Operation Tumbler Snapper (1952)

Courtesy National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office

0800011 - Operation Tumbler/Snapper - 1952 - 47:00 - Nevada, Color, Sanitized -

Operation Tumbler-Snapper consisted of eight nuclear shots in two phases. The Tumbler phase was of primary concern to the Department of Defense, which called for airdropped nuclear weapons tests. The Snapper second phase was a set of experiments conducted by the Atomic Energy Commission and the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory to help improve effects of nuclear weapons.

Able, an airdrop event on April 1, 1952, produced a yield of one kiloton. One of the experiments involved an analysis of the shock waves produced by the detonation. The Baker blast on April 15, 1952, with a one kiloton yield, also produced weapons effects data.

The news media was invited to view the Charlie nuclear detonation, a first at the Nevada Proving Ground. They watched from "News Nob," about seven miles away. Also, approximately 2,000 Army personnel, including paratroopers, conducted maneuvers beneath the mushroom cloud. The 31-kiloton explosion on April 22, 1952, was one of the largest ever conducted in Nevada to that date.

With the 19-kiloton Dog shot on May 1, 1952, the Marines got their turn at a nuclear exercise.

They loaded into their trucks and drove toward ground zero until intolerable radiation levels forced them to abort the mission.

The Easy shot of 12 kilotons on May 7, 1952, provided scientists the opportunity to record photographically the birth of the blast measured in milliseconds. That is all the time scientists had before entire top of the tower was consumed by the fireball.

The sixth shot, Fox, was an 11-kiloton weapons development related test watched on May 25, 1952, by about 1,000 military observers from a distance of 7,000 yards. The soldiers were conducting radiation monitor training. A military display area filled by jeeps, tanks, machine guns, and artillery pieces was established almost under the shot tower, and all of the hardware was demolished.

The last two shots in Tumbler-Snapper, both weapons development related, were George, 15 kilotons on June 1, 1952; and How, 14 kilotons, on June 5, 1952

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[kareemtabsh]

Videotape him talking about it and post on Youtube!

[RaptorGP]

Nuclear weapon is a key factor of self-defenсe of a country.

[repairdrive]

@OzzyFan87 lol

[OzzyFan87]

@repairdrive Nope, it was heaven...

[repairdrive]

Man, did any one NOT smoke back then???

[navydoctrinidad]

@jm357m Don't know. I suppose if one could interject their hand between the intense light from the explosion and their own eyes, they might see some sort of outline of their hand or arm. However, I don't think they could look at it because of the intense light, several times the brillance of the sun, instantly. You would close your eyes by reflex. Remember all the shipboard tests from Bikini the folks all wore heavy goggles.. In all, I don't believe folks have been given x-ray vision. Charlie

[jm357m]

@navydoctrinidad i watched a program about castle bravo and a guy in it on a ship near it said he could see his bones in his hands, could it be because it was so much more powerful than this one?

[Ocelllian2]

What is the exact type of jet used? Like the one at 7:42?

[Shakudance]

some stupid idiots, and i am sure they are just a handful...will blow up this planet someday

[navydoctrinidad]

@SupremeAmerican No. Just the loudest "Bang" I have ever heard. It was pointed out to us by the Staff that most of the sound we had ever heard was the result of "slow motion film." Evidently the slow motion was made to show the explosion drawn out over a period of time. Well it is an instantaneous hugh, loud, bright, awesome thing to behold. By the time we were told to stand up in the trenchs the mushroom cloud was well up in the sky. No slow rolling effect as we had all seen in the movies.

[SupremeAmerican]

@navydoctrinidad Did the explosion have a strange sound?

[marmaladekamikaze]

@navydoctrinidad

You should contact NuclearVault about that he'd be interested in annotating the video! and write a blog of your experience, I think a Cold War and Nuclear testing archive is in the works akin to the BBC 'Blitz' archive

[navydoctrinidad]

@northernkentuckydiva I am 80 and I have never heard of anyone having a problem from this exercise. Charlie

[navydoctrinidad]

@marmaladekamikaze This is another follow up. The narrative beneath the above video says that the Marine Corps mission was aborted after the blast on May 1, 1952. That is not true. We went to ground zero after the blast and was shown all the devastation to buiildings, armored vehicles, regular homes, entrenched troops, airplanes, all sorts of things. After this we were measured for radiation and we went back to Camp Desert Rock. Charlie

[navydoctrinidad]

@marmaladekamikaze On May 1, 1952 I was in the trench, kneeling and looking down as ordered. The air burst was the brightest light I have ever seen. The desert floor was brilliantly white. I saw no "bones" or "x-ray" type scenes. No one else did either. That is marlarkey. The burst was followed by the sound, the loudest bang I have ever heard, then came the blast wind (Shock wave) , going and coming. Awesome experience. I no of one who has ever had any after effects. Best to you. Charlie

[marmaladekamikaze]

@navydoctrinidad

Could you describe your experience? and please express yourself about claims of ''seeing your own bones'', from my thinking I believe any 'I saw my bones' experience probably came from soldiers covering their eyes with their hands and the intense visible light, that for the most part, would have been blocked by bone but Skin and muscle would not have blocked the visible intense light. I find it hard to believe but they may have been telling the truth, What are your thoughts?

[parisTDR250]

What are these stripes next to the cloud?

[marmaladekamikaze]

Guy at 43:35 clearly says 'awesome' very funny. I was wondering, does anyone know if there have been medical followups of these men? and did any get compensation?

[sharkaik1]

My Uncle was at the Nevada Test Site in the early 50's. He would have been 76 now if he didn't die of cancer at age 41. Most of his troop has died!

[sharkaik1]

My uncle would be 76 if he didn't die at age 41 of cancer from being stationed at the Nevada Site in the early 50's. It's so sad to watch the troops walking towards the bomb!

[sharkaik1]

My uncle would be 76 if he didn't die at age 41 of cancer from being stationed at the Nevada Site in the early 50's. It's so sad to watch the troops walking towards the bomb!

[DjDafader]

24:40 bit left out?

[DjDafader]

why is any of this classified? does it talk about how to gain plutonium?

just wondering?

[Ronbo710]

My Grandfather was TDY'd to a test range there back in the 50's. He made it all the way to age 56 before dying of lung cancer :(. Those poor soldiers ...

[Ronbo710]

Was tritium used for boosting this early on? Interesting history thanks!!

[navydoctrinidad]

@TheZepmeister Lot of bull. I was there for the May 1, 1952 air drop and participated. The so-called aftereffects are the product of some one's mind. Didn't happen. See your bones. With what an x-ray. Get serious and think beofre you write.