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346 Comments
- MyronMordino, on 06/29/2009, -7/+621You sunk my battleship
- RoroCo, on 06/29/2009, -8/+553Seeing as the ships seem to be in a line and equally spaced... It is obvious they there to test the effect of the blast at different distances.
- Coven, on 06/29/2009, -5/+468Isn't that *camera* a little too close to that nuclear blast?
- shadowman99, on 06/29/2009, -2/+432The ships were placed intentionally to test the effects of an attack on fleet vessels. They were unmanned. Farm animals were caged and placed on the vessels so the effects on a crew could be studied. The boats that didn't sink were later scuttled.
- d2002, on 06/29/2009, -3/+299"Ultimately, the biggest news from Crossroads, not widely reported at the time, was the radioactive contamination of all the target ships by the Baker shot. It was the world's first experience with immediate, concentrated local radioactive fallout from a nuclear explosion."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Crossroads - birch25, on 06/29/2009, -1/+294Rule of Thumb: if you can see the blast, you're probably too close.
- twinklyJesus, on 06/29/2009, -1/+283my uncle was there. (not on the ships in the photo, of course) They made them stand on deck with dark goggles and heavy clothing. He was in two of those tests. He died in 1994 of cancer.
- Quizboy, on 06/29/2009, -5/+286The camera was placed intentionally to test the effects of an attack on cameras. They were unmanned. Farm animals were caged and placed on the cameras so the effects on an operator could be studied. The cameras that didn't break were later thrown into the ocean.
- nbluth, on 06/29/2009, -8/+271This picture is literally older than the internet.
- WickedKoala, on 06/29/2009, -11/+228And boom goes the dynamite.
- inactive, on 06/29/2009, -25/+218DAMN YOU UNITED STATES NAVY AND YOUR 50 YEAR DELAYED ATOMIC BOMB CANCER!
- Vindexus, on 06/29/2009, -12/+189THE LAST INDIANA JONES MOVIE HAD NO NUCLEAR BLAST AND WAS ABOUT THE HOLY GRAIL.
- torgo112, on 06/29/2009, -2/+157I don't know, but that picture is all kinds of awesome.
- DrDragun, on 06/29/2009, -0/+149Nuke player: "hmmm is your ship on A1 through E35"?
- topcat5, on 06/29/2009, -0/+135That was one of the A bomb tests performed at the Bikini Atol in the late 1940s. They towed a bunch of surplus WWII ships to this location and first exploded a nuke dropped from a plane. It was impressive but didn't destroy that many ships. The next test was of a submerged bomb that was hanging off one of the ships. That one was most likely what you are looking at. It also didn't destroy as many ships as was thought, but they later discovered all of the ships had been irradiated to make them dangerous for humans. The military did not listen to its scientists and tried to clean the ships with sea water but it was radioactive too.
Don't take that to mean these were not powerful explosions. Several aircraft carriers and destroyers where thrown completely out of the water and broken into pieces.
They ended up sinking all those ships and and they remain there underwater. In the late 70s, a group of villagers who who had been forceably removed from the island for those tests tried to return, but had to leave because all the plant life, such as the coconuts, was still radioactive. On the earlier comment about today's bombs being cleaner, that had nothing to do with it. Nuclear fission out in the open like that is going to irradiate anything near it.
BTW, they went back in '52 or so and exploded a far more powerful H bomb. It would have completely vaporized those ships had they still been on the surface. - glinsvad, on 06/29/2009, -5/+138Your mom is older than the internet.
Also, this is what happens when she takes the plunge. - burketo, on 06/29/2009, -1/+125This is a way better picture from operation crossroads
http://www.rmiembassyus.org/Permanent%20Exhibition ... - dha07030, on 06/29/2009, -13/+121Old.
- Lefts, on 06/29/2009, -9/+104Damn you cancer, killing old people and whatnot!
- cloudkap, on 06/29/2009, -1/+81dugg for being a massive jpeg, and reminding us again of what we're capable of. For better or worse.
- toconnor, on 06/29/2009, -3/+80It's the door to the coolest water treehouse ever!
- ThatDeadDude, on 06/29/2009, -0/+66If you check the actual description on Wikipedia, apparently it's the battleship Arkansas.
- FritoPendejo, on 06/29/2009, -4/+68That's not a nuclear blast. It's a cloud releasing very localized heavy rain.
