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Show CONTROL IS PROBLEM Congress Battle Rages In Face of Atom Test " tesiil'iT'-Tv- ,, '" 'i ,','i' 'r..1 J'Tr'r , , "" - - - !: ,. -4p : -y. -:. .. , .- ft 1 I': W !-:: V.W :: ':foW,-:..v;?$ MM:Jyy4 :"": 'TASK BAKER' Radio Impulses sent out from the USS Cumberland Sound, indicated in top drawing (1) were to detonate the underwater "A" bomb for the "Task Baker," second of the Bikini experiments. The bomb was suspended from a special barge (2). As indicated by the arrows (3) a number of "drone" ships were directed into the lagoon to test the effects of radio-activated water. By WALTER A. SHEAD WN,U Washington Correspondent. HONOLULU, OPERATIONS CROSSROAD. While army and navy officials in charge of Joint Task Force 1 at the Bikini atomic bomb tests are interested in the squabble now going on in the congress con-gress as between civilian and military mili-tary control of atomic energy, their single interest here is to complete successfully the important experiments experi-ments on the possible damage which an atom bomb can do to a fleet at sea. In the meantime, Adm. W. H. P. Blandy, commande.- of Operations Crossroads, has intimated that weather conditions may force a week's delay in the underwater test in Bikini lagoon scheduled for July 25, which would make "Baker-day" Aug. 1 or thereabouts. As has been pointed out, the weather for this second test need not be as perfect as for the first test when the bomb was dropped from a B-29, but it must be clear enough for aerial observation ob-servation and photography. ' The press ship USS Appalachian has completed her trip to Pearl Harbor for minor repairs and now is anchored with the rest of the maintenance fleet in Bikini lagoon, ready to pull out and cruise outside to the seaward side of the island when the time is ripe for the second test. Few Remain. Only approximately 23 correspondents corre-spondents are left aboard the ship, since most of them returned to the States immediately after the first test. The pattern for the underwater underwa-ter test has been completed with the battleship Arkansas, which was barely blistered by the first test, and the carrier Saratoga, also undamaged as a result of the first bomb, almost equidistant and nearest to the proposed bomb burst. A little to the east are the battleship battle-ship New York and the cruiser Salt Lake City. Both suffered negligible negligi-ble damage in the first blast. Then to the west of the two center ships are the cruiser Pensacola and the carrier Independence. The old Independence In-dependence is merely a hulk in the water with her insides torn out and her topsides blasted away as result of the bomb and her own internal explosions. The Pensacola is undamaged un-damaged below decks, but her superstructure super-structure is pretty well battered up as a result of the first tests, with both stacks blown away. Farther out in the circle are the battleships Pennsylvania and Nevada, Ne-vada, the Jap ship Nagato and the German pocket battleship Prinz Eu-gen. Eu-gen. Just forward of the Arkansas and the Saratoga are several submarines sub-marines which are submerged at various depths with the double-hulled double-hulled PDotfish almost as close to the center of the burst as the Arkansas. Ar-kansas. Lighter ships make up the balance of the target array. Opinions Vary. The effect of the bomb on these submarines is awaited with interest and in the meantime the discussion goes on as between those who predict pre-dict this underwater blast will sink several capital ships including the submarines, and those who declare the damage will be negligible. Oceanographers, who have made such elaborate plans to measure effects of the bomb, will come into their own on this second test. There was little for them to measure as result of the first test since the bomb made no appreciable waves and did no damage to the ocean bed, beaches or the island. However, this second test is expected ex-pected to create high waves in the lagoon, anywhere from 10 feet up. There are 81 officers and men in this section of the task force, most of whom have been in the vicinity of Bikini since last March recording data on the physical oceanography, biology, geology and fisheries of the atoll and surrounding waters. Measurements of wave motion in terms of time, height and distance, their effect on the sea bottom and on the beaches, fall into three classes supersonic echo sounding devices, and aerial and surface photography, pho-tography, plus maximum water height recorders on Bikini island and water level meters on several other islands of the atoll. There are supersonic echo sounders sound-ers or fathometers on 16 ships in the target array -which will record large waves through the rise and fall of the ships, while 11 supersonic super-sonic echo sounders on buoys will record passage of shorter waves. Mechanical pressure recorders laid 500 yards apart on the bottom of the lagoon are capable of recording wave height in range from 4 to 200 feet. Animals Still Dying. The after-effects of this radio activity ac-tivity is impressive as seen from the effects on the live animals placed aboard the ships, some of which still are dying despite treatment, treat-ment, three weeks after they were exposed to the first bomb. As the first task force .awaits on the eve of this second test one cannot help but conjecture con-jecture upon the possible effects of this unpredictable and still unknown terrific nuclear force which can decimate entire cities and depopulate nations as has been amply demonstrated at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The first test proved beyond an doubt that the bomb was not as effective ef-fective in the open space at sea as it is when detonated over heavily-populated areas on land that used against naval bases on land it could render a fleet at sea impotent, but that it would put out of commission a good many ships if they were in close formation and that loss of life aboard these ships would be terrific. What effect this atomic energy will have on the future of the American Amer-ican navy as to ship construction and operations now, however lies in the laps of the military evaluation evalua-tion board and the President's atomic energy commission, both of which are making a study for future fu-ture guidance. We can only hope that medical scientists and other scientists here for observation will glean from peace-time application which can bring benefits, and not destruction from this new' war-born source of energy. |