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Seeing Crossroads

Operation Crossroads

[from Wikipedia] Operation Crossroads was a pair of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. They were the first nuclear weapon tests since Trinity in July 1945, and the first detonations of nuclear devices since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The purpose of the tests was to investigate the effect of nuclear weapons on warships.

Contents of this tag:

Documents the Able Day and Baker Day blasts of the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Island in the Pacific, Summer 1946. Commander Joint Task Force One presents, OPERATION CROSSROADS Assured that they were "making history", this film contains footage from many of the ground and aerial sources set up to record the Bikini Island blasts, beginning with the B-29 "Dave's Dream" dropping an atomic bomb on Bikini Atoll. It records the military's expertise, preparations, and precautions involved in this A-bomb experimentation. It impresses upon the viewer its use of the scientific method through such shots as: still and motion cameras being encased in lead boxes on towers, the 90 ships placed as targets for testing their durability during the bomb blasts, metal boxes for collecting and measuring degrees of radioactivity are pulled by six foot poles off of military jets assuring us that the "crews removing the dangerously radioactive materials were carefully indoctrinated in the procedure of handling such objects", and pigs and goats being "placed aboard some of the ships to substitute for military personnel. A study of their future life history will provide invaluable information." After the vessels are destroyed by the atomic bomb, they are sprayed with water and chemicals so that the military can board the charred remains for inspection. "It must be remembered that the primary purpose of the Bikini experiments was to secure precise technical information which will be used to determine necessary changes in the design and construction of all military equipment and especially Navy vessels required to maintain your Navy at maximum effectiveness. We must be fully prepared to protect our national security promptly and effectively in the event that we are attacked. We must defend ourselves against this new and elemental force, or be destroyed by it. THIS IS CROSSROADS!" "These historic experiments were executed by units of the United States Army Ground Forces, Army Air Forces and the Navy in cooperation with the Manhattan Engineering District and many other branches of the United States Government and civilian scientific institutions. The primary purposes of the Bikini tests were to secure precise and accurate ship damage and instrumentation measurements resulting from atomic bomb explosions occurring both in mid-air and just beneath the surface of the water. The lessons learned may save many lives, many ships and many millions of dollars by guiding future expenditures for national defense into the most productive and efficient channels. It is therefore essential that our Army and Navy designers, tacticians, strategists and medical officers learn as much as possible NOW regarding the effect of this revolutionary weapon on targets not heretofore exposed to it. Without the information which can be gained from these experiments, your military leaders cannot discharge their responsibilities which you have assigned them. To find this information was the objective of Operation Crossroads. " Poking at metal boxes used for radioactivity collectors with long hooked metal poles Many mushroom clouds, bombers in flight and landing charred ships
Department of Energy TF 0800002 doe.gov Nuclear Test Film - Project Crossroads DVD Copied by The Department of Energy, in cooperation with the Department of Defense, declassified a series of historical films on the nuclear weapons program. They were converted to videotape format to help preserve the films and to facilitate the declassification and release process. These films document the history of the development of nuclear weapons, starting with the first bomb tested at Trinity Site in southeastern New Mexico in July 1945..
(1) "The dramatic film history of the atom bomb test at Bikini! Pictures of the actual bomb drop! Blasted ships and the terrible destructive force of the world's fourth atom bomb! Universal Newsreel, in cooperation with the Army and Navy, presents the motion picture drama, 'Operation Crossroads.' This film record of the historical event shows in dramatic detail the various phases of the epochal experiment, from takeoff to the awful blast that destroyed or damaged more than half the ships in Bikini Lagoon." scenes of Admiral William H. Blandy commanding Operation Crossroads at Bikini Lagoon, test animals put on ships, sheep is sheared, Secretary of Navy Forrestal speaks on deck of ship (sound distorted), crews leave, Bikini fleet ready, A-bomb loaded on B-29 Dave's Dream, plane takes off, bomb doors open, men put on protective goggles; (2) "The bomb's away! It's falling . . . " then explosion, "motion picture spectacle of all time" and another view of the explosion. (complete newsreel)