Atomic Shot (2024) Movie Script
1
Does this sound familiar to you?
Someone close to you passes away,
and they leave behind some
possessions, often a suitcase.
Sometimes that suitcase
remains unopened, but preserved,
and it passes on to someone else.
Eventually, someone opens the suitcase,
and, inside, they find the
relics of a remarkable story.
That's what I found
when I opened the suitcases
of my first wife's father.
He was a film editor
at Hollywood's RKO Studios in the 1930s.
With the United States
entry into World War II,
he enlisted and joined the Army Air Forces.
As an officer,
he was stationed at
Wright-Patterson Field in Ohio,
and he made training films.
With the war's conclusion in 1945,
he remained in service
for a special project.
This special project was
Operation Crossroads,
the detonation of atomic devices
in the Bikini Atoll in 1946.
My former father-in-law, Col.
Richard Joseph Cunningham,
led the Air Photo Unit
that recorded these detonations on film
using both still and motion cameras.
He was proud of his service,
and he kept many relics of his experience.
He preserved them in a couple of suitcases.
Following his death
in 1968, his only child,
his daughter Jo, took possession of them.
She cared for them until her
death at the beginning of 2023.
At that time, I took
possession of the suitcases.
I opened them and uncovered these relics.
I discovered a unique story of the people
who served on this historic mission.
It is a story that Col.
Cunningham treasured.
It is a story that I
want to share with you.
(bomb exploding)
(sounds of shattering)
(gentle music)
This documentary, "Atomic Shot,"
tells the story of the United
States Army Air Forces' role
in the nuclear tests at
Bikini Atoll during July, 1946.
The tests involved the detonation
or shots of two atomic
devices, Able and Baker,
the fourth and fifth
atomic detonations ever.
(gentle music)
The Army Air Forces
were in a joint task
force with the U.S. Navy.
The role of the Army Air Forces,
soon to become the United States Air Force,
was to record on film the
dropping of a shot from the air
and of a radio-controlled
shot submerged in the water.
(gentle music)
Tasked for this,
the greatest photographic
project in history,
was the Army Air Forces' Air
Photo Unit, Task Group 1.52.
This documentary, drawn from
the group's original materials,
tells the story of the people
who served in this historic project
in their words and their images.
(gentle music)
In February of 1946,
members of the Army Air Forces
and selected civilians alike
had employed practically every means
of transportation in making
the trip to Roswell, New Mexico,
to start preparing for
Operation Crossroads,
also known as Joint Task Force One,
and for the Army Air Forces'
involvement, Task Group 1.5.
This would be the detonation
of atomic devices for scientific purposes
in the South Pacific's Bikini Lagoon.
These detonations or shots
would be in the center of
an array of naval vessels.
These men were beginning
to gather from across the
country at Roswell Army Air Field,
the point chosen for preliminary training
for it would be the Army Air Forces
that would drop one of these shots.
(bell tolls)
Roswell was a small,
typical Southwestern town
sitting in the center of a
seemingly endless dusty plain.
Because of its unique appearance,
the town created the illusion
of an old-time settlement,
even though it was quite modern.
Locals who dressed in their native costumes
added further color to the scene.
(locals chattering)
(aircraft engines sounding)
As part of Task Group 1.5,
an Air Photo Unit was developed
to record these atomic shots on film.
As the months progressed,
so did other units.
Probably the most difficult of all
was the formation of a B-17 drone unit.
This unit was to operate
pilotless four-motor planes
that would fly through the atomic cloud,
collecting radioactive specimens,
which would be analyzed by scientists.
(aircraft engines sounding)
By March, rehearsal missions
were being scheduled frequently,
mostly over the Los Lunas
Bombing Range near Albuquerque,
a further rehearsal mission
duplicating all conditions
expected to be found over Bikini,
was staged 200 miles
off the San Diego coast.
Results of Zebra Mission
were highly satisfactory,
as movie cameras and
the oblique aerial cameras
not only picked up the
falling bomb and the blast,
but also showed a complete
record of the dissipating smoke.
(aircraft engines sounding)
While the organization was
being perfected at Roswell,
vast preparations for the
arrival of Task Group 1.5
and its units were being made on Kwajalein,
an island 225 miles southeast of Bikini.
