TESTA: EXPLOSION IN AIR 



may be convinced death is at hand. This last factor is 

 probably more important than it logically should be 

 since persons almost always overestimate the closeness 

 of explosions. Explosions a considerable distance away 

 may somid next door. 



DAMAGE TO SHIPS 



The fact that five ships were sunk by the A-Day 

 explosion is of little absolute importance. The num- 

 ber might have been considerably greater or less, de- 

 pending on exactly where the bomb exploded and on 

 the exact disposition of the ships. 



Damage to ships should be evaluated in the light 

 of their locations. Rough indication of the locations 

 with respect to the bulls-eye ship NEVADA is pro- 

 vided by Figure 4. Approximately twenty of the target 

 ships were located within the central area of one square 

 mile. Many of the other ships were spaced along 

 radiating lines or spokes. These lines were curved 

 slightly, so that the inner ships could not shield their 

 outer neighbors. 



The majority of the ships carried considerable loads 

 of fuel and ammunition. Thus secondary effects, such 

 as fires and ammunition explosions, were evaluated 

 as well as the primary effects. Ships in the upwind 

 sector, however, carried only very small loads of fuel. 

 These loads were kept small so that, in the event that 

 the fuel caught fire and spilled out onto the Lagoon 



125 



