Bikini Atoll

[CGRET]

Hello,
While the in US Coast Guard mid-90's, While station on a 180 Balsum Class Bouy Tender the ship was directed to the lagoon to mark all the wrecks for divers. While there the ships dive team was advised that the wrecks in the lagoon still had live ordnance onboard and at all cost do not scrap the hull because they were still hot.

Question:
1. While there we were told the islands in the lagoon would be scrap clean and soil and palm tree's replanted, Have they?

2. All of the ships in the lagoon had live ordnance onboard,i.e., Sara was the ship that had the most in the hanger deck, Did they remove the live ordnance yet?

I was told the USN wanted to try and remove as much live ordnance as possible before the Bikinian's got the lagoon back.

Does anyone have any info.....

Regards
Dave

[Kevin Denlay]

Hi Dave,

I was told the USN wanted to try and remove as much live ordnance as possible before the Bikinian's got the lagoon back.

Does anyone have any info.....

While no authority on what happened at Bikini, I was there in the mid and later 90's, i.e. just prior to and after 'opening' as a dive destination, as a 'scuba' instructor training the dive operators of the resort in technical (i.e. deep) diving techniques so, given you have had no other replies, I offer the following comments;

1. While there we were told the islands in the lagoon would be scrap clean and soil and palm tree's replanted, Have they?

No and yes. No they did not scrape the islands 'clean' (not possible really) although some soil was removed prior to 'opening'. Yes they did replant some palm tress (and other 'crops') on Bikini itself (and maybe elsewhere?), but as far as i am aware only so as to be able to gauge the amount of radioactive uptake over the years.

When I was there signs were still abundant stating not to eat anything grown on the island (Bikini) although some of the 'locals' didn't pay a great heed to that.

However radioactivity tests conducted on the actual wrecks themselves (while I was there) showed no sign of radioactivity whatsoever.

2. All of the ships in the lagoon had live ordnance onboard,i.e., Sara was the ship that had the most in the hanger deck, Did they remove the live ordnance yet?

No. Sara has many aerial torpedos and bombs clearly visible/accessible on her hanger deck. Most (all?) other ships were not even touched in the pre opening archaeological surveys, etc, i.e. whatever they sank with is still there.

And as far as I am aware nothing has been done re removal in the interim since I was there.

PS. I had the good fortune to spend a month there and dived all the main 'warship' wrecks that are there and, while not necessarily in the class of 'Sara', also found the lesser visited ones very interesting.

Kevin

[CGRET]

Kevin
Thank you for the response.

It is interesting that the US Government did not complete the job they had started.
Maybe to a certain degree the ships were still "hot", but at a very low level.....
So basically the ordnance is still in place. Is there a dive protocal that no one is to move or touch ordnance since it is unstable? I would think this would pose the greatest danger to the divers.

From the sounds of it you had a very good time diving the ships in the lagoon! Did you happen to dive on a us sub that on the far side of the lagoon, which they had just located when we arrived?

Regards
Dave

[Kevin Denlay]

Did you happen to dive on a us sub that on the far side of the lagoon, which they had just located when we arrived?

No, I know of only two subs there that are dived, USS Apogon and USS Pilotfish, and both are relatively close to Sara, not 'on the far side of the lagoon' as it were.

I have never read/heard of another sub wreck there and if there it is not dived by the dive operation that was there.

The ten wrecks that the resort operators visited and that I dived are below;

USS Saratoga / CV
USS Arkansas / BB
USS Lamson / DD
USS Anderson / DD
USS Apogon / SS
USS Pilotfish / SS
USS Carlisle / APD
USS Gilliam / APD
HIJMS Nagato / BB
HIJMS Sakawa / CL

A book I can highly recommend, packed full of info and with lots of historical (and some contemporary) photos is Ghost Fleet by James Delgado

And lots of interesting info of various kinds can be found at http://www.bikiniatoll.com/

[CGRET]

Kevin,

It does sound like that would be most interesting.

From what I can recall there was a discussion on a sub, since they were some at the surface and also some a various depth's through ground zero area. The submarine was not located because of the blast had blown it off it's charted position.

Another book to read is: Operation Crossroads by Jonathan Weisgall.

Well maybe i'm incorrect, I'll check my reference material and talk some of my shipmates.

Regards

[Don Boyer]

From my standpoint as having been in the American nuclear weapons program, I can say that a lot that should have been done has never been done out there and probably never will be. Areas of Bikini and Eniwetak are still poisoned, one of the main culprits being the radioactive isotope of Cesuim, Cesium 137, which remains in much of the soil and is absorbed by plants, including coconuts and is not good for building strong bodies 12 ways. I think that is still what is keeping Bikini from being re-inhabited long-term. I have not been keeping up on what's been going on out there, but I notice if you Google Earth the areas, you don't see thousands of housing units dotting the islands. Now there's a hint...

I would not trust ANYTHING officially stated by the United States Government in regard to the radioactive safety of any area out there, particularly those where thermonuclear tests were made. Remember, "dirty" bombs were tested there too (those with deliberately enhanced radiation poisoning effects). The ships at Bikini are no doubt safe, but I would not be so sanguine about other areas and soils and plants.

The Micronesians accidentally exposed to the tests continue to die of radiation-related diseases, while the United States continues to claim this isn't the case wherever possible, using the standard technique of "you'll die of old age or disease before you convict us in court."

It is a totally tawdry story. Nevada is beginning to discover that fact as well.

[CGRET]

Don,

Yes, your right about what the US governement says. But you "will NOT" find a mass of housing tracks anywhere on the islands you have mentioned and a few others. Most of those people either choose not to move back and stay where they are. The ones that do face an up hill climb to survive in that enviroment.

As for eniwetok the islanders that have returned are now living where the U.S. Air Force built a "small air strip". Living in the building that exist on that small island. The use of the runway is restricted to local flights for food and water and the pier is for ships to bring in supplies Atleast when i was there when we checked on the welfare of the locals.

You can even say that for the Marshall Islands. where the local population is cramed into a small island 1/2 wide by 1 mile. In the mid to late 90's they were building a road from that island using dirt bridges to connect them up to Roy Numor.

Regards
Charles

[Don Boyer]

Kevin:

It's been ages since I first posted on this thread, and hadn't gotten back.

Was the dive you mentioned by members of the National Park Service Submerged Cultural Resources Unit (SCRU -- what an acronym!) from Santa Fe, New Mexico and at that time headed up by Mr. Dan Lenihan?

I worked with Dan and his team on the data from the dives they did on the USS Arizona and USS Utah when I was still in Santa Fe. They produced (and I did some technical editing on) "The Archeology of the Atomic Bomb." James Delgado who still worked for the Park Service then got top billing on the project. Published in 1991, the document is also listed as "Southwest Cultural Resources Center Professional Papers No. 37."

Dan is retired now, but still "contributes" and his No. 2 man Murphy has taken over the team.

Regards,