Operation Ivy

EIC Warfare the atomic age has moved forward at such a pace that every citizen of the world should have some comprehension at least in comparative terms of the extent of this development of the utmost significance to every one of us clearly if the peoples of the world are to conduct an intelligent search for peace they must be armed with the significant facts of today's existence [Music] [Music] welcome aboard the usss as you may or may not know the Estes here is the command ship of Joint Task Force 132 we have minutes to go before the first blast Mike shot of operation Island um 59 minutes now to be exact we've been here since Daybreak left we talk last night during the early morning hours now as you can imagine feeling is running pretty high about now and there's reason for it if everything goes according to plan we'll soon see the largest explosion ever set off on the face of the Earth that is the largest that we know of in the time between our and HR I'd like to show you around if I may and introduce you to some of the people connected with this operation and in general piece together the events which have brought us to this point to start off I'd like to show you something over here you realize there are many miles of ocean between us and any we talk at all to know what's going on back at the atol these antennas are receiving televised signals and are giving our men here a second byc account of what's happening on shot Island the television receivers are in here in the control room well this is it this is the control room I'd like to have you meet Mr Stan burs the commander of the scientific task group oh Stan and I wonder if you could tell us something about the operations that go on in this room sure I'd be glad to uh the screens you see in front of you enable us to monitor the uh timing of firing system if you will look close you will see that it is now 55 minutes before H hour As Time clicks off more and more lights come into operation this is the 1 minute light 32 15 5 one uh through firing this diagram will give you a general idea of the whole setup data from the signal timer is piped over to a display panel this kind of display panel is new to Atomic test workor because of the large number of remote control and metering problems encountered in this operation for one thing the master timing and metering apparatus is located next door to the shot cab rather than being placed some 20 mi away on Parry Island as is usually done this close View is possible of course because the lens of a television camera rather than human eyes is watching events so that's the flow from timer through to display panel picked up by a television camera and relayed on out to the ests a very ingenious Arrangement but what happens if you have to stop the firing mechanism or can you stop it we can stop it all right if we have to we have a radio link direct to the firing panel in the shot cab if we have to stop the shot we simply push this button just a simple flip of the wrist huh that's right but a lot of work goes down the drain you understand we don't want to stop this thing unless it's absolutely essential no I can understand that see I was out on Deck when you fell his return well that is when the firing party returned uh what happened out there on shot Island if you'll excuse me I suggest you talk to col longer about that I have a timing signal coming up all right so then dick the fire in party's big job is to see the last minute details of arming and firing and to make sure that the shot island is secure that's the broad brush of it yes I've been a member of firing parties before but this was different somehow a man standing as I stood on the outside of the building housing the mic device couldn't help but feel to sense the importance of this moment inside a handful of men were making a final check we're arming a device which could be the key to a new era in atomic weapon earing I don't know just how the others felt but I felt small when I thought of the experiment being readed inside this one test could take us out of the realm of kilotons into the Fantastic world of megatons and then at each minus 6 hours the job was finished the mic device was on its own and ready we made the run from shot Island down to the Anchorage of the Estus off Perry in a fast crash soon after the Estus made way through the Deep entrance between Perry and Japan Islands out to a point 10 mes southeast of Perry the Rendevous area of the task force ships we finished our job at the cab came over the side and here we are not long ago at Los Alamos I was talking to Dr Alvin C Graves head of the test division there he's on board now in flag plot as the scientific Deputy to the Task Force Commander he's one of the men who can tell us about the thinking behind this operation the shot island is about over in there that's right it's generally north and west of us for the past half hour the ship has been headed directly toward the shot Island and will continue to do so until shot time you know there's one thing I can't quite put together that's this business of success or failure I've heard there a 50% chance of its failing now this low margin of success wasn't true on the other shots was it no it wasn't let me try out the Admiral's chair sure up until this operation that is uh from about 1945 through 1951 the chance of failure has never been more than about 10% in uh Crossroads uh sandstone and green house uh we had great confidence in the operation succeeding we recognized the change in philosophy however when Dr Bradbury spoke to a group of us at losos gentlemen up to now the laboratory has had sufficient time to compile information and Revis weapon design before a field test of a weapon as of now the situation has changed we must take risks calculated risk it is true but risk nevertheless according to the presidential directive we must ascertain if a hydrogen bomb is feasible and do this in the highest possible speed here is what I think we must do we must set up a special staff under Dr Marshall Holloway