Bombs at Bikini; the official report of Operation Crossroads

1947·12.2 MB·English

by  United States. Joint Task Force One

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Frontispiece
BOMBS AT
BIKINI
The Official Report of Operation Crossroads
Prepared under the Direction of the
Commander of Joint Task Force One
hy
W. A. Shurcliff
Historian ofJoint Task Force One
1947
Wm. H. Wise & Co., Inc.
New York
Woods HoIg Ocsanographic institution
ARCHIVE COLLECTIOM
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Copyright, 1947
Wm. H. Wise & Co., Inc.
WISEbooksaretrademarked
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Printed in the United States of America
Preface
Tests A and B of Operation Crossroads, perhaps
the most elaborate scientific tests ever conducted, are
described in this official report with no attempt to
prove or disprove anything. Its sole purpose is to
present facts on the origin, planning, and execution
of the joint enterprise.
The word joint needs emphasis. The Tests were
neither Navy tests nor Army tests; this Report is
neither a Navy report nor an Army report, and it has
not been submitted to Army or Navy for approval.
The Tests and the Report are the work of Joint Task
Force One, an agency created by the Joint (Army and
Navy) Chiefs of Staff and responsible only to them.
The Report does not attemptto duplicate thecapable
reporting of the many experienced reporters who wit-
nessed the Tests. Through the press the general charac-
ter of the Operation is known to hundreds of millions
of persons here and abroad. The world knows that the
first explosion was an atomic bomb detonation in the
air on July 1, 1946, sinking 5 ships, and that the second
explosion was an atomic bomb detonation underwater
on July 25, 1946, sinking 9 ships.
But there is a wealth of information, much of it
technical, which has not reached the public. Time was
required to ferret out the significant facts; patience
was required to piece them together ingenuity was re-
;
quired to present the material without jeopardizing se-
nt
curity. For reasons of security a few results have been
omitted. These few are mainly technical correlations,
as between exact distance and damage, or exact dis-
tance and pressure. Good public relations and the duty
of the Services to the public demand that the fullest
account possible be made available.
The facts included should help the public form
sound conclusions and participate in the planning of
national and international policies. Bulk release of
energy from the nucleus is—new on th—e earth; its por-
tent is unlimited. But if it and we are to survive,
it must be controlled. And adequate control cannot be
achieved unless the people know the facts.
The present official account was written by the same
group which prepared the over-all top-secret report
recently transmitted byVice Admiral W. H. P. Blandy,
Commander of Joint Task Force One, to the Joint
Chiefs of Staff.
To the many persons who helped in the prepara-
tion of this Report, I extend my thanks. I am partic-
ularly indebted to Mr. David Z. Beckler, Deputy His-
torian, and Mrs. Virginia Shapley, Editor.
W. A. Shurcliff,
Historian, Joint Task Force One
February 1947
7,
IV