Even though Kwajalein had
been occupied during the war,
certain construction was required there,
so it could serve as a base
for the B-29 bomb carrier
and various large aircraft,
plus other necessary facilities.
(crew chattering)
(aircraft engines sounding)
Back at Roswell,
as the initial training period
was advancing to completion,
the first mass movement of men,
an advanced echelon,
proceeded to Kwajalein.
Forty-four men and two officers
from the Air Photo Unit set off.
Soon after the remainder of enlisted men,
officers, and civilians began
leaving Roswell for Kwajalein.
Some left by Green Hornet,
that is, the air transport line.
(aircraft engines sounding)
(naval vessel clinking)
Most were carried
by the transport vessel
christened USS George Clymer,
but more commonly known as "Greasy George."
The monotonous trip took
two weeks to complete.
(guitar strumming)
The men occupied themselves with music,
reading,
and sleeping.
(wind blowing)
They were quite happy when at long last,
they were able to clamber
down the landing nets
and into the LCfor the short trip from
George to the shore.
(wind blowing) (waves crashing)
(aircraft engines sounding)
On Kwajalein, the advanced personnel
had worked against odds
to get the former
combat site into condition.
(hammer thumping)
New buildings had to be erected.
Old ones repaired and remodeled.
And seven days a week
were too few to complete
all that had to be done.
(hammer thumping)
(heavy machinery operating)
(hammer thumping)
The communications at
Kwajalein were very efficient.
All these facilities were
utilized to the utmost.
(keys clanking)
The teletype played an important part,
as it does in all major operations.
Always busy was the radio section
that kept in constant touch
with task headquarters and the mainland.
(radio feedback squelches)
Even an amateur station was in operation.
(radio feedback squelches)
The Kwajalein weather station
was complete in every detail,
and the climatic information
that it furnished to the Task
Group was extremely accurate.
In addition to the men
at the ground station,
who were preparing hundreds
of weather reports and maps,
there were weather planes and their crews
that flew daily missions
searching for new meteorological data.
(aircraft engines sounding)
A total of 326 cameras were amassed
to photograph the Able and Baker Day tests,
the two atomic shots.
Through the lenses of these cameras
would pass the lasting
picture of the blasts
and their subsequent effects,
creating for scientists
and military leaders alike,
a graphic record portraying in detail
each physical characteristic
of the world's greatest force.
These cameras ranged in
size from the diminutive K-35
to the gigantic special K-18.
(repairmen chattering)
Repairmen spent long hours
working over the delicate
mechanisms of the cameras
to ensure that all photographic equipment
would be in the best possible
operating condition for the missions.
The modern shops and tools
at their disposal greatly
facilitated the work.
No camera was sidelined
due to mechanical difficulties,
thanks to the skill and
ability of these men.
(repairmen chattering)
One major task was the construction
of a laboratory, sufficiently
large to take care
of the demands that would be made upon it
when the missions were flown.
Although the movie and
color film were to be processed
at laboratories back in the United States,
there were still hundreds of rolls
from the many huge aerial cameras,
which had to be developed, printed,
and the negatives indexed and classified.
(repairmen chattering)
The B-17 drone
and drone-control aircraft
were based at Eniwetok,
190 miles west of Bikini.
The Air Photo Unit had a detachment there,
which had the responsibility
of photographing all drone activities.
(aircraft roaring)
(aircraft engines sounding)
(heavy machinery operating)
The various technical instruments,
gauges, meters, cameras, et cetera,
were mounted at strategic points on Bikini
in the target area,
and in aircraft around the target.
(small engine operating)
American ingenuity
expressed itself on the island,
as the men devised various
types of mechanical gadgets
to facilitate their work,
(small engine operating)
(objects clattering)
augment the recreation,
(small engine operating)
and improve their quarters.
(heavy machinery operating)
Religious observance
played a significant role
in the lives of many
members of Task Group 1.5.
Catholic,
Protestant,
and Jewish.
(religious ceremonial singing)
Reverence for those who gave their lives
securing Bikini during the war
was solemnly acknowledged.
(religious ceremonial singing)
(ukulele music)
Had it not been for the Red Cross,
life on Kwajalein would have been dreary.