reporting directly to my office he will receive from the thetical division the thetical designs of such a system have them fabricated and shipped to an we talk there they'll be taken by Dr Graves and J Division and test it it must be recognized that we're taking great chances a great gamble but a gamble while there's a possibility of failure nless there POS there's a possibility of great gains and a we talk will become our thetical laboratory rather than improving ground and that's the way it is today we're taking a gamble I see that now but then the uneasy state of the world puts everything on a gambling basis I guess yes but not as much of a gamble as you might think take that man over there he and his company have put a great deal of thought into the engineering and design of Mike well see you later soong dockor and thanks a lot well so far we've pieced together quite a bit of this operation I don't believe you've ever had a good look at our key test Islands the test islands for Mike are located at the top or the northern sector of any we talk atall some 25 miles from Perry and any we talk the two base islands of this atall Proving Grounds there are three main islands making up the test site these are elugelab Teeter and Bogan in the early months elugelab was just another small naked island of the atol but by Midsummer it began to look like the thing it was selected for a shot Island actually the cab soall because it houses the weapon is not a cab at all but a building set flush to the ground it has all the ear marks of a common workshed but in reality is a laboratory building set on a Pacific atol this as you have probably gathered is joint operations all Atomic test operations in the Pacific so far have been run under a Joint Task Force kind of setup Operation Ivy is using the same organizational structure as Greenhouse four task groups scientific Army Navy and Air Force members of these groups are here now sifting and coordinating the many details of this joint operation and passing key information top sides to the command level the Army is radar contct the Army is the executive agent on this operation to just as the Air Force was on greenhouse and the Navy on Crossroads before that at this point in our story it's necessary to understand the effort behind the collecting of measurement data for what good is a test unless we can learn can profit from The Experience highly specialized sometimes costly instruments help scientists bring home this vital data an outstanding example of such specialization is the use of a helium atmosphere Box by the name research laboratory the plywood tube looking like a train of box cars runs from the shot Island across the causeways to a detection station on ban a distance of nearly 2 miles in addition to the diagnostic kind of measurement many studies are being run on the effects expected from a high order detonation these projects are being conducted jointly by the aec and the Department of Defense as as always there are many questions to be answered classical routine questions and special pertinent questions pertaining to the hydrogen device Mike the story of heat or thermal radiation needs continued study the ever interesting history of neutrons will be recorded what amounts of external neutrons are present and what is their energy distribution because of the expected size of the shot the Fallout problem is being extensively analyzed hus 5 minutes the shock wave will arrive for several minutes after zero time keep firm footing until after the wave passes our latest obtain sounding from you've been here before flag block that's General Clarkson the Task Force Commander and general W Chief of Staff the scientific Deputy Dr Graves you've already met by again where Captain Paul is Deputy for Naval operations and general y's Deputy for the Air Force as you've gathered a weather briefing is taking place I should say another weather briefing you've probably heard many times before how important the weather picture is in an atomic test operation weather can make or break a test shot that's why you want to know up to the last moment just how you stand with the elements feel it this is for the problem this time is especially acute because this entire area of the Pacific is subject to radiological Fallout and this area is inhabited by some 20,000 people plus of course the ships of this task force that's why the rat safe officer Works hand in glove with the weather officer oh by the way to help you understand this problem these weathermen are covering an area larger than the United States with 10 weather aircraft and 11 fixed weather stations to put it mildly that's quite a territory to cover uh let's listen in shall we any chance of show not within the next 48 hours over the entire Marshals how about cloud cover the a few kulus move in but if we go off on schedule nothing to bother the operation are you settis fite from the radiological standpoint command Manet yes sir the situation is ideal since the entire Fallout pattern is to the north of the inhabited Islands thank you Jo the time is now H - 2 minutes okay I'll Che h- 2 minutes sir you have a grandstand seat here to one of the most momentous events in the history of Science in less than a minute you will see the most powerful explosion ever witnessed by eyes the blast will come out of the Horizon just about there and this is the significance of the moment this is the first full scale test of a hydrogen device if the reaction goes we're in the thermonuclear era for the sake of all of us and for the sake of our country I know that you join me in Wishing this Expedition well it is now 30 Seconds To Zero time put on goggles or turn away do not remove goggles or face burst until 10 seconds after the first [Music] light- 15 seconds - 10 seconds ner 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 t0 [Music] [Music] what this tremendous blast did to the atle nobody knows re-entry parties are leaving the renov Now by helicopter the Navy T group commanded by rear Admiral Wilkins has the problem