Before the war, uranium was a very rare, and practically useless element; of interest only to a few physicists, so no one was really looking for the stuff.
After the war, with the rush to build nuclear weapons, uranium gained great commercial value, leading to widespread prospecting, which proved that it wasn't "all that" rare.
America's south-west, it turned out, is littered with natural deposits, leading to a boom in uranium mining, in the early 1950's.
@jamesfemccrae82 It was the first time they'd ever attempted that with brand new technology. Since then we haven't exactly perfected it where we can make them quickly and cheaply but we've come a long way. You also have to remember that during the Cold War the US was putting a huge amount of time and money into creating and stockpiling nuclear weapons incase of war with the russians.
Yes, such is the fate of most Axis ships that survived the war.
Ships like the German heavy cruiser, Prinz Eugen, as an example, ended up being being painted orange, and used in the Bikini Atoll atom bomb tests of 1946, while the Japanese "super subs", ended up just being towed off the Hawaiian coast, and sunk, also in 1946.
Apparently, once any useful data was gathered from them, keeping these vessels around as "war trophies", wasn't a popular idea.
U-234 was sunk by a torpedo from the USS Greenfish, during trials approximately 40 miles north-east of Cape Cod, on the US east coast on 20 November, 1947.
@jamesfemccrae82
Before the war, uranium was a very rare, and practically useless element; of interest only to a few physicists, so no one was really looking for the stuff.
After the war, with the rush to build nuclear weapons, uranium gained great commercial value, leading to widespread prospecting, which proved that it wasn't "all that" rare.
America's south-west, it turned out, is littered with natural deposits, leading to a boom in uranium mining, in the early 1950's.
skeilak 1 month ago
@sjp092 thanks!
jamesfemccrae82 2 months ago
@jamesfemccrae82 It was the first time they'd ever attempted that with brand new technology. Since then we haven't exactly perfected it where we can make them quickly and cheaply but we've come a long way. You also have to remember that during the Cold War the US was putting a huge amount of time and money into creating and stockpiling nuclear weapons incase of war with the russians.
sjp092 2 months ago
cool doc!
anyone tell me please...
if they had such problems gathering uranium, how did they manage to make so many since?
cheers!
jamesfemccrae82 2 months ago
@tcc187620
Yes, such is the fate of most Axis ships that survived the war.
Ships like the German heavy cruiser, Prinz Eugen, as an example, ended up being being painted orange, and used in the Bikini Atoll atom bomb tests of 1946, while the Japanese "super subs", ended up just being towed off the Hawaiian coast, and sunk, also in 1946.
Apparently, once any useful data was gathered from them, keeping these vessels around as "war trophies", wasn't a popular idea.
skeilak 3 months ago
@skeilak didnt know that, cool.
tcc187620 3 months ago
Thx for the upload. Very interesting documentary.
gorugh1 3 months ago
If the post-war fate of the U-234 is of interest:
U-234 was sunk by a torpedo from the USS Greenfish, during trials approximately 40 miles north-east of Cape Cod, on the US east coast on 20 November, 1947.
skeilak 1 year ago
great documentary thanks for uploading
Bubbahotep993 2 years ago