BIKINI OVERTURE 



Meanwhile ships' engineers and their assistants were 

 shutting down machinery and getting ready to close all 

 watertight compartments. When the day of the test 

 should finally arrive. 



Throughout this scene of apparent confusion pho- 

 tographers and inspectors made their way, intermin- 

 ably photographing everything of interest and taking 

 voluminous notes on ready-made forms. No reliance 

 was to be placed on memory. The aim in the tests was 

 not merely success or failure, but accurately-inscribed 

 data sheets by the ton which could be referred to with 

 confidence in the future. 



Meanwhile force and staff conferences were being 

 held on the MT. McKINLEY and good progress was 

 reported.* Press conferences were held on the port deck 

 of the APPALACHIAN.! 



Men lucky enough to receive liberty picked up their 

 swimming trunks, piled into LCVP's or whale boats 

 and made for Bikini beach a few miles to the north. 

 They spent the afternoons swimming, playing baseball, 



* 7^ is not surprising that scientific and operational groups 

 occasionally found themselves on opposing sides of discussions. Tech- 

 nical men showed no embarrassment in proposing whatever changes 

 of plaris would permit gathering better data. But operations men, 

 anxious to avoid last-minute complications, favored standing pat. 

 Because the Operation was basically a technical one, the technical 

 men usually had their way. 



t Dr. R. A. Sawyer, Technical Director, brought with him to 

 one of the press conferences Mr. R. S. Warner, Jr., Los Alamos 

 bomb expert. He introduced Mr. Warner as "the man who will tell 

 you almost anything about the bomb — except what you want to 

 know." 



101 



