or ahead of time.

Minesweepers
Naval mines serve a strategic purpose in both defensive and offensive military operations. They can be deployed by minelayers to create large underwater minefields. These minefields can have two applications; defensive or offensive.


 * Defensive: Protecting harbors and shipping lanes from enemy vessels - both surface ships and submarines.
 * Offensive: Creating hazardous zones in previously safe waters to hinder enemy movement.

Minesweepers exist to counter the threat posed by minefields. This ongoing development of mines and countermeasures has been a constant feature of naval warfare. These naval vessels specifically designed to locate and remove mines from waterways.

This process ensures the safety of maritime transportation and military operations by clearing sea mines, which are explosive devices intended to damage or destroy ships and submarines. Sea mines come in various forms, including bottom mines resting on the seabed and moored mines suspended in the water column. These mines can be triggered by magnetism, sound, or the pressure of a passing vessel. Some advanced models may even possess the ability to distinguish between friendly and enemy ships before detonation. Clearing a minefield is a complex and potentially hazardous undertaking that often requires the use of multiple tools to guarantee a safe passage.

Different tactics or tools were used by Minesweepers to counteract different mine types such as magnetic, oropresa, and acoustic.

Magnetic Gear creates a magnetic field similar to a ship's signature, tricking magnetic mines into detonating safely away from the ship. This magnetic field is produced by electricity running through cables.

Oropesa Gear is designed to cut the tethers of moored mines, ideally bringing them to the surface where they should become harmless according to the Geneva Convention. This gear uses a long, serrated cable with a special "otter" device at the front that acts like a weighted kite, pulling the cable down to maintain a consistent depth. This whole contraption can stretch up to 500 yards behind the ship and 200 yards to the side, limiting the ship's speed to around 10 knots while sweeping.

Acoustic Gear, also known as influence sweeps, uses towed equipment that mimics a ship's sound signature. This can trigger acoustic mines to detonate at a safe distance. Common examples include magnetic and acoustic generators.