The island of Bikini is located in the Pacific Ocean and is part of the Marshall Islands. It is a small island that is only seven feet above sea level. In July of 1946 The Joint Chiefs of the Army and Navy, headed by Vice Admiral W.H.P. Blandy conducted the world’s first peacetime and first underwater nuclear testing off the coast of Bikini in order to determine the capabilities of nuclear weapons in regards to naval applications. Other members of Task Force One included: Dr. John Van Neumann, the scientific advisor; Commodore J.A. Snackenberg, the Joint Chief of Staff; Dr. R.A. Sawyer, the Technical Director; and observers from the UN representing Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Egypt, Great Britain, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, and the U.S.S.R.
In order to conduct the test the Joint Chiefs had to relocate 166 natives of Bikini to the island of Rongerik. This was to be a highly documented event and 104 still cameras were used as well as 208 motion cameras. To ensure a moment was not missed, 18 tons of film was also used in the operation. Operation Crossroads would be comprised of two tests, the first would be a surface burst delivered by the aircraft “Dave’s Dream”, and the second would be an underwater explosion.
The first test was conducted on July 1, 1946. 100 decommissioned warships from several countries of origin were placed in the impact zone. Observers and Naval crew were loaded aboard ships stationed 20 miles away. Spectators were told it would be a big blast and to cover eyes before impact. A sailor by the name of John Smitherman recounted the events saying there was no speech of radioactivity to the enlisted. The enlisted, “didn’t really know what the word was.” (Stone, 1987) After the bomb was detonated most...
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... bomb was detonated near Bikini. These tests caused extreme radiation of the area. Inhabitants attempted to return to their home in the 1960s but could not because of the high levels of radiation still present. The United States began a cleanup program in the late 1960s which continues today. The most significant cleanup was completed in 1998, where the island was opened again for fishing and diving, although Bikini is still uninhabitable.
Works Cited
Army, U. (2001). FM 4-02. Headquarters, Department of the Army.283 Treatment of Nuclear and Radiological Casualties. Falls Church:
Eric A. Croddy, J. J. (2005). Weapons of Mass Destruction: An Encyclopedia of Worldwide Policy, Technology, and History. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, Inc.
Shurcliff, W. (1947). Bombs at Bikini. New York: Wm. H. Wise and Co., Inc.
Stone, R. (Director). (1987). Radio Bikini [Motion Picture].
According to the video the U.S. Army was using the Marshallese islands as a testing sites for hydrogen bombs and a miscalculated
the effective doses from diagnostic CT procedures are typically estimated to be in the range of 1 to 10 mSv. This range is not much less than the lowest doses of 5 to 20 mSv estimated to have been received by some of the Japanese survivors of the atomic bombs. These survivors, who are estimated to have experienced doses slightly larger than those encountered in CT, have demonstrated a small but increased radiation-related excess relative risk for
radio, it had been said that Hiroshima suffered of an attack by a few B-29. Many
The Race To Build A Bomb. National Geographic 208.2 (2005): 102. Middle Search Plus. Web. The Web.
Prior to the war, Wake Island, located 2300 miles west of Honolulu, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, which was placed under the jurisdiction of the Navy in 1934. It was also a Clipper stop on Pan American Airlines’ famed Trans-Pacific run, and in 1939, the U.S. Navy began construction of an air and submarine base, which was half completed at the time of the attack. Because of the construction of the base, approximately 1200 civilians were on the island, working for the American construction firm, Morrison-Knudsen, in addition to the Navy personnel and Marines who had been sent to defend the island.
Brodersen, Tom. “Compensation available to Fallout Cancer Victims.” The Sharlot Hall Museum (August 25,2002). 11 April 2005
On May 5, 1945, the 6th Bomb Squadron 29th Bomb Group 314th Wing had just completed a bombing run on Tachairai air depot and was returning to our base in Guam. The following crew members were onboard: William R. Fredericks, Co-Pilot; Howard T. Shingledecker, Bombardier; Charles Kearns, Navigator; Dale Plambeck, Radar Navigator; Teddy Poncezki, Engineer; John Colehower, Gunner; Cpl. Johnson, Gunner; Cpl. Oeinck, Gunner; Cpl. Czarnecki, Gunner; Robert Williams, Radio Operator; and myself as pilot.
