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Show FHM.E3S ARGUiyit"iJ! World Awaits Second Test of Atomic Bomb V ,T'P 1 FIRST BLAST, Jun. 30ih. Fiv. 1 thai .hip. .unk. nin. .hip. wr.ckl. hefl forty-flv .hip. r.port.d domogtd. th v& B P expict a crulhing .fft on ikip, ' fc hull.. Great radioactivity in wolir ' 1:1 111 fGimitwavMto ; W THIRD TEST, to be itoged next ;! onl: I year. Prediction, of ome who wit- --WftimglWMi ali - ne.sed 1st test are that all .hip. 1,1 bomb d,0PPl b pi.. .0vem ll 2nd bomb to b.planW, jy n iive to 1 ' ' washing By WALTER A. SIIEAD :5eiui t WNU Correspondent. carrying ABOARD USS 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 dam-age'which 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 be 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 forcu 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 materialize. 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 miss," probable loss of life had the ships been manned with full complement, and comparative efficiency of this first Bikini bomb as compared to the bombs at Alamogordo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Precision Bombing. When it is considered that this bomb was dropped from a height of something like six miles and hit within a 1,000-yard circle, this reporter re-porter would consider that pretty pret-ty good precision bombing. Adm. T. A. Solberg of the bureau bu-reau of ships, however, declared that insofar as he could judge, every ship damaged by the bomb, with the exception of the Independence, could be put into fighting shape within tw or three months. For the Independence, battered and ripped apart by explosions of her own torpedoes, her ammunition and aviation gasoline and burning for almost two days, it would take about nine months to put hi: shape- httonhi Also all ships damaged, Witt ; K USi single exception of the Indem ar be ence, towed away and anchored: wstruc out in the lagoon, likely could h pulled away under their own sit- iiUe I had they been manned with cren for TJti Study Effects. j0 mi In the meantime, Bikini h;: has been turned into a vast lat: i-Icie" tory of science, chief interest : ' D'ce"s ing the effect of the bomb and ma1 subsequent radiological rays :: opl, the live animals placed aboard'-1110 ships at various locations like!; " 7 be occupied by the men ak; 'i!ms'r Amazingly, only about 10 per a ': of the animals were killed by : u 1" ba force of the blast. Some are Inland Inl-and sick and others may beiorr,; from effects of radioactivity, a matter of fact, a few already h I been destroyed by medical dor: who are studying this phase atomic energy in an effort to d- mine how this radioactivity car. used in medicine in treatmen; disease. Persons or animals which ret: these powerful rays into their 5 tems are variously affected and : boarding teams upon these ships ; prtceded by a traind man car ing a "Geiger counter," a s: box-like apparatus which regis:; if radioactivity by a ticking noise. Estimate Losses. I roi 1 A fleet such as those which c:: posed the target fleet would nor. '' n . ly carry approximately 30,000 v. ' pl It is reasonable to assume then : approximately 10 per cent, or ' men, would have been killed bj: ' atomic bomb blast and that r .. . would have been injured by a: activity. Whether much of the di: age to ships caused by subseq.: fires aboard could have been ai2 ed had crews been aboard is at) question. Some ships captains : clare that damage would havefc .' much less had the ship fire-f'.'- .. equipment been. brought into p and .this seems reasonable in - ,a" most of the loss on the Indep-- .. ence was due to fire and explci and . not the bomb blast. ., There is no attempt boweta on the part of naval author" ... to minimize the terrible poi: of this atomic bomb. No 'th single bomb ever did the to" r-j q age to a fleet that this one d' . . . . five ships sunk, one coc-pletely coc-pletely out 6f commission ' approximately 10 others out i action for two months or loi' er, and small to negligible da age done to 10 others. However, another atomic fc-likely fc-likely would not find 73 sbipi make up a helpless gbosl '' grouped conveniently like su ducks and whether use of the at--ic bomb as an offensive weat: naval warfare upon ships a' ! is militarily sound still is a ed question and one which the fc-evaluation fc-evaluation board will study d'-'-the next few weeks or montto It must be remembered that-- t ever is said about this second b-test b-test before the actual testis1 tit realm of conjecture, and rnuCj -Ir the conjecture made prior 10 ;5t: ' first test did not materialize- . |