The Archeology of the Atomic Bomb

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The Archeology of the Atomic Bomb THE ARCHEOLOGY OF THE ATOMIC BOMB: A SUBMERGED CULTURAL RESOURCES ASSESSMENT OF THE SUNKEN FLEET OF OPERATION CROSSROADS AT BIKINI AND KWAJALEIN ATOLL LAGOONS REPUBLIC OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS Prepared for: The Kili/Bikini/Ejit Local Government Council By: James P. Delgado Daniel J. Lenihan (Principal Investigator) Larry E. Murphy Illustrations by: Larry V. Nordby Jerry L. Livingston Submerged Cultural Resources Unit National Maritime Initiative United States Department of the Interior National Park Service Southwest Cultural Resources Center Professional Papers Number 37 Santa Fe, New Mexico 1991 TABLE OF CONTENTS ... LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ......................................... 111 FOREWORD ................................................... vii Secretary of the Interior. Manuel Lujan. Jr . ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................... ix CHAPTER ONE: Introduction ........................................ 1 Daniel J. Lenihan Project Mandate and Background .................................. 1 Methodology ............................................... 4 Activities ................................................. 1 CHAPTER TWO: Operation Crossroads .................................. 11 James P. Delgado The Concept of a Naval Test Evolves ............................... 14 Preparing for the Tests ........................................ 18 The AbleTest .............................................. 23 The Baker Test ............................................. 27 Decontamination Efforts ........................................ 29 The Legacy of Crossroads ...................................... 31 The 1941 Scientific Resurvey ..................................... 34 CHAPTER THREE Ship’s Histories for the Sunken Vessels .................... 43 James P. Delgado USSSaratoga ............................................... 43 USSArkansas .............................................. 52 HIJMSNagato .............................................. 55 HUMS Sakawa ............................................. 59 USS Print Eugen ............................................ 60 USSAnderson .............................................. 64 USSLamson ............................................... 66 USSApogon ............................................... 70 USSPilolfish ............................................... 72 USS Gilliam ............................................... 13 USS Carlisle ............................................... 14 ARDC-13 ................................................. 76 YO-160 .................................................. 16 LCT.414. 812, 1114, 1175, and 1237 ................................ 11 CHAPTER FOUR. Site Descriptions .................................... 85 James P. Delgado and Larry E. Murphy Introduction ............................................... 85 Reconstructing the Nuclear Detonations .............................. 86 1 Site Descriptions: Vessels Lost During the Able Test .................... 90 WSS Gilliam ............................................ 90 WSS Carlisle ............................................ 92 Site Descriptions: Vessels Lost During the Baker Test ................... 93 USS Arkansas ........................................... 93 USS Sarutogu ........................................... 100 WSS PilolJish ........................................... 124 USSApogon ............................................ 125 YO-160 ............................................... 127 HIJMS Nagato .......................................... 128 LCT-1175 .............................................. 132 Site Descriptions: Vessels Lost After the Test ........................ 134 WSS Prim Eugen ......................................... 134 Final Observations .......................................... 136 CHAPTER FIVE: The Significance of the Sunken Vessels of Operation Crossroads James P. Delgado ........................................ 143 Monuments and Memorials to the Dawn of the Atomic Age ............... 144 Insuring the Navy’s Survival in the Age of the Bomb .................... 145 A Demonstration of Wealth and Power ............................. 148 Crossroads as a Spectacle and Demonstration ......................... 150 Learning to Live with the Bomb ................................. 153 The Redlily of the Bomb: Radioactive Fears ......................... 154 Crossroads at the Bottom of the Sea .............................. 157 Confronting the Atomic Age .................................... 158 CHAPTER SIX Nuclear Park Potential ............... 163 Daniel J. Lenihan Precedent ................................. ............... 163 Park Appeal ............................... ............... 