OCR Text |
Show SECRECY PREVAILS ' Ships Regrouped for j Second Atomic Test By WALTER A. SIIEAD WNU Correspondent. HONOLULU OPERATIONS CROSSROADS- mucS aSendant secrecy the target fleet in Bikini lagoon ha Sen recouped for the second atom bomb test scheduled h y July 25 Although most of the correspondents have return to the States several made application to remain in Bikiy , du S he interim so they could cover the arrangernents J S made for the second test. This request was refused by J the navy, however, and all newspaper men were ordered to proceed to Kwajalein, where they were either ransported c immediately by air to the States Honolulu, or , hnnsPd aboard the press ship Appalachian. In the meantime the Appalachian made a leisurely trip to Pearl Harbor Har-bor where she underwent some minor mi-nor repairs, and now is proceeding back to Bikini, where she is scheduled sched-uled to arrive on B-Day minus 1, or July 24. Nearest Center. It has been announced that ships nearest the bulls-eye of the second test will include the battleship Arkansas, Ar-kansas, the heavy cruiser Pensa-cola, Pensa-cola, the Jap battleship Nagato, the aircraft carrier Saratoga, the destroyer Mayrant, the submarine Pilotflsh, the transport Fallow and a tank landing ship. It may be that the Pilotflsh will be nearest the bomb burst, which, as has been announced, will be an underwater detonation. detona-tion. Other ships of the target fleet have been placed in various positions ranging up to 1,800 yards away from the blast. The Arkansas, the Pensacola and the Nagato all were severely damaged dam-aged as to superstructure in the first blast. The Pensacola particularly suffered heavy damage to her fire control; her stacks were blown off and her deck plates buckled. This correspondent went aboard the Pensacola Pen-sacola after the first test and noted that her decks amidship were driven driv-en downward about 12 inches and with such force that steel supports beneath were driven through tne steel deck plating like toothpicks through paper. Await Report. There is considerable speculation as to the coming report of the Military Mili-tary Evaluation board as to the efficacy ef-ficacy of the atom bomb as an offensive of-fensive weapon in naval warfare. If the board decides that future naval na-val construction must meet the dangers dan-gers of atomic blasts, then we may expect an entirely different warship of the future. The experience of the first blast indicates that firepower exposed upon high superstructure is particularly partic-ularly susceptible to the heat and blast of atomic power. The speculation specu-lation is that to meet this threat, future construction will see streamlined stream-lined warships with low superstructures, superstruc-tures, enclosed as much as possible, looking something like a modern deisel locomotive with curved surfaces sur-faces to deflect blast. Installation of ventilation systems also will be given close scrutiny since it was learned that the blast in some cases, particularly aboard the Pensacola, entered the ventila- ! I : 3 sf 4 J ' f TERRIFIC BRILLIANCE . . . Camera catches terrific brilliance of atomic blast in this photo taken just at time of detonation of the atomic bomb. tion openings and followed the ducts below decks, breaking out at the weakest points, shoving through a bulkhead and smashing other obstacles ob-stacles in its way deep in the ship. This was particularly noticeable notice-able in a comparison with the German ship Prinz Eugen, which has no ventilation system and depends upon row upon row of portholes for ventilation for its crew. Not a porthole was smashed and no damage done below deck, but she was admittedly admit-tedly much farther from the center of the blast than the Pensacola. In reflecting upon the damage done to the ships in the first blast the remarkable thing to this writer is that not a single Uve mine, bomb shell, bag of powder or any other ammunition aboard any ship was ex ploded either by the heat or blast force of the bomb Torpedoes on the Independence exploded due to a fire which finally exploded her powder magazine and her aviation f ' n V yii j i4ift I v fc ' !.V x s m I 'tv s ' N , ; f s ce i 11 I sq I x" ' t ar r ; I - i thi I- v i : he I ' Wl I , I - sh I " th I 1 , I ml f , -v J"', , ? the s sot f - ,-r - r boi MUSHROOM CLOUD . . . The Spl huge mushroom cloud rises ova Bikini shortly after the atom I bomb was dropped. This picture lea was made by a photographer this flying in a B-29. anc gasoline. But on most all the ships were placed Uve mines, bombs, 's shells were in guns or on loading apparatus, and each ship had a , full load of ammunition. None ol It lts was exploded and the safety crews rori which boarded the ships following the blast were careful in their ej-amination. ej-amination. ! 0 Then the speculation goes to the '"s use of lead lining against X-rays, " rock wool or some other protection ' against heat, and concrete or some substitute against neutrons and other oth-er radioactivity. Opinions Vary. There are two schools of thought as to the damage likely to occur to ship hulls from the underwater blast. Having in mind the fact that depth charges of presently used explosives ex-plosives have sunk or damaged sub- J marines and heavily damaged it-stroyers it-stroyers and other lighter craft, one school declares that the atomic bomb will play havoc with the target tar-get fleet and predicts that even capital cap-ital ships closest to the blast will be capsized and sunk. obi Others, however, predict that iesi much of the force of the blast will ips be absorbed by the water and that Ijr although there is danger of light --st, ships capsizing, the larger ships will :id, merely roll with the water and their :si heavier underwater armor will, not Tier be damaged. They predict the a t heavily armored ships will not sul- a j fer as much underwater damage a! . could be inflicted with a torpedo. ute This is all in the realm of specula- lea tion, however, and the navy remain! jb mum. about its own expectations. ; h; In discussions aboard the Art- ol palachian among scientists and Eti off-the-record comment by na- 'i val officers, there is some rea- irni son to presume that the atomio n bomb as an offensive weapon ssfli against ships at sea is not as ef- :o:e fective as other weapons. How- hn ever, its effectiveness against ie naval bases would be devastat- Ues ing and a fleet without naval Srs bases would be rendered to- s.rin potent. Atoll to Remain. This writer believes that BiMrJ atoll and its cocoanut groves will be there after the second test is over and even after the third bomb scheduled sched-uled for November or later 1 detonated in hundreds of fathoms ol water in the ocean outside Bikini lagoon. la-goon. We do not expect any 1-foot 1-foot waves nor 1,000-mile-an-hour wind although some wave may wash over the island. A 15-foot wave could do that. But the test which has changed , from a joint army-navy operation, i about which so much stress was pot into strictly a navy show and which is probably costing about a is" million dollars a day, likely will 8iv! our military men all the knowled6e they will need to prepare (or 01 ;;K against the atomic bomb In the ture ... if indeed there is any 'a? J a of preparing against it. "J |