of providing the means to re-enter shortly after the blast to get exposed film samples and other scientific datting since no land mass is available the problem is complicated re-entry must be from a ship further Fallout will be very high starting at about m+ 1 hour helicopters must get in quickly and get out again before that hour is up one survey group is leaving here from the Estus I can't go along but you can and see for yourselves Through The Eyes of the camera what has happened back on the at two six approaching Ground Zero coming up on Bogan the detection station on Bogan appears to be in good shape no visible sign of plywood too all test Islands seem to be swept clean ugab is completely gone nothing there but water and what appears to be a deep Crader water dark blue in color nothing but water an island completely erased Mike was power a kind of Titanic energy released by stars but even the largest man-made explosion in the hist history of the world has little meaning unless we compare it to everyday items we understand so at this point let's replay the detonation go back and watch Mike in action once again remember those final last seconds 3 2 1 t0 this is the largest Fireball ever produced at its maximum it measures about three and 1/4 miles in diameter compared to the skyline of New York this means that with the Empire State Building a zero point the Mike Fireball would extend downtown to Washington Square and Uptown to Central Park in other words the fireball alone would engulf about one quarter of the island of [Music] Manhattan the tremendous upsurge of air from the detonation rapidly pushes up the mic Cloud again nothing of this height and width has ever before been witnessed if the picture is stopped at this point in the Cloud's growth the height of the cloud is approximately 40,000 ft this means that 32 empire state buildings at 1250 ft per building could be piled one on top the other before they would attain the Cloud's height at this time roughly 2 minutes after zero some 10 minutes later the cloud approaches its maximum at this time the mushroom portion of the cloud has pushed up to around 10 miles and spreads out along the base of the stratosphere to a width of about 100 miles while the stem itself is pushed upward deep into the stratosphere to a height of about 25 M the results of this tremendous power can be shown at the atal here is an aerial photo of the test area of the atal before the blast and here is the same area after the blast showing the crater caused by mik the outlined island in the center is former elugelab the zero Island sections of the islands on either side have been chopped off the crater is roughly a mile in diameter when it is Illustrated that some 14 Pentagon buildings could be comfortably accommodated in this hole the size of the mic crater becomes more real in profile the crater gradually slopes down to a maximum depth of some 175 ft or equivalent to the height of a 17 St building the lateral destructive effects are the greatest yet observed from a single explosive device without getting into the areas of Target evaluation or secondary effects it can be safely assumed that there was complete Annihilation within a radius of 3 mil or out to and including all of enji that there was severe to moderate damage out to 7 miles or down to roro and that light damage extended as far as 10 miles or down to run it relating this area of damage to a city like Washington DC would present a picture something like this with a capital as zero point there would be complete Annihilation West to Arlington Cemetery East to the Anacostia River North to the solders home and South to bowling field complete Annihilation and that is mentioning merely the primary damage what you have just seen was an an awesome turning point in history a development affecting not only the future of humanity but the security of our nation the safety of our communities and the well-being of our homes and our families President Eisenhower was speaking not alone to the United Nations but to every American when he said and I quote let no one think that the expenditure of vast sums for weapons and systems of Defense can guarantee the absolute safety for the cities and citizens of Any Nation the awful arithmetic of the atomic bomb does not permit of any such easy solution even against the most powerful defense an aggressor in possession of the effective minimum number of bombs for a surprise attack could probably place a sufficient number of his bombs on the chosen targets to cause hideous damage end of the quot consequently our national civil defense effort must concern itself with three major factors one intensified civil defense preparations to reduce the loss of life property and production two greater personal preparations for your recovery and for that of your family three our Mor determination to fight back and to win if War should come even in spite of our efforts for peace in light of the picture which you have just seen I ask you to ponder these concerns in your heart and in your conscience as a responsible American citizen to two courses of action must be followed on the long and difficult road to peace first unceasing efforts to reach International agreement upon such a sound proposal as President Eisenhower made to the United Nations for the constructive use of atomic energy in the service of all mankind this requires better and deeper understanding of the problems that faces upon the part of the American public second Prudence dictates steadfast preparation by us at home to back up our president as he goes into the councils of the world in order that he may lead from strength strength based upon an assurance that the American people are prepared to withstand any assault this is no simple thing to do it requires personal dedication and diligence in civil defense as a safeguard guard until that day when a just and Lasting peace may come to the world this we can do this we must and we will do as Americans determined to protect and Advance Amal and free people everywhere