The various types of
entertainment this agency furnished
helped to enliven many a dull hour.
Ooh
The girls, though few in
number, were a constant reminder
of the wives and sweethearts
who were waiting back home.
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
(upbeat piano music)
(crew chattering)
To the maintenance men
goes credit for keeping
all the mechanical devices
used by the Air Task Group
in first-class operating condition.
Aircraft mechanics,
motor pool personnel,
and members of the base maintenance section
work day and night
to keep every activity
functioning properly.
(crew chattering) (machine sounding)
(ukulele music)
Each plane on Operation Crossroads,
sooner or later, acquired a nickname.
Some were comical. Others
were a little more serious-minded.
Perhaps the most nostalgic
was that of the bomb
carrier, "Dave's Dream."
The plane was so named in
honor of Major David Semple,
its original bombardier,
who died on a training flight
before the unit left Roswell.
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
From all over the world,
newspapermen, radio
announcers, and magazine writers
came to join the task group
so that their respective readers
and listeners might
have a firsthand account
of the most gigantic
scientific experiment in history.
(crowd chattering)
At the time of the detonation,
some of these observers were
in the air over Bikini Lagoon,
while others were on the
command ship, Mount McKinley,
anchored 15 miles out to sea.
(crew chattering)
On 1 July, A-Day 1,
it looked like all the advanced forecasts
had said it might be.
The order from the admiral's flagship
went out to proceed as planned.
Briefings were held
before dawn for the crews
that would be airborne
at the time of detonation.
Each operational detail was reviewed,
so that the mission could be accomplished
with split-second precision.
(crew chattering)
The atmosphere on Kwajalein
became increasingly tense.
Latest wind and atmospheric
data were furnished.
The more than 300 cameras used
by the Air Photo Unit had
been checked and rechecked
and were installed in the aircraft.
Ultra high-speed cameras,
capable of taking motion pictures
at the rate of 4,000 frames-per-second,
replaced the machine guns in the turrets.
(aircraft engines sounding)
With the breaking of dawn,
heavy thunderheads bordered the horizon,
and the sun rose in a
lemon yellow sea of fire.
(airplane engines sounding)
However, to the west over the lagoon,
a brilliant rainbow
was like an arched
promise that this was it.
This was the day
for which all the men had
been working and sweating.
(aircraft engines sounding)
Back on Kwajalein, at 05:54,
hours after mounting tension,
"Dave's Dream" took off
on its awesome mission
into the morning sun with "Gilda,"
its frightening cargo
secured in the bomb bay.
Later, camera planes and
observer planes took flight
and proceeded to the target area.
All was ready.
"Dave's Dream" was on its bomb run.
(aircraft engines sounding)
(bomb exploding)
A few hundred feet over the target array,
a blinding flash,
which virtually blotted
out the morning sun,
marked the detonation of
the world's fourth atomic bomb.
The visible effect of the aerial shockwave,
which at first traveled
at supersonic speed,
was the creation of a white, sheet-like,
ever-expanding circular disc
on the surface of the water.
A large hemispherical
condensation shell formed
and grew very fast, but rapidly broke up,
transforming into a
donut-shaped ring cloud,
which followed the shockwave
as it spread over the lagoon.
As this ring cloud formed,
a brilliant fireball emerged,
supported by a flaming stem,
which reached down into the water.
As the flaming fireball subsided,
the mushroom cloud development began.
The mushroom cap and stem,
regions of violent
turbulence and terrific heat,
started to climb at the rate
of 6,000 feet-per-minute,
rapidly expanding and completely
dwarfing the entire lagoon
and large fleet.
Cameramen photographed the towering cloud
and the array from all angles.
(aircraft engines sounding)
For two hours after the burst,
camera planes and radiological planes
flew in elliptical patterns
around the target area,
following the progress
of the dissipating radioactive cloud.
(aircraft engines sounding)
(ukulele music)
On A-Day night, air couriers began leaving
with literally miles of film,
classified as "top secret."
Technicolor and Consolidated
Films of Hollywood
and the Kodak plant in Honolulu
did much of the processing
for the Air Photo Unit.
Ooh
(crew chattering)
The Able Day mission
had been successfully completed,
and weary men and aircraft
felt a deep sense of
pride in their achievement.
