LOOKING OVER THE DAMAGE

Chronicle (Levin), 4 July 1946, Page 5

LOOKING OVER THE DAMAGE

BIKINI, July 2. Mr. Forrestal, Secretary for the Navy, and Admiral Blandy today risked exposure to radioaetivity to inspect the atomic devastation in Bikini Lagoon and witness the flnal agony of the Japanese cruiser .Sakawa, reports tlio correspondent of the Australian Associated Press (Mr. E. W. MaeAlpine). The Sakawa, her superstructure flattened and her stern open to the sea, started slipping under while they were looking over the blasted carrier ludependence from the deck oi a jiieketboat. Admiral Blandy, disregarding radioaetivity still lingering aboard the ships in the target area, ordered the picketboat to proceed at full speed ahead as soon as he heard that the Sakawa was sinking. Mr. Forrestal, Admiral Blandy and others in their party watched fascinatedly from 50 yards away while tlie Japanese (5000-tonner went down. Admiral Blandy and Mr. Forrestal eai'lieiy had braved garnma radiation for a ciose-up view of the heavy-hulled subniarine Skate, the hardest liit of the target craft. Admiral Blandy 's deputy Cor technieal (lirection, Rear-Admiral W. S. Parsons, opined that the Skate was tlie closest of all the targcts to a pressure of more than 500 pounds to the.sqnare iuch. The Skate 's tower had" been blasted overboard and the entire ' steel deck struetiire ripped open and niangled from bow to stern. Admiral Blandy explained that modern submariues tvere capable of

withstanding terrific pressures, because their hulls were thicker than that of anv surface craft. Admiral Blandy and Mr. Forrestal boarded just one ship — the 32-year-oldl battleTship New York, wliicli unlike j those nearer the target centre, bore an "affirmative" flag, indicating that the monitors had found it free from harinful radioaetivity effects. Tlie bomb's blast was .visible on the starboard, aft, vvheve the New York was hit the hardest, but, while army inaterial on the exposed deck was shattered, heavy parts of tlie ship itself were undamaged. Admiral Blandy admitted . that the easualties would have been high had any personnel been aboard.