ATOMIC BOMB EXPLODES WITH GIANT ROAR

Chronicle (Levin), 25 July 1946, Page 5

ATOMIC BOMB EXPLODES WITH GIANT ROAR

Press Assn.-

At Least Some Ships Emerge From Rlast Undamaged

By Telegraph

■Copyrlght

Received Thursday, 11.55 a.m. BIKINI, July 25. The explosion of the submarine atomic bomb detonated with a giant roar precisely at 8.35 a.m. Bikini time, as scheduled. It was a most tremendous explosion, completely obliterating the target area. An official broadcast said the waterspout took an entirely different shape from the aerial burst. Rocketing upwards 8000 f'eet, a cloud hung over Bikini. The outer row of target ships were the first to appear from the awesome haze, showing that at least some ships had survived the blast. Anotber broadcast said the column reached 5000 feet, with a diameter at the base of 2136 feet. There was no evidence that any ships were blown into the air, although they might have been and were obscured by water and mist.

As soon as the area cleared sufficiently i'or the target fleet to be seen, the commancler of the task force, Vice-Admiral W. H. Blandy, was able to broadcast his first report from his flagship U.S.S. Mt. McKinley. He said that most of the ships were still afloat, although the Arkansas, a concrete oil barge and a few other smaller ships were simk. The ex-Japanese battleship Nagato was listing slightly. The U.S. aircraft carrier, Saratoga, was listing, its smoke stack had been toppled over and was lying on the flight deck, and one of the aircraft elevators was displaced. It was not known whether the submarines, moored below the snrface, had been sunk. Two had been sighted from the air, and were still in their original positions. A further assessment of damage was impossible at the moment, as the area was still radio-active. A scientific correspondent of the New York Tirnes said that the explosion equalled that of 50,000 tons of TNT. It was the greatest the world had ever seen.