Operation Crossroad: Pictures Requred

[Andy3E]

Hey all
i was wondering if people had any good pictures of the ships which were moored at Bikini Atoll for the Operation crossroad tests, ive found a few online and some fantastic paintings by Arther Beumont (herep (http://www.history.navy.mil/ac/bikini/bikini1.htm)

But always seems to be lacking a good photographic record of the ships, before, during and after,
really interested if there are any good pictures of the Nagato and Prinz Eugan, or of the Orange Nevada

If anyone could help would be much obliged

[Don Boyer]

Andy:

Just ran across your thread as I was closing out. Good photos of Bikini tests are in short supply from what I've seen, due to the security surrounding the original events and the mostly black and white photography. I have both official books on the Bikini tests, and one other that focuses more on the radiation poisoning of the surrounding territories than it does the actual tests. National Geographic I believe did an article years back on diving in Bikini on the Saratoga and such. I have that also, but will have to root it out of my files to see what I have. I have seen one color photo of Nevada in orange paint but don't know where.

You can contact the National Park Service for their paperback "The Archeology of the Atomic Bomb: A Submerged Cultural Resources Assessment of the Sunken Fleet of Operation Crossroads at Bikini and Kwajalein Atoll Lagoons, Republic of the Marshall Islands". If any copies are still available, they can be obtained from the National Park Service Submerged Cultural Resources Group, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Book was published in 1991. and is listed also as "Southwest Cultural Resources Center Professional Papers Number 37." This publication has photos not published elsewhere and some better reproductions of some of the original photography.

The two official books are: "Operation Crossroads: The Official Pictorial Record," William H. Wise and Co., Inc., Publishers, New York, 1946 and "Bombs at Bikini: The Official Report of Operation Crossroads" by William A. Shurcliff, Historian, Joint Task Force One, also published by William H. Wise and Co., Inc., New York, 1947. Both of these books seem to be really rare. I am lucky to have 1st editions of both with dustcovers that I got in a bookstore in Santa Fe. And of course, both are loaded with the original photography.

The third (and less focused) book is "Operation Crossroads" by Jonathan M. Weisgall, US Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1994. this is more of a "what happened after" book, focused on the Micronesians displaced and irradiated by the nuclear testing.

Hope this gives you a starting point. Let me know if you need more info or if you'd like me to scan some of the photos from the books, which I should be able to do if my printer/scanner stays healthy!

Sincerely,

[Don Boyer]

Andy:

National Geographic, June 1986 issue -- "A Way of Life Lost -- Bikini" by William S. Ellis has some photos from the tests and after.

I also have an unpublished xerox copy of a document entitled "Operation Crossroads: Ship Survey" prepared by Alison M. Macdonald and Jonathan M. Weisgall (who later authored the book listed in my previous post). I believe this was prepared under contract for the National Park Service, although it has no identifying information beyond the title and authors. It is comprehensive, and lists every ship used in the tests with detailed information on their past history, exact location during the tests and eventual fate. No photographs, I am sorry to say.

Regards,

[CGRET]

I too have spent some time at Bikini Atoll in the early to late 90's while in the service. The ship i was on was to attempt to mark the wrecks in the lagoon for the NPS. Also the EOD where possible was to attempt to safe any ordance that was deemed unsafe for commercial diving operations. In the end the operation was cancelled for unknown reasons. From my time ashore with the people in the known the islands were safe and the fish were safe to eat. The only items NOT safe to eat were the Cocanuts and NO digging was allowed. From what the ships drivers have told me the wrecks in the lagoon, i.e. the Sara was a site to behold.

Regards
Charles

[astraltrader]

Don I would love to see any of the better quality pictures you could scan [at 300-400 dpi] either in this thread or to my email a/c.

Only if you get the time my friend.

[Andy3E]

Hey don, thanks for the reply

I would love to see any pictures you can scan in. either in the thread or via email, ill gather up the ones ive found off them thar interwebs and pop em in this thread, never know, might be some ya dont have :)

[CGRET]

Andy,

Here is a link to some photo's you seek.

http://www.cfo.doe.gov/Me70/manhattan/crossroads.htm

Regards
Charles

[Kevin Denlay]

Another book I could recommend with some photos (both above and below water) and other info on the ships sunk at Bikini is 'Ghost Fleet' by James Delgado, written after his 1989 visit there with a cutural resiources team.