- doctechnical, on 06/29/2009, -1/+61The US (and I would imagine the USSR as well) did a lot of destructive things to find out what the effect of atomic attacks would be. The US built an entire town, houses, appliances, cars, roads, even dummies to represent the inhabitants, then they popped a nuke nearby (this was depicted in the last Indiana Jones movie, more or less).
The A-Bomb was a Brand New Thing, and a lot of knowledge needed to be gained very quickly. Hells bells, in one test they marched troops over ground zero shortly after the bomb went off, to see what the health effects would be. Short answer: not good. - MasterGrief, on 06/29/2009, -1/+57Dugg for good information and, more notably, vaporization.
- hadak, on 06/29/2009, -2/+56"Sir! I think I just pushed the red button!"
- SuicideMouse, on 06/29/2009, -0/+50Certainly takes the cake.
- keithbelfast, on 06/29/2009, -0/+49that's how the conversation started... this is where it ended.
- fuzzyllama, on 06/29/2009, -1/+49Those ships were there to test the effects of the blast. There were also subs that were blown completely out of the water. You can see them flying through the air in some of the pictures taken.
- alpha88, on 06/29/2009, -2/+49Yeah, it's a shame they didn't live to be eaten.
- sharkd, on 06/29/2009, -0/+45Notable vessels sunk during Operation Crossroads included:
USS Anderson (DD-411)
USS Apogon (SS-308)
USS Arkansas (BB-33)
USS Gilliam (APA-57)
USS Lamson (DD-367)
USS Pilotfish (SS-386)
USS Saratoga (CV-3)
USS Skipjack (SS-184)
Nagato (Nagato-class battleship)
Sakawa (Agano-class light cruiser)
Prinz Eugen (Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser)
Severely damaged and/or rendered uninhabitable by radiation included:
USS Independence (CVL-22)
USS New York (BB-34)
USS Nevada (BB-36)
USS Pensacola (CA-24)
USS Salt Lake City (CA-25)
USS Skate (SS-305)
Survived, now a museum ship:
USS Laffey (DD-724) - orangefly, on 06/29/2009, -1/+45i keep moving mine....
- snafflepaffle, on 06/29/2009, -3/+46It was a test.
Oh, wait did the first 5 commenters say that? - monodelasno, on 06/29/2009, -0/+42Massive jpegs of destruction
- soulpatch, on 06/29/2009, -0/+41http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvjmsU48TSc
- ADifferentUsern, on 06/29/2009, -2/+39massive jpegs?
- CColtManM, on 06/30/2009, -1/+38gold
- nextekcarl, on 06/29/2009, -0/+37Cheater!
- directedition, on 06/29/2009, -0/+36Most famously, in the documentary Radio Bikini: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093817/
They play historical footage shot by the Navy and talk to retired navy seamen that were involved.
Also: Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, Mortality of Veteran Participants in the CROSSROADS Nuclear Test, National Academy Press, Washington, 1966. Study pursuant to 1983 Public Law 98-160.
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=5428& ...
Which observed a general 4.6% increase in the mortality rate of those involved 46 years later, with the most significant deviation for those on boats closest to the blast. This ***** is easy to look up. - inactive, on 06/29/2009, -1/+36gif or it didn't happen.
- RNEMESiS42, on 06/29/2009, -6/+38Poor cows and piggies :(
- cygnus2112, on 06/29/2009, -1/+32The Indiana Jones Holy Grail movie was just as awesome as the only Highlander movie ever made!
- missinglink, on 06/29/2009, -0/+31probably because it IS the Bikini Atoll.
- zip000, on 06/29/2009, -0/+30Wow, her hair is a mushroom cloud too!
- mixsense, on 06/30/2009, -1/+30This is the series of links / sites I visited after viewing that wikipedia entry:
Operation Crossroads > Bikini Atoll > Bikini > Redtube - anaxa, on 06/30/2009, -1/+30I know where to get a BLT if that will suffice.
- Kornstalx, on 06/30/2009, -0/+28Better than my path:
Operation Crossroads > Bikini Atoll > Bikini > Martini > Linguini > Fettucini > Slap_Chop - bigsteve, on 06/29/2009, -2/+29Yea, per the wikipedia article this was taken from, this was a test of how the nuke affected the ships. So no, they're not too close.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Crossroads - chubbstar, on 06/29/2009, -0/+27http://www.instantrimshot.com/
- subUrbanLEGEND, on 06/30/2009, -1/+28Taken from the confines of a simple refrigerator.
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