BOMBS AT BIKINI 



of scientific information sought. And they permitted 

 inspecting many of the damaged ships before and after 

 the explosions, obtaining statistics on test animals 

 killed, and rough values of the ranges at which ships 

 were sunk or damaged. Approximate figures were 

 given out as to the amount of radioactivity produced, 

 and the degree to which crews would have suffered. 

 Not to be released were facts as to bomb design, exact 

 amount of energy released, exact position of the bomb 

 at the instant of detonation, exact positions of the 

 target vessels, correlations between damage and exact 

 values of range, pressure, etc. More than enough in- 

 formation was released to permit the world to see both 

 the character and magnitude of the havoc a single 

 atomic bomb can cause. 



The most important of General Betts' positive func- 

 tions (see Appendix 2) was providing the public with 

 a stream of accurate information. To General Betts 

 and his Public Information Officer, Captain Fitzhugh 

 Lee (Navy), it sometimes appeared that the public 

 went out of its way to conjure distorted pictures of the 

 planning and expected results. Some groups were 

 prone to believe that the target ship array was sup- 

 posed to resemble a typical fleet at anchor, or a fleet 

 at sea. Some persons tried to build up the Operation 

 into an ''Air Forces versus Navy" struggle, in which 

 the goal was to see how many ships the Air Forces 

 could sink with one bomb. Others pictured the Tests 



34 