163 Park Protection ............................. ............... 165 Interpretive/Educational Devices .................... .............. 166 Diving Safety/Liability .......................... ............... 168 Special Diving Hazards: Explosives, Radiation ......................... 169 Environmental Hazards Posed by Ships ............................. 170 Mooring Systems ............................ ............... 170 Conclusions and Recommendations ................................ 170 APPENDIX I: Target Vessels at Bikini and Their Disposition ... 173 APPENDIX 11: Relics of Operation Crossroads ........................... 177 APPENDIX 111: Estimates of Radiological Dose at Bikini (W. L. Robison. 1990) ...... 179 APPENDIX IV Archeological Site Record Forms for the Docnmented Shipwrecks ..... 189 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................... 197 SUBMERGED CULTURAL RESOURCES UNIT REPORT AND PUBLICATION SERIES .................................. 205 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS CHAPTER ONE Bikini Atoll. from a 1947 Navy Chart .................................... xii Commander David McCampbell locates and plots the wreck locations ............... 3 The Navy's Explosive Ordnance Demolition Unit One safes a 350.lb . depth bomb ....... 3 Lengthy oxygen decompression stops were required ........................... 5 Boat launching by front-end loader ..................................... 6 Daniel Lenihan. Larry Nordby and Jerry Livingston compare notes ................. 6 The Bikini Council's dive team takes measurements on Saratoga ................... 9 The system of trilateration used to map the wrecks is discussed .................. 10 CHAPTER TWO Target area at Bikini. 1946 .......................................... 11 Admiral W. H. P. Blandy. commander of Joint Task Force One .................. 13 The Able Target Array. showing the actual point of detonation ................... 16 The Baker Target Array. showing the actual point of detonation .................. 17 A Mark I11 "Fat Man" bomb casing ..................................... 18 Press release chart depicting "scrap" costs of Operation Crossroads ................ 21 Two goats aboard USS Niagara ........................................ 22 Nevada. the target vessel for Able ...................................... 23 Journalists aboard LCT-52 inspect USS Independence after Able .................. 24 Able's mushroom cloud towers over Bikini Atoll ............................. 25 Able. from Bikini Island ............................................ 25 LSM-60 suspended the bomb detonated during Baker ......................... 26 Baker blasts out of the lagoon after detonation ............................. 27 Navy tug sprays down USS New York after Baker ............................ 29 Decontamination efforts aboard Print Eugen ................................ 30 Pennsylvania is scuttled off Kwajalein .................................... 32 The Bikini Scientific Resurvey teams lands at Bikini. 1947 ...................... 35 Divers prepare to descend on an unidentified sunken ship ...................... 36 CHAPTER THREE Saratoga in drydock at Hunter's Point. San Francisco. 1928 ...................... 43 Bow view of Saratoga .............................................. 45 Sarafoga off Iwo Jima. February 21. 1945 ................................. 47 Sarafoga arrives at San Francisco on a Magic Carpet voyage ..................... 48 Sarafoga being prepared for Operation Crossroads ........................... 49 Sarafoga sails for Bikini ............................................. 50 Sarafoxa. sinks at Bikini ............................................. 51 Arkansas on its trials. 1912 ..................................... ..... 52 Stern view of Arkansas. 1945 .................................... ..... 33 Arkansas' bow .............................................. ..... 54 Nagafo underway in the 1920s ................................... ..... 56 Nagafo's A and B turrets and distinctive superstructure. at Bikini. May 1946 ..... .... 57 The "capture" of Nagafo at Yokasuka. August 30. 1945 ................... .... 58 Sukawa. circa 1945 .......................................... ..... 59 ... 111 Sakawa sinking .................................................. 60 Prim Eugen at the Krupp yard in Kiel. circa 1939-1940 ........................ 61 Prinz Eugen at Philadelphia. March 1946 .................................. 61 Artist‘s perspective of Prinz Eugen at Kwajalein. 1973 ......................... 63 Anderson ...................................................... 65 Lamson off Yorktown. Virginia, April 1939 ................................ 67 Depiction of the destruction of Lamson during Able .......................... 69 The stern of sunken Lamson after Able .................................. 69 Apogon surfaces
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