During World War II, the US Government needed a way to alert the populations of major US Cities that there was a possibility of enemy aircraft about to attack the city and the residents needed to prepare themselves for possible bombing. Bell Telephone Laboratories developed a warning system that that used telephone lines to activate and test air raid sirens located throughout populated areas.
After World War II, a new conflict developed with the Soviet Union known as the Cold War. This period of conflict, tension and competition between the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies developed in the mid 1940’s until the early 1990’s. During this time, the need for a way to alert people to the possibility to a missile attack.
Bell Telephone Laboratories worked with Chrysler Corporation to develop the air raid siren part of the network. The most powerful model was the Chrysler Victory Siren, which was built between 1952 - 1957. The siren was powered by a Chrysler FirePower Hemi V-8, which was a 331 CID engine that produced 180 horsepower and had an audible range of four to five miles. In fact, it has an audio output of 138 decibels and produced 30,000 watts of power and move 2,610 cubic feet of air per minute when running. Three different production models were made by Chrysler between 1942 and 1957.
The final model, the Victory Siren, is the loudest air raid siren ever produced.
The Victory Siren is 12 feet long, built atop a 1/4 section of a Dodge truck chassis rail, and weighs and estimated three tons. The sirens were located above buildings and watchtowers.
The City of Oakland, California installed five of these sirens in the 1950's. The sirens were regularly tested and serviced until the 1980's. For nearly 30 years, these sirens sat neglected.
In 2006, Jack Schroll and Mostly Mustangs started working to preserve the remaining two Victory Sirens in Oakland.