Chow line at the mess hall
was especially popular.
(men at mess hall chattering)
After Able Day, tension relaxed a bit,
except for the laboratory,
which was working on a 24-hour shift.
(upbeat piano music)
The men found time for swimming
and other sporting events,
which up to now,
had been merely sandwiched
in among their arduous duties.
(upbeat piano music) (crew chattering)
(crew cheering)
The national pastime
on Kwajalein was softball.
And seasonal leagues were formed soon
after the various units organized teams.
(ball thumps)
(crew cheering)
Fishing was another favorite of the men,
many of whom had tremendous catches
to boast of before leaving.
Organized boxing matches
and horseshoe tournaments
had their share (horseshoe clinks)
of followers on the island.
Ooh (crew cheering)
(shotgun fires)
Ooh (crew cheering)
(shotgun fires)
(typewriter keys clanking)
The men also spent
time writing letters home,
Ooh (typewriter keys clanking)
reading popular magazines and books,
and making music.
(typewriter keys clanking) Ooh
(labored exercise breaths) Ooh
(crew chattering)
Ooh
Prior to 25 July, designated Baker Day,
the first time an atomic device
would be detonated underwater,
preparations for the second test
began to gather momentum.
Once again, photographic
equipment was thoroughly checked.
Planes were inspected
with the utmost scrutiny.
And through the camera
openings on the sides
of the photographic aircraft
were thrust the huge telescopic lenses
that would once more record on film
the phenomenon of the fifth atomic shot.
(crew chattering
(aircraft engines sounding)
B-Day morning
found Kwajalein a
scene of intense activity.
The aerial armada which would participate
in the operation winged
its way to Bikini Lagoon.
(aircraft flying overhead)
High over the target array,
the planes that took part in the first test
once again were in
their assigned positions,
awaiting the blast.
Several fathoms below
the surface of the lagoon,
suspended from an LCM anchored
amid the "guinea pig fleet,"
the atomic device awaited
radio-controlled detonation.
(machines humming)
(aircraft engines sounding)
(bomb exploding)
At 08:35, the vast area of Bikini Lagoon
arose with terrific speed
and boiling violence.
The first sign of detonation
to aerial observers
was the emergence
of a fireball from the
surface of the water.
This fireball, which was much smaller
and far less brilliant
than that of Test Able,
was almost immediately
hidden by this spherical dome
of the water column, as it
opened up, forming the crown.
(bomb rumbling)
Progress of the aerial shockwave,
which of course started
immediately after detonation,
manifested itself in the
formation on the water surface
of a white, circular, sharply defined disc.
(bomb rumbling)
The donut-shaped ring
cloud expanded horizontally
and followed the path
of the aerial shockwave.
Dwarfed by the towering pillar of water,
which reached a mile into the air
and contained approximately
10 million tons of water
were the target ships standing out
in bold relief against the eerie background
of the turbulent waters.
The surface cloud, a
mixture of vapor, water,
and radioactive particles,
started to form at the
base of the water column.
(bomb rumbling)
And for two minutes, the water
column and crown were visible,
suspended in midair over the target array
with it plunging back to
the surface of the lagoon.
(bomb rumbling) (sounds of shattering)
Of the 100 ships in the target array,
none escaped damage by the blast.
The battleships, Nagato and Arkansas,
the aircraft carrier Saratoga,
and nine other lesser craft
now rested on the bottom of the lagoon.
Of those which remained afloat,
many had been twisted and torn
by the devastating force
unleashed by the device.
(aircraft engines sounding)
The Baker Day mission
had been brought to a
successful conclusion.
(aircraft engines continue sounding)
With this, the first two chapters
of Operation Crossroads were closed,
and men were heading
back for duty in the States.
Some would stay with the organization.
Couriers carrying the film back
to processing laboratories
in the new advanced base
at St. Louis left first,
but others soon followed.
Left behind was a sprinkling of men.
The organization would
keep the "home fires burning,"
guard the stored equipment,
and see that the area
did not fall into the state
of disrepair in which it had been found
by early arrivals in March,
because Kwajalein, as with Bikini,
was to be used again.
(uplifting music)
(uplifting music continues)
(uplifting music continues)
(gentle music begins)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
Does this sound familiar to you?
