page 



134 



OPERATION 

 C ROSSROADS, 

 BIKINI ATOLL, 

 0900 JULY 1, 1946. 



This photograph 

 indicates perhaps 

 better than any 

 other, the dramatic 

 quality and vast 

 scale of the first of 

 the atomic bomb 

 tests. The tethered 

 ships of the target 

 array are dwarfed 

 by the giant white 

 ring, the condensa- 

 tion cloud. The 

 huge fireball at the 

 center is already 

 beginning to make 

 its swift, silent as- 

 cent. Reflection of 

 the fireball's bril- 

 I i a n c e is clearly 

 seen, interrupted 

 by ruffled water 

 whipped b y t h e 

 rapidly expanding 

 shock wave. By the 

 time this picture 

 was taken most of 

 the damage shown 

 on the following 

 pages of this book 

 had been already 

 inflicted. The for- 

 mula was simple: 

 one airplane, one 

 bomb. 



