On Monday, October 31, 2016, after more than 20 years of planning, the demolition of what is considered Hanford’s most hazardous facility was delayed due to high winds. The Tri-City Herald reported that it should continue some time this week.
“The Plutonium Finishing Plant, also known as PFP, represented the end of the line (the final procedure) associated with plutonium production at Hanford. PFP was also known as “Z-Plant” due to the fact that no further Hanford activity related to plutonium production would be done after the plutonium had been processed here. The plant began operations in 1949.” (DOE Source)
On July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by the Imperial Japanese Navy, sinking in 12 minutes halfway between Guam and the Philippines in shark-filled waters. Of the 1196 crewmen aboard, 880 survived the sinking, but only 321 came out of the water alive; only 317 ultimately survived the 4 days in the water facing exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning and shark attacks.
The USS Indianapolis left San Francisco on July 16, 1945. She had been at Mare Island Navy Yard to get heavy underwater damage repaired from a Kamikaze attack in the Battle of Okinawa in March. Next, she was ordered to the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, on a secret mission to carry parts and enriched uranium for the atomic bomb Little Boy (the gun-type fission weapon which would later be dropped on Hiroshima). She arrived at Pearl Harbor on July 19, then continued on to Tinian, arriving on July 26 to deliver her cargo. After returning to Guam, she was to meet up with the USS Idaho in the Leyte Gulf. Unfortunately, she never made it.
USS Indianapolis National Memorial
The USS Indianapolis National Memorial commemorates those who served as well as lost their lives on her. The memorial is on the east bank of the Central Canal and can be easily visited, open to the public 24 hours a day. The north side of the monument (above) tells the story of the USS Indianapolis and the disaster that the crewmen suffered. On the south side are the names of the ship’s company who made up her final crew.
The fate of the USS Indianapolis wasn’t known to the country until V-J Day, when it was reported in American newspapers along with the Japanese surrender.
Newspapers reporting on the USS Indianapolis sinking.
The Sinking of USS Indianapolis (Recollections of Captain charles B. McVay, III, USN, Commanding Officer of USS Indianapolis [CA-35] which was sunk by Japanese submarine I-58 on 30 July 1945 near the Philippines). ehistory. The Ohio State University
On June 30, 1946, (July 1 local time), Dave’s Dream dropped Rita Hayworth taped to a 23kt Mark 3 implosion bomb, nicknamed Gilda, on Bikini Atoll.
The first post-war test of an atom bomb was conducted at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands located near the equator in the Pacific Ocean. Operation Crossroads originally consisted of three shots, Able, Baker, and Charlie, although the last was canceled. This testing series was one of the largest military operations in U.S. history.
Both the tests used the Mark 3 plutonium implosion bomb, the same as “Fat Man” used on Nagasaki. Test Able was an aerial drop, and Test Baker (on July 25) was detonated 90 feet underwater.
Rita Hayworth as “Gilda” on the Mark 3.
Test Able’s bomb was stenciled with the name Gilda in two-inch black letters and was decorated with a picture of Rita Hayworth (in her femme-fatale Jean Louis black strapless dress) by photographer Bob Coburn cut out of the June 1946 Esquire magazine. Rita Hayworth was the star of the popular 1946 film, Gilda. Although the gesture was meant as a compliment, Hayworth was deeply offended.
Dave’s Dream (7354)
Gilda was dropped from the silverplate B-29 Superfortress, Dave’s Dream of the 509th Bombardment Group. This B-29, previously known as Big Stink, participated in the atomic bomb drop on Nagasaki as a camera and scientific observer plane.
Dave’s Dream (7354)
The purpose was to test the effect of nuclear weapons on warships and was conducted by the Joint Army/Navy Task Force 1, not the Manhattan Engineer District (Manhattan Project). The test was arguably a publicity stunt for the U.S. Navy to demonstrate ship survivability (or vulnerability, depending upon which side of the politics you sat).
Test Able’s target array consisted of 78 vessels. The original zeropoint target was the battleship Nevada (number 32 in the picture, below) because it was the most rugged ship available. However, due to poor aerodynamics by the high-drag tail fin structure of the bomb, Gilda detonated 2,130 feet from the target and 518 feet directly above and 50 yards off the bow of the attack transport Gilliam (number 5 in the picture, below) with a yield of 23 kilotons. [Source: National Park Service.]
Test Able Target Array
Operation Crossroads’ tests were the first to be publicly announced beforehand and observed by an invited audience, including a large press corps. Buried in the Metro section of the Chicago Tribune on June 30, 1946, is a small announcement that the test would be covered by WGN and WBBM.
Chicago Sunday Tribune, June 30, 1946, Part 3, Page 8
You can visit the Bradley Science Museum in Los Alamos, NM, which houses historical weapons-research artifacts, including a replica of “Fat Man” and the Fireset (triggering mechanism).
Fat Man Replica
Fireset Triggering Mechanism for Fat Man
On display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, OH, is another replica of the Mark 3 Fat Man atom bomb. The museum has replicas and casings of numerous nuclear warheads and bombs throughout, providing a visual history of our Cold War arms race.
Fat Man Replica (Mark 3)
Watch a 27-minute government documentary from 1946 about Operation Crossroads, Test Able.