Someone close to you passes away,
and they leave behind some
possessions, often a suitcase.
Sometimes that suitcase
remains unopened, but preserved,
and it passes on to someone else.
Eventually, someone opens the suitcase,
and, inside, they find the
relics of a remarkable story.
That's what I found
when I opened the suitcases
of my first wife's father.
He was a film editor
at Hollywood's RKO Studios in the 1930s.
With the United States
entry into World War II,
he enlisted and joined the Army Air Forces.
As an officer,
he was stationed at
Wright-Patterson Field in Ohio,
and he made training films.
With the war's conclusion in 1945,
he remained in service
for a special project.
This special project was
Operation Crossroads,
the detonation of atomic devices
in the Bikini Atoll in 1946.
My former father-in-law, Col.
Richard Joseph Cunningham,
led the Air Photo Unit
that recorded these detonations on film
using both still and motion cameras.
He was proud of his service,
and he kept many relics of his experience.
He preserved them in a couple of suitcases.
Following his death
in 1968, his only child,
his daughter Jo, took possession of them.
She cared for them until her
death at the beginning of 2023.
At that time, I took
possession of the suitcases.
I opened them and uncovered these relics.
I discovered a unique story of the people
who served on this historic mission.
It is a story that Col.
Cunningham treasured.
It is a story that I
want to share with you.
(bomb exploding)
(sounds of shattering)
(gentle music)
This documentary, "Atomic Shot,"
tells the story of the United
States Army Air Forces' role
in the nuclear tests at
Bikini Atoll during July, 1946.
The tests involved the detonation
or shots of two atomic
devices, Able and Baker,
the fourth and fifth
atomic detonations ever.
(gentle music)
The Army Air Forces
were in a joint task
force with the U.S. Navy.
The role of the Army Air Forces,
soon to become the United States Air Force,
was to record on film the
dropping of a shot from the air
and of a radio-controlled
shot submerged in the water.
(gentle music)
Tasked for this,
the greatest photographic
project in history,
was the Army Air Forces' Air
Photo Unit, Task Group 1.52.
This documentary, drawn from
the group's original materials,
tells the story of the people
who served in this historic project
in their words and their images.
(gentle music)
In February of 1946,
members of the Army Air Forces
and selected civilians alike
had employed practically every means
of transportation in making
the trip to Roswell, New Mexico,
to start preparing for
Operation Crossroads,
also known as Joint Task Force One,
and for the Army Air Forces'
involvement, Task Group 1.5.
This would be the detonation
of atomic devices for scientific purposes
in the South Pacific's Bikini Lagoon.
These detonations or shots
would be in the center of
an array of naval vessels.
These men were beginning
to gather from across the
country at Roswell Army Air Field,
the point chosen for preliminary training
for it would be the Army Air Forces
that would drop one of these shots.
(bell tolls)
Roswell was a small,
typical Southwestern town
sitting in the center of a
seemingly endless dusty plain.
Because of its unique appearance,
the town created the illusion
of an old-time settlement,
even though it was quite modern.
Locals who dressed in their native costumes
added further color to the scene.
(locals chattering)
(aircraft engines sounding)
As part of Task Group 1.5,
an Air Photo Unit was developed
to record these atomic shots on film.
As the months progressed,
so did other units.
Probably the most difficult of all
was the formation of a B-17 drone unit.
This unit was to operate
pilotless four-motor planes
that would fly through the atomic cloud,
collecting radioactive specimens,
which would be analyzed by scientists.
(aircraft engines sounding)
By March, rehearsal missions
were being scheduled frequently,
mostly over the Los Lunas
Bombing Range near Albuquerque,
a further rehearsal mission
duplicating all conditions
expected to be found over Bikini,
was staged 200 miles
off the San Diego coast.
Results of Zebra Mission
were highly satisfactory,
as movie cameras and
the oblique aerial cameras
not only picked up the
falling bomb and the blast,
but also showed a complete
record of the dissipating smoke.
(aircraft engines sounding)
While the organization was
being perfected at Roswell,
vast preparations for the
arrival of Task Group 1.5
and its units were being made on Kwajalein,
an island 225 miles southeast of Bikini.
