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Show ENDLESS ARGUMENTS RAGE World Awaits Second Test of Atomic Bomb FIRST BLAST, Jun 30tk. Fiv thipt tank, win thip wrcltd, frty-flv thipw rpor1d damae4. Zs xpct a cruthing ff1 on ship' hulls. Great radioactivity in water. - n wove weP vr ships ; THIRD TEST, to b staged next S . year. Predictions of some who wit- XkNjgQDDjBnBlinBH nested lit test are that oil ships Jjfclfi 1st bomb dropped by plane will be sunk within 50 miles of TSCS n DomD to be planted just blast area, .rj- TOCfl under surface of the water. vw-w t3 "bathysphere" bomb to j-Jfl explode at depth of 12 5 ft. U By WALTER A. SHEAD WNU Correspondent- j ABOARD US3 APPALACHIAN OPERATIONS CROSSROADS. Second or Baker test of the atomic bomb in Bikini lagoon, now tentatively tenta-tively set for July 25, will be like dynamiting fish in a pond. Lacking will be the glamour of the army air force and precision bombing as the whole thing will be a navy show. The bomb will be submerged some 75 feet beneath the surface in about 30 fathoms of water, 180 feet, and detonated in the midst of the target fleet, which is being regrouped to meet new conditions con-ditions of the test. This second test also will lack the drama of the bomb burst and the atomic cloud, which is characteristic characteris-tic of atomic bombs exploded in air. What is likely to happen is that the intense heat will generate steam in the water and the terrific force will expend a part of its energy In a waterspout with a cloud of steam and vapor shooting into the air. Intent In-tent of this test is to measure force of atomic energy upon the hull structure of naval ships spaced at various distances from the center of the explosion. Subs to Submerge. There will not be the visible damage dam-age which was inflicted wholly upon the topsides or superstructures as in the first blast Since there is to be no ship placed directly above the point of blast, the prediction is being be-ing made freely that no capital ships will be sunk, although lighter craft may b capsized. Another feature of the second blast is the placing of submerged submarines in the target fleet, and it will be interesting to note the effect of the bomb force upon the steel hulls of these vessels ves-sels beneath the water. Naval scientists predict that forest of the underwater blast will create waves of sufficient height, possibly 10 or more feet which will sweep over low-lying Bikini island, although this was also forecast in the first blast and did not materialise. Meantime, endless arguments proceed pro-ceed as to the degree of damage to the ships, the location of the bomb burst, whether the drop from the plane was a "near mis," probable loss of life had the ships been manned with full complement, and comparative efficiency of this first llikinl bomb as compared lo the bombs at Alamogordo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Precision Rom bin jr. When it is considered that this bomb was dropped from a height of some th ing like six miles nnd hit within a 1.000-yard circle, this reporter re-porter would consider that pretty pret-ty good precision bombing. Adin. T. A. Solherg of the bureau bu-reau of ships, however, declared that hiMjfar ns be could Judge, every uliip riama rd by the bomb, with the exception of the Independence, could be put Into light ins shape within two or three months. For the Independence, battered nnd ripped apart by explosions of her own torpedoes, her Hiimnmitkui and Bvialion gasoline nnd burning for nlmnst two days, U would take about nine months to put her in f shape. j Also all ships damaged, with the i single exception of the Independ- ence, towed away and anchored far out in the lagoon, likely could have- j pulled away under their own steam. I had they been manned with crews. Study Effects. In the meantime, Bikini lagoon i has been turned into a vast labora- J tory of science, chief interest being be-ing the effect of the bomb and its subsequent radiological rays upon the live animals placed aboard the ships at various locations likely to-be to-be occupied by the men aboard. Amazingly, only about 10 per cent J of the animals were killed by the- force of the blast. Some are burned and sick and others may become ill : from effects of radioactivity. As ; a matter of fact, a few ali-eady have v been destroyed by medical doctors, 1 who are studying this phase of " atomic energy in an effort to deter- j mine how this radioactivity can be J used in medicine in treatment of disease- Persons or animals which receive j these powerful rays into their sys- terns are variously aflected and the L boarding teams upon these ships are r prtceded by a traind man carry- j, ing a "Geiger counter." a small box-like apparatus which registers radioactivity by a ticking noise. Estimate Losses. A fleet such as those which com- posed the target fleet would normal- j ly carry approximately 30.000 men. f It is reasonable to assume then that i approximately 10 per cent, or 3.000-men, 3.000-men, would have been killed by the atomic bomb blast and that more-would more-would have been injured by radioactivity. radio-activity. Whether much of the damage dam-age to ships caused by subsequent fires aboard could have been averted avert-ed had crews been aboard is a moot question. Some ships captains declare de-clare that damage would have been much less had the ship fire-fighting equipment been brought into play, and this seems reasonable in that most of the loss on the Independence Independ-ence was due to fire and explosion and not the bomb blast. There Is no attempt however on the part of naval authorities to minimise the terrible power of this atomic bomb. No other single bomb ever did the damage dam-age to a fleet that this one did . . . five ships sunk, one com- f pletely out of commissio ,;J approximately 10 others i action for two months or enter, ent-er, and small to negligible damage dam-age done to 10 others. However, another atomic bomb likely would not find 73 ships to make up a helpless ghost fleet grouped conveniently like sitting; ducks and whether use of the atomic atom-ic bomb as an offensive weapon of naval warfare upon ships at sea is militarily sound still is a debated debat-ed question nnd one which the naval evaluation board will study during the next few weeks or months. It must be remembered Uiat whatever what-ever is said about this second bomb test before the actual test is in the realm of conjecture, and much of the conjecture made prior to the first test did not materi.ilire. |