The Evening Star (July 3, 1946)
59 of 73 ships were damaged or sunk by A-bomb, Navy says
Gen. McAuliffe says weapon could force any nation, including U.S., to quit war
ABOARD USS APPALACHIAN (AP) – Fifty-nine of Bikini’s 73 target warships were damaged by the atomic bomb, the Navy reported today, with damage ranging from total to negligible.
Five, including one modern cruiser, were sunk; nine others, including two battleships, two cruisers and a carrier, were “heavily damaged.” Damage to small craft was not tallied.
The Army’s official ground forces observer, Maj. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, concluded the new weapon could force any nation, even the United States, to quit a war – although he believed it would be more effective against cities and industries than military targets.
“I hope I never see another one like that thing,” he sighed to newsmen. He said he knew of no defense except to shoot it down, or to send airborne troops to its source of production in an enemy country.
He said he did not believe any man could have survived on the decks of the target vessels in the innermost, hardest-hit group.
Test animals left aboard the fleet survived the first blast, however; even those aboard the centrally anchored Nevada still lived. But whether their exposure to atomic rays would prove fatal within the next few days was to be determined. Sailors said one goat on the Nevada’s quarterdeck was “mighty sick.”
Similarly, eight white rats survived a ride directly through the atomic cloud itself, but they may die within three or four days, Col. R. E. Jarmon, chief of the Army’s Wright Field Evaluation Board, reported. The rats were the sole passengers in a B-17 drone.
Centrally-anchored target ships still were emitting deadly rays today, said reports from Vice Adm. W. H. P. Blandy’s flagship, the Mount McKinley. Included in this “hot” group were the Nevada, Arkansas, submarine Skate, transport Crittenden, a yard oil tender and a floating drydock. The Skate was beached at Enyo Island, more than four miles from Bikini, because Navy officers feared its radioactivity might contaminate Bikini’s swimming beach.
All vessels are expected to be ruled “safe” by tomorrow. The waters of the lagoon itself were termed safe today, except in the immediate vicinity of the radiating ships.
Independence to be beached
The carrier Independence, built on a cruiser hull, was towed several miles from the test anchorage, presumably to be beached for easier observation on her heavy damage. The most that could be said for her was that she still floated. There were gaping holes in her sides, steel plates and girders were buckled and twisted. Her superstructure was missing.
Also heavily damaged were the heavy cruisers Salt Lake City (newly added to the list) and Pensacola, battleship Arkansas. Japanese battleship Nagato, submarine Skate, destroyers Stack and Rhind and a tank landing ship. Sunk were the modern Japanese cruiser Sakawa, transports Gilliam and Carlisle and destroyers Anderson and Lamson.
The extent of heat damage to some of the more distant parts of the target fleet showed human survival would have been doubtful. Ships a mile from the center of the blast were burned and blackened as though by a tremendous blast furnace. Anyone on their decks would have burned to death in an instant. Oddly, aboard the much nearer Nevada, only parts of the ship were thus affected, and goats lived through it.
Compton sees menace to men
Studies of animals’ injuries will probably show whether enough crewmen would have remained to operate the stricken ships, concluded Dr. Carl Compton of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He heads President Truman’s evaluation board and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.
Emphasizing that “there is no need to apologize for results of this test,” Dr. Compton observed that the single bomb would certainly have had serious effects upon personnel within a half-mile of the bullseye.
He also pointed out that “most of the damaged ships would have been quite ‘blinded,’ by destruction of their radio and radar.”
Superstructures of ships of tomorrow, he observed, probably will be redesigned.
All in all, “the experiment was thorough enough to bring out, when studies are completed, all the data we now think we need.”
More damage under water
Dr. Compton predicted the underwater test in three or four weeks will do more damage.
Humans, had they been aboard the Prinz Eugen at the time of the atomic blast, would have been pelted with small metal balls about the size of birdshot. Thousands of these pellets fell into the Eugen’s decks. Still radioactive, they were washed overboard today with hoses.
Scientists are puzzled about the source of the pellets, an entirely new hazard for personnel in atomic bombs. Some suggested they are pieces of the bomb itself, but if that is true it is surprising because it is believed that all bomb metal vaporized.
The Eugen was nearly two miles from the bomb blast. It was only slightly damaged.
Russian scientist comments
Among scientists commenting today on Monday’s test was Prof. Simyon Alexandrov of the Soviet Union, who suggested another experiment in the air be conducted before the underwater test is held.
“The test was conducted brilliantly and the explosion was obviously terrific,” he said, “but the air blast was rather weak. Observers have little data upon which to draw conclusions.”
Prof. Alexandrov said engineers “should be put to work to get a higher degree of efficiency from the bomb.”
Senators discuss damage
Sen. Cordon (R-Oregon) said he would have a far better idea of the test “if only I could talk to one of those goats I saw calmly munching hay on the decks of the bombed ships. I was impressed that much wood on the target ships was scarcely charred
Sen. Hickenlooper (R-Iowa) said he was warned before coming out not to expect too much structural damage. “The heat seemed probably the worst effect.”
Gen. Joseph W. Stillwell, member of the Joint Chief of Staff Evaluation Board, reserved judgment until he can assemble all the facts. “I’m trying to keep a completely open mind,” he said. “When I know at what height the bomb burst above the fleet and the efficiency of the bomb, then I’ll be able to begin forming an opinion.”