Even though Kwajalein had
been occupied during the war,
certain construction was required there,
so it could serve as a base
for the B-29 bomb carrier
and various large aircraft,
plus other necessary facilities.
(crew chattering)
(aircraft engines sounding)
Back at Roswell,
as the initial training period
was advancing to completion,
the first mass movement of men,
an advanced echelon,
proceeded to Kwajalein.
Forty-four men and two officers
from the Air Photo Unit set off.
Soon after the remainder of enlisted men,
officers, and civilians began
leaving Roswell for Kwajalein.
Some left by Green Hornet,
that is, the air transport line.
(aircraft engines sounding)
(naval vessel clinking)
Most were carried
by the transport vessel
christened USS George Clymer,
but more commonly known as "Greasy George."
The monotonous trip took
two weeks to complete.
(guitar strumming)
The men occupied themselves with music,
reading,
and sleeping.
(wind blowing)
They were quite happy when at long last,
they were able to clamber
down the landing nets
and into the LCfor the short trip from
George to the shore.
(wind blowing) (waves crashing)
(aircraft engines sounding)
On Kwajalein, the advanced personnel
had worked against odds
to get the former
combat site into condition.
(hammer thumping)
New buildings had to be erected.
Old ones repaired and remodeled.
And seven days a week
were too few to complete
all that had to be done.
(hammer thumping)
(heavy machinery operating)
(hammer thumping)
The communications at
Kwajalein were very efficient.
All these facilities were
utilized to the utmost.
(keys clanking)
The teletype played an important part,
as it does in all major operations.
Always busy was the radio section
that kept in constant touch
with task headquarters and the mainland.
(radio feedback squelches)
Even an amateur station was in operation.
(radio feedback squelches)
The Kwajalein weather station
was complete in every detail,
and the climatic information
that it furnished to the Task
Group was extremely accurate.
In addition to the men
at the ground station,
who were preparing hundreds
of weather reports and maps,
there were weather planes and their crews
that flew daily missions
searching for new meteorological data.
(aircraft engines sounding)
A total of 326 cameras were amassed
to photograph the Able and Baker Day tests,
the two atomic shots.
Through the lenses of these cameras
would pass the lasting
picture of the blasts
and their subsequent effects,
creating for scientists
and military leaders alike,
a graphic record portraying in detail
each physical characteristic
of the world's greatest force.
These cameras ranged in
size from the diminutive K-35
to the gigantic special K-18.
(repairmen chattering)
Repairmen spent long hours
working over the delicate
mechanisms of the cameras
to ensure that all photographic equipment
would be in the best possible
operating condition for the missions.
The modern shops and tools
at their disposal greatly
facilitated the work.
No camera was sidelined
due to mechanical difficulties,
thanks to the skill and
ability of these men.
(repairmen chattering)
One major task was the construction
of a laboratory, sufficiently
large to take care
of the demands that would be made upon it
when the missions were flown.
Although the movie and
color film were to be processed
at laboratories back in the United States,
there were still hundreds of rolls
from the many huge aerial cameras,
which had to be developed, printed,
and the negatives indexed and classified.
(repairmen chattering)
The B-17 drone
and drone-control aircraft
were based at Eniwetok,
190 miles west of Bikini.
The Air Photo Unit had a detachment there,
which had the responsibility
of photographing all drone activities.
(aircraft roaring)
(aircraft engines sounding)
(heavy machinery operating)
The various technical instruments,
gauges, meters, cameras, et cetera,
were mounted at strategic points on Bikini
in the target area,
and in aircraft around the target.
(small engine operating)
American ingenuity
expressed itself on the island,
as the men devised various
types of mechanical gadgets
to facilitate their work,
(small engine operating)
(objects clattering)
augment the recreation,
(small engine operating)
and improve their quarters.
(heavy machinery operating)
Religious observance
played a significant role
in the lives of many
members of Task Group 1.5.
Catholic,
Protestant,
and Jewish.
(religious ceremonial singing)
Reverence for those who gave their lives
securing Bikini during the war
was solemnly acknowledged.
(religious ceremonial singing)
(ukulele music)
Had it not been for the Red Cross,
life on Kwajalein would have been dreary.
