BOMBS AT BIKINI 



what avoiding action should the ship take? Should 

 topside men remain at stations, or should most of them 

 rush below for protection ? How about harbors ? Are 

 ships particularly vulnerable there *? How far apart 

 should they be anchored to prevent one bomb from 

 causing a large-scale ''Pearl Harbor"? 



Scientists and engineers were on the spot, too. They 

 couldn't answer their own questions, and they were 

 equalty unable to answer the majority of the questions 

 asked by ship designers. Just what does an atomic 

 detonation consist of? What fraction of the tremen- 

 dous energy release goes into the pressure wave ? What 

 fractions go into thermal radiation, gamma radiation 

 and neutron radiation ? Major question marks on pres- 

 sure were : How great is the pressure ? How fast does 

 the pressure wave spread ? At any one spot, how long 

 does the high pressure last and what is the impulse 

 exerted? How strong is the suction which instantty 

 follows the pressure? Questions as to the inevitable 

 and deadly gamma radiation were : At what range is 

 it fatal? Are men behind steel walls protected? How 

 thick must the walls be? When does the radiation 

 sickness begin? Can the men continue to man their 

 battle stations even after they have received fatal doses 

 of the invisible radiation? 



The effects of an underwater explosion were even 

 more difficult to predict. Nobody knew how many mil- 

 lions of tons of water would be thrown into the air, 

 how many miles this water would be thrown, what the 



