I will get to the amazing details regarding the first test at Bikini Atoll in the Operation CROSSROADS test series one of these mornings, but this is the non-operational and completely surreal debut of the Bomb, not as a secret, but as a media star- the first such outing of the Atomic Age.
In contrast to all later atmospheric nuclear tests, a large media contingent was present for the two Crossroads detonations. They were allowed to cover the test atomic bomb explosions “with sufficient thoroughness to satisfy the public as to the fairness and general results of the experiment.” Quartered aboard USS Appalachian (AGC-1), 131 newspaper, magazine, and radio correspondents from the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, the Republic of China, the Soviet Union, and Britain covered the detonations, turning these experiments into major media events.
In addition, the three artists presented here also recorded the project: Gunnery Sergeant Grant Powers, USMC, was the official combat artist for the operation while Lieutenant Commander Arthur Beaumont, USNR, and Captain Charles Bittinger, USNR, were observers. There was still whimsy in the world. The image above shows the innocence associated with the desire for participants to see the demonstration of the power of the atom.
(Painting, Watercolor on Illustration Board; by Grant Powers; 1946; Unframed Dimensions 15H X 20W. Image courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
Less whimsical was this one, also by Grant Powers:
(Painting, Watercolor on Illustration Board; by Grant Powers; 1946; Image courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command).
USS Appalachian (AGC-1) was the press ship from which most of the observers watched the bombs. Goggles were worn during the initial phase of the explosion–when the fireball was brighter than the sun–but then taken off later as the protective glass was too dark to view the rest of the bomb phenomena.
Copyright 2015 Vic Socotra
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