The various types of
entertainment this agency furnished
helped to enliven many a dull hour.
Ooh
The girls, though few in
number, were a constant reminder
of the wives and sweethearts
who were waiting back home.
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
(upbeat piano music)
(crew chattering)
To the maintenance men
goes credit for keeping
all the mechanical devices
used by the Air Task Group
in first-class operating condition.
Aircraft mechanics,
motor pool personnel,
and members of the base maintenance section
work day and night
to keep every activity
functioning properly.
(crew chattering) (machine sounding)
(ukulele music)
Each plane on Operation Crossroads,
sooner or later, acquired a nickname.
Some were comical. Others
were a little more serious-minded.
Perhaps the most nostalgic
was that of the bomb
carrier, "Dave's Dream."
The plane was so named in
honor of Major David Semple,
its original bombardier,
who died on a training flight
before the unit left Roswell.
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
From all over the world,
newspapermen, radio
announcers, and magazine writers
came to join the task group
so that their respective readers
and listeners might
have a firsthand account
of the most gigantic
scientific experiment in history.
(crowd chattering)
At the time of the detonation,
some of these observers were
in the air over Bikini Lagoon,
while others were on the
command ship, Mount McKinley,
anchored 15 miles out to sea.
(crew chattering)
On 1 July, A-Day 1,
it looked like all the advanced forecasts
had said it might be.
The order from the admiral's flagship
went out to proceed as planned.
Briefings were held
before dawn for the crews
that would be airborne
at the time of detonation.
Each operational detail was reviewed,
so that the mission could be accomplished
with split-second precision.
(crew chattering)
The atmosphere on Kwajalein
became increasingly tense.
Latest wind and atmospheric
data were furnished.
The more than 300 cameras used
by the Air Photo Unit had
been checked and rechecked
and were installed in the aircraft.
Ultra high-speed cameras,
capable of taking motion pictures
at the rate of 4,000 frames-per-second,
replaced the machine guns in the turrets.
(aircraft engines sounding)
With the breaking of dawn,
heavy thunderheads bordered the horizon,
and the sun rose in a
lemon yellow sea of fire.
(airplane engines sounding)
However, to the west over the lagoon,
a brilliant rainbow
was like an arched
promise that this was it.
This was the day
for which all the men had
been working and sweating.
(aircraft engines sounding)
Back on Kwajalein, at 05:54,
hours after mounting tension,
"Dave's Dream" took off
on its awesome mission
into the morning sun with "Gilda,"
its frightening cargo
secured in the bomb bay.
Later, camera planes and
observer planes took flight
and proceeded to the target area.
All was ready.
"Dave's Dream" was on its bomb run.
(aircraft engines sounding)
(bomb exploding)
A few hundred feet over the target array,
a blinding flash,
which virtually blotted
out the morning sun,
marked the detonation of
the world's fourth atomic bomb.
The visible effect of the aerial shockwave,
which at first traveled
at supersonic speed,
was the creation of a white, sheet-like,
ever-expanding circular disc
on the surface of the water.
A large hemispherical
condensation shell formed
and grew very fast, but rapidly broke up,
transforming into a
donut-shaped ring cloud,
which followed the shockwave
as it spread over the lagoon.
As this ring cloud formed,
a brilliant fireball emerged,
supported by a flaming stem,
which reached down into the water.
As the flaming fireball subsided,
the mushroom cloud development began.
The mushroom cap and stem,
regions of violent
turbulence and terrific heat,
started to climb at the rate
of 6,000 feet-per-minute,
rapidly expanding and completely
dwarfing the entire lagoon
and large fleet.
Cameramen photographed the towering cloud
and the array from all angles.
(aircraft engines sounding)
For two hours after the burst,
camera planes and radiological planes
flew in elliptical patterns
around the target area,
following the progress
of the dissipating radioactive cloud.
(aircraft engines sounding)
(ukulele music)
On A-Day night, air couriers began leaving
with literally miles of film,
classified as "top secret."
Technicolor and Consolidated
Films of Hollywood
and the Kodak plant in Honolulu
did much of the processing
for the Air Photo Unit.
Ooh
(crew chattering)
The Able Day mission
had been successfully completed,
and weary men and aircraft
felt a deep sense of
pride in their achievement.
