6 



BIKINI OVERTURE 



The SUMNER and the BOWDITCH were 

 among the first of the ships to reach Bikini. In late 

 January 1946, the Chief of Naval Operations arranged 

 for these ships to proceed to Bikini to make needed 

 surveys and oceanographic studies. SUMNER did the 

 bulk of the hydrographic surveying. Her work was es- 

 pecially urgent because the only available hydrographic 

 charts of Bikini were Japanese and were quite inade- 

 quate. SUMNER and assisting ships made some use of 

 acoustical bottom scanners, but principal reliance was 

 placed on wire-drag methods. 



The survey was finished in April, and the data were 

 flown to the Navy's Hydrographic Office in Washing- 

 ton, D. C, where the new charts were printed. Figure 

 3 is a simplified chart showing the form of the 26- 

 island Atoll. The earlier names of the Atoll's 26 islands 

 were difficult to spell and would have been almost im- 

 possible to handle in dispatches. Accordingly a set of 

 simple code names was adopted by the Task Force. 

 The two groups of names are as follows : 



Earlier Name Code Name 



Airukiiji , Arji 



Airukiraru Airy 



89 



