AN ANALYTICAL REVIEW OF LESSONS LEARNED 

 FROM THE H-BOMB SEA SEARCH OFF SPAIN 



Part I: Search, Classification, and Recovery 



F. A. Andrews 

 Consultant, Ocean Systems, Inc. 

 and Research Professor, Catholic University 

 Washington, D.C, 



INTRODUCTION 



On 17 January 1966, an unarmed nuclear weapon was lost in the 

 Mediterranean Sea off Palomares, Spain, following the collision of 

 two aircraft of the U. S. Air Force. The weapon was retrieved 80 

 days after the accident from a depth of 2,850 feet six miles off the 

 Spanish coast by Task Force 65 of the U. S. Sixth Fleet. Inasmuch 

 as the entire operation (named SALVOPS/MED) and the organization of 

 Task Force 65 was "Ad hoc" and staffed by personnel ordered tem- 

 porarily from other duties, it was impracticable for the Search 

 Commander to produce the definitive type of operation report 

 required. This task, therefore, devolved upon the so-called 

 "Technical Advisory Group SALVOPS/MED". It was this group, sitting 

 in Washington and meeting daily, which arranged logistic support, 

 provided technical guidance and in general terms was "home base" for 

 the Search Commander. Two reports and an executive summary were 

 actually written. The first, an interim report^ which presented a 

 description of the operation and listed the problems encountered was 

 published on 15 July, 1966, for immediate use by navy planners and 

 technologists. The second, a final report^ and a more thorough 

 analysis which listed conclusions and recommendations from both 

 SALVOPS/MED and a postulated recurrance was published on Feb. 15, 

 1967. The latter report is 1200 pages in five volumes. The 

 executive summary^, meant to present to executives and supervisors 

 in both defense and industry the significant lessons and implica- 

 tions for the U. S. Navy found in the final report, was also piib- 

 lished on 8 April 1967. The two reports and the executive summary 

 are available through the Defense Documentation Center. 



The actual task of drafting all reports was assigned to Ocean 

 Systems, Inc., under contract to Captain W. F. Searle, Jr., 

 Supervisor of Salvage, U. S. Navy, who was a key member of the 