Chow line at the mess hall
was especially popular.
(men at mess hall chattering)
After Able Day, tension relaxed a bit,
except for the laboratory,
which was working on a 24-hour shift.
(upbeat piano music)
The men found time for swimming
and other sporting events,
which up to now,
had been merely sandwiched
in among their arduous duties.
(upbeat piano music) (crew chattering)
(crew cheering)
The national pastime
on Kwajalein was softball.
And seasonal leagues were formed soon
after the various units organized teams.
(ball thumps)
(crew cheering)
Fishing was another favorite of the men,
many of whom had tremendous catches
to boast of before leaving.
Organized boxing matches
and horseshoe tournaments
had their share (horseshoe clinks)
of followers on the island.
Ooh (crew cheering)
(shotgun fires)
Ooh (crew cheering)
(shotgun fires)
(typewriter keys clanking)
The men also spent
time writing letters home,
Ooh (typewriter keys clanking)
reading popular magazines and books,
and making music.
(typewriter keys clanking) Ooh
(labored exercise breaths) Ooh
(crew chattering)
Ooh
Prior to 25 July, designated Baker Day,
the first time an atomic device
would be detonated underwater,
preparations for the second test
began to gather momentum.
Once again, photographic
equipment was thoroughly checked.
Planes were inspected
with the utmost scrutiny.
And through the camera
openings on the sides
of the photographic aircraft
were thrust the huge telescopic lenses
that would once more record on film
the phenomenon of the fifth atomic shot.
(crew chattering
(aircraft engines sounding)
B-Day morning
found Kwajalein a
scene of intense activity.
The aerial armada which would participate
in the operation winged
its way to Bikini Lagoon.
(aircraft flying overhead)
High over the target array,
the planes that took part in the first test
once again were in
their assigned positions,
awaiting the blast.
Several fathoms below
the surface of the lagoon,
suspended from an LCM anchored
amid the "guinea pig fleet,"
the atomic device awaited
radio-controlled detonation.
(machines humming)
(aircraft engines sounding)
(bomb exploding)
At 08:35, the vast area of Bikini Lagoon
arose with terrific speed
and boiling violence.
The first sign of detonation
to aerial observers
was the emergence
of a fireball from the
surface of the water.
This fireball, which was much smaller
and far less brilliant
than that of Test Able,
was almost immediately
hidden by this spherical dome
of the water column, as it
opened up, forming the crown.
(bomb rumbling)
Progress of the aerial shockwave,
which of course started
immediately after detonation,
manifested itself in the
formation on the water surface
of a white, circular, sharply defined disc.
(bomb rumbling)
The donut-shaped ring
cloud expanded horizontally
and followed the path
of the aerial shockwave.
Dwarfed by the towering pillar of water,
which reached a mile into the air
and contained approximately
10 million tons of water
were the target ships standing out
in bold relief against the eerie background
of the turbulent waters.
The surface cloud, a
mixture of vapor, water,
and radioactive particles,
started to form at the
base of the water column.
(bomb rumbling)
And for two minutes, the water
column and crown were visible,
suspended in midair over the target array
with it plunging back to
the surface of the lagoon.
(bomb rumbling) (sounds of shattering)
Of the 100 ships in the target array,
none escaped damage by the blast.
The battleships, Nagato and Arkansas,
the aircraft carrier Saratoga,
and nine other lesser craft
now rested on the bottom of the lagoon.
Of those which remained afloat,
many had been twisted and torn
by the devastating force
unleashed by the device.
(aircraft engines sounding)
The Baker Day mission
had been brought to a
successful conclusion.
(aircraft engines continue sounding)
With this, the first two chapters
of Operation Crossroads were closed,
and men were heading
back for duty in the States.
Some would stay with the organization.
Couriers carrying the film back
to processing laboratories
in the new advanced base
at St. Louis left first,
but others soon followed.
Left behind was a sprinkling of men.
The organization would
keep the "home fires burning,"
guard the stored equipment,
and see that the area
did not fall into the state
of disrepair in which it had been found
by early arrivals in March,
because Kwajalein, as with Bikini,
was to be used again.
(uplifting music)
(uplifting music continues)
(uplifting music continues)
(gentle music begins)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)