The first atomic bomb was not tested at all. It was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945 killing over 80,000 people and almost completely leveling the entire city. It destroyed more than 4 square miles,
In the spring of 1945, the plans for the invasion of the Japanese home islands, code-named “Operation Downfall” were being drawn up. It was to be the largest operation of the war (Skates, 1994, P. 4), involving up to 39 divi...
Another bomb was assembled at Tinian Island on August 6. On August 8, Field Order
“Little Boy” and “Fat Man”, the world’s first two nuclear bombs were dropped in two major cities in Japan: Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the 6th and 9th of August 1945. This “experiment” by the United States Government completely demolished the two cities, killing over 150,000 people instantly and nearly 50,000 people died from aftermath as well as radiation.
The United States’ decision to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima required extensive research leading to its production. The main goal of the American side was to damage the enemy’s confidence, while choosing a target with the highest military output in order to conclude the war (Robinson).The group in charge of developing the technology was known as the Manhattan Project, and was kept top-secret. Selection began in the spring of 1945, with assistance from the Commanding General, Army Air Forces, his Headquarters (Robinson).There was a variety of experts working on the project, including mathematicians, theoretical physicists, and specialists trained in weather and blast effects Headquarters (Robinson). In order to monitor all of the results, the city had to be untouched, meaning the target had to have no signs of previous bombings. Based on these requirements, the designation of Hiroshima for the bombing was not a simple determination. After a target was selected and the weapon was developed, testing was set to begin. On July 16, 1945, the first test in Alamogordo, New Mexico, proved that the bomb was prepared for release onto...
The world as we know it was built with events and circumstances that many of us are unaware of. One of the most powerful and deadliest discoveries of the human race in the twentieth century was the development of the atomic bomb. Many are aware that we dropped two atomic bombs on Japan in the end of the Second World War, but what many do not know are the extensive research operations that evaluated the technology to be used in future military operations. In the summer of 1946, American Government and Military forces conducted this research in Operation: Crossroads which was performed in the Bikini Islands. More than 40 years later in 1988 director Robert Stone directed and produced a documentary on these tests which was named Radio Bikini: the most terrifying and unbelievable story of the nuclear age. The film was hailed by critics for the content of the film and its use of newsreels and military film for the movie as one critic said, “Wha...
On August 6th, 1945, on a clear, sunny day, there was a single American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, piloted by 29 year-old air-force colonel named Paul W. Tibbets, who had trained for months before the dropping of the atomic bomb, nicked named ‘Little boy’. He had spent these months dropping mock equivalents made of explosives and concrete onto Utah or the Pacific Ocean. There were no Japanese to challenge this deadly plane. The target of said bomb was the Aioi Bridge, which spanned the Ota River, at the heart of the city. At 8:15 Hiroshima time, the crew of the Enola Gay dropped the bomb. Forty-three seconds later, at an altitude of 1,900 ft., the Little Boy exploded in an awesome cloud of fire and smoke.
The nuclear bomb was the most devastating weapon ever created by man. It was developed between 1942 and 1945 during the second World War. The project to build the worlds first atomic weapon was called The Manhattan Project. The nuclear bomb was based on the idea of splitting an atom to create energy, this is called fission. Three bombs were created, “Trinity”, “Little Boy”, and “Fat Man”. “Trinity” was dropped on a test site in New Mexico on July 16, 1945, proving the theories, engineering and mathematics of the bomb to be correct. Shortly after that, not more than 2 months, the U.S. performed the first actual nuclear attack in the history of war. The bomb “Little Boy” was dropped on the town of Hiroshima, instantly killing thousands. “Fat Man” was dropped shortly after on the town of Nagasaki. After the bombing almost all scientist involved with the creation of the bomb regretted its construction and spoke out against the abolishment of nuclear weapons.