Operation Crossroads - Able And Baker Day Tests (1946)

[westlock]

The Able test was reduced in value because the bomb detonated 649 meters (710 yards) off target, away from most of the ships.

[hans1066]

I think they are always very beautiful... very impressing

[om3g4z3r0]

proceeds TO the BIKINI target ... SOUNDS familiar

[okeechoo]

I found a letter from Joint Task Force One commending my father for his" service as Bombardier of a USN patrol plane during Test Baker.His plane remained on station five hours during the Atomic Bomb Test.and after the detonation made repeated sweeps across the target area for radiological testing. During these sweeps he was repeatedly exposed to the dangers of radioactivity." He died in the mid sixties,relatively young of heart disease.All of these men were very brave.

[staniboy44]

Mankind at its best !!!

[F4foxbravo995]

The truth is that Crossroads was as stated a vast experiment; a step into the unknown; so mistakes were made; that's the nature of real scientific research. Rather than slag off what was done, rather marvel at what was achieved. As for drones yes they existed, developed for target planes and from Nazi anti-ship "aerial torpedoes". It was most urgent effort at getting answers to defend ourselves against the Soviet threat . Brave men all!

[puncheex]

An interesting sidelight. Adm Blandy would not change the decontamination orders until three ddays after the blast, when the medical officer in charge showed him that plutonium radiation isn't measurable on a geiger counter, and that there were traces of plutonium in Blandy's sea cabin.

[WTCnucleardemolition]

pure fission bombs ...

Google "9/11 Nukes - Radiation-induced cancers"

[Clarkesque]

@WTCnucleardemolition "9/11 nukes?" what kind of bull shit is that, I don't want people throwing around the date "September eleventh" so much, especially when it's used so completely out of context by idiots on the internet like you!

[5inthehole]

They talk about Nazi propaganda but what about American propaganda? Did you notice how they edited the pictures of the first blast, to make it look like it wasn't that bad? How about those drone planes landing with their special "radioactive" Boxes? Those planes never landed and were blown to smithereens due to the blast. I wonder how much news media about they present wars are being edited to make them palitable to the American public? Hmm...

[puncheex]

@5inthehole: And you do a creditable job or propaganda yourself, you know. I don't believe the videos were edited; they weren't meant for public disbursement in the first place. They didn't have computers, this is all on B/W plastic film. Even the US didn't have the technology to fly drones until the 70s, at the earliest.

Hmmmmm, indeed.

[TheMadBater]

@5inthehole what are taking about if a drone did not make it was not a big deal because it was a drone and i am sure that they made it because if you know anything about nuclear blast radius bombs in the kiloton range would not destroy all a city like Los Angeles with one blast. the blast radius is maybe a kilometer to 5 or 6 at most.

[Kaesoism]

@5inthehole : Not as much as you make it sound. Reason they hold back things it because even "one" act will set people off and make them sound so horrible. Then some of us have to try to explain that there are others int he world who it far more often and to far worse degrees.

[5inthehole]

@Kaesoism Forgive me but this act was horrible. You know the cheif of the Islands didn't want to leave, but our govt. garenteed him they would be able to return in a couple of days? It's been over 50 years and the area is still to radioactive for anyone to live there. As far as those who would go to further degrees, that's what Hitler said about the treaty of Vers. to get the whole country ready for war.

P.S.- America created both the atom and hydrogen bombs, not the Russians.

[Kaesoism]

@5inthehole : Don't forget that Bikini Atoll was used for multiple atomic test, which was meant to help us "further understand such weapons" (meaning we didn't know what could happen in worse case); including the ill-fated Castle Bravo Test that was the worst accidental contamination the US did, because of it's unprecedented yield.

[Ace4929]

@5inthehole well, many missions that have been carried out by american forces - both special and non - will be classified for the next hundred years or so, so dont be so suprised when you find out that cod black ops has been going on constantly since the second world war

[1991dday]

@5inthehole @5inthehole My grandfather was actually apart of this. So, if you can't appreciate what the military has done for this country, then go live in afganastan or pakistan, figgen liberal

[5inthehole]

@1991dday You make it sound like I don't appreciate these servicemen whose lives were put in danger by being in proximity to the blast. I have the highest regards for them. What I ment to convay is that they should have not been put in that situation in the first place. How could the govt. put its men that close to a nuclear blast knowing the possible dangers of radioactive poisening? In the 50's they'd tell school children to "duck & cover" beneth there desk to be safe from a nuclear blast!!

[NAllen828]

Where can I get a full list of the ships?

[ddrumdude]

@NAllen828 they have it on Wiki

[puncheex]

@NAllen828Wiki, "Crossroads" has the main ships. You can probably find out more of them from references given.

[flyingguitarman2727]

Thank you @nuclearvault for posting this video. My grandpa was a radio operator for the Navy during Operation Crossroads. I've heard stories about Crossroads for years, and I only ever saw pictures from the official Navy scrap book of the event. Now I got to actually see this video. It has made me have even greater respect for him. I recently got to interview him for a college history project, and this video helped me understand what he saw as I talked with him.

thanks,

~flyingguitarman

[wardenphil]

@flyingguitarman2727 How is your grandfather's health?

[flyingguitarman2727]

@wardenphil my grandpa's health is in very good shape, his only issue is diabetes from his love of pie.

[CrabSpirits]

Yes, wash the radiation off those ships with the radioactive water from the lagoon.

[brianhilligoss]

WOW your dumb, you couldn't here were they said it was sprayed with water and chemicals from other ships ie the ships had non radioactive water, fuck you are a dumb mother fucker.

[CrabSpirits]

Actually, this information came from another documentary that discussed how all these men were exposed to significant amounts of radiation from "shocking" oversights such as rinsing the ships off with lagoon water among other absolutely stupid things. So I guess you're the dumb mother fucker.

[5inthehole]

@CrabSpirits That's your propaganda because you can't face reality. Go make yourself feel better and wave a flag as The Senate and House of Representatives sell our country, constitution and communities to the highest bidder to make their wallets fat. We live in a broken system that needs to make immediate changes unless we go the route of The Greeks, Romans and other empires that fell due to coruption and a lack of morality.

[puncheex]

@brianhilligoss: Yeah, the other ships had potable water for drinking and washing. No, they didn't volunteer it for washing down other ships. Sorry, you're the DMF.

[wardenphil]

@CrabSpirits Believe it or not, that works out better than you might think. The goal is to not let the water, whether contaminated or not, stagnate. Seawater corrodes metal; radioactive seawater gives radioactive corrosion which is nearly impossible to erradicate. That is the main problem.