A few photos of the Japanese wrecks (Nagato and Sakawa) can also be found here.

http://www.arawasi.jp/ijn/album-KD.html

[VirtualF]

Im sorry about the lack of quality in the pictures,but the article itself is interesting so I thought I would post the link anyway.....


http://marshall.csu.edu.au/Marshalls/html/SCRU/atomicone.pdf#search=%22THE%20ARCHEOLOGY%20OF%20TH E%20ATOMIC%20BOMB%22

[Krieg1981]

Here's a couple of Crossroads related pics.....


New York BB-34 getting hosed off post nuke test
Nevada BB-36 with some topside damage
Nevada BB-36 prior to the detonations
Orange Battleship!
Saratoga CV-3 slips beneath the waves
Skate SS-305 looking a bit askew.....
And a pic of the Japanese light cruiser Sakawa, before the tests.

[colombamike]

Even much more better than a picture, a serie's of awesome video :D
enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHFnITC4_YU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPj6y3OFfoY
;)

[Don Boyer]

I have neglected this thread due to press of having to work for a living.

I have scanned all the "ship-related" photographs from the two official Operation Crossroads books that I have. However, they are mostly poor to start with and get worse with any enlargement. I will attach one here as an example -- shots of IJN Sakawa, USS Pennsylvania, and USS Appalachian. The spotting on the photos is way obvious. Not even sure if our forum photo genius could upgrade these even if he did make me look good in a Luftwaffe uniform :rolleyes:

Both books were printed in 1947-49 time span. I am unsure of copyright after all these years as apparently the original publisher no longer exists (Wise & Co.) therefore I have been hesitant to tackle the project by posting here. I'm sure one photo for display purposes would be forgiven by the Gods of Print Media.

I do find it a bit strange, with thousands of the world's finest cameras handled by experts in the field (newsmen, professional photographers in the military, scientists, you name it) being deployed for the two Bikini tests, that the photos in the books themselves suck in comparison to what we normally post here.

Sorry for being so long in getting back to this thread.

Regards,

[John Brown]

The caption to this photo said it is Nagato at Bikini Atoll...


Regards...John

[scjon]

I thought I had more than this that had not been posted before, but it is an interesting aerial shot of USS New York after the tests.

[GaryH]

Nagato didnt go quietly though..... :p

http://www.bikiniatoll.com/nagatolog.html

[CGRET]

Some of the ships did not go quietly, but other's well they sank rather quickly.

Interesting side note to this operation was the USS Skate did sail out of Bikini under her own power, tho she may not have been totaly free of contamination.

The other part of this operation was the experimental with the decontamination procedures. One such event was the use of "corn cobs" to see what effect it would have decontamination, of course it had no effect at all. The experimentation was in the order of the day when it came to the testing decontamination efforts at the price of the service man who were there.

Regards
Charles

[Andy3E]

wow, i completely forgot about this thread hehe, thanks for your input guys

My trawling over the net turned up a few more photos which ill share with all of you here

im afraid im somewhat lax in my US/IJN Ship Recognition but im sure the fine folks here should be able to ID the Ships heh

[Don Boyer]

Andy, thanks for the great photo posts of the Bikini test ships. Good photographs compared to the poor showing in the two "official" books about the test published in 1946 and 49, photos from which I posted in the Bikini thread.

As to ship IDs, here are some for those not already clearly identified.

The first two are of Nagato, and the group shot shows Nevada and Independence among the ships there, obviously post Able shot (the airburst).

The fourth photo is of New York being hosed down. This was not effective decon, as radioactive isotopes have an affinity for hydrocarbons, so they can really "stick" to a ship and it's parts, as you can imagine.

The 5th photo is of Pennsylvania sinking off Hawaii after being used as a bomb and gunnery target. Too contaminated to do anything else with her.

The 6th and 7th photos are of Arkansas prior to transiting to the Pacific for the tests.

Photo 8 is Pennsylvania anchored at Bikini just prior to the tests. Photos 9 and 10 are also Pennsylvania, the latter another of the shots of her sinking.

The next four photos are all of the CVL Independence post Test Able, except the last of them, which is post Baker, when she was at San Francisco as a "radiation test ship" before her final disposal as a target.

Photo 15 is of Arkansas again.

The photos following the target array diagram (17 and 18) are of Prinz Eugen under decon testing. She ended up at Kwajalein, where she suddenly turned turtle and sank. Still visible on the lagoon side of the reef, she is a popular but very dangerous dive site.

Photo 19 is of Arkansas again, being washed down. Test Baker sank her almost instantly.

The final three shots show two of Nagato with Prinz Eugen in between.

Again, thanks for the post!

Regards,