Operation Crossroads - Lest We Forget! An Eyewitness Account, Bikini Atomic Bomb Tests 1946

By William L. McGee and Sandra V. McGee

Operation Crossroads at 75
July 2021 marks the 75th anniversary of the dawning of the nuclear age

 

On 1 July 1946, millions of people around the world waited anxiously by their radios for the results of the first postwar atomic bomb test, code name Operation CROSSROADS. No one knew what to expect.

 

Less than a year earlier, in August 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9), thus effectively ending World War II in the Pacific. Now the U.S. military wanted to test the effects of this powerful nuclear weapon on vessels, equipment, and material.  Two tests were planned in the summer of 1946: Test Able from the air on 1 July and Test Baker from underwater on 25 July. The location chosen for the tests was the remote Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

 

William L. McGee, USN, was one of 42,000 military, scientists, and civilian personnel assembled at Bikini for Operation Crossroads. He had a front row seat for the tests from aboard the USS Fall River (CA-131), Flagship for the Target Fleet, responsible for positioning the 90-plus target vessels in the Bikini Lagoon.

 

The author adds to his eyewitness observation of Crossroads entries from the Fall River ship log, interviews with shipmates and other Crossroads participants, and the later opinions of the military, the media, and Crossroads experts.

 

In the author's words: "Operation Crossroads in 1946 was one of the most important events of the twentieth century. I wrote this book to help preserve a part of history few know about today—the dawning of the nuclear age."

 

Award-winning Pacific war historian William L. McGee is a World War II and atomic veteran. His book, Pacific Express: The Critical Role of Military Logistics in World War II, is on the Marine Corps Commandant's Professional Reading List. Another book, The Solomons Campaigns, 1942-1943: From Guadalcanal to Bougainville, won the Silver Medal for History from the Military Writers Society of America.  

Foreword by F. Lincoln Grahlfs, Ph.D., author Voices From Ground Zero
134 pp, 52 B&W photographs & illustrations
BMC Publications (2016)

• Language: English
• Publisher: BMC Publications
• Release date: Oct 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9780998463551

William L. McGee

Award-winning author William L. "Bill" McGee has written 22 books, including five World War II Pacific war histories and five memoirs.  During his 32-year career in broadcasting, he wrote twelve "how-to" guidebooks for broadcast sales and marketing. In 2018, The Solomons Campaigns, 1942-1943 won the Silver Medal for History from Military Writers Society of America.  Mr. McGee's writing career has spanned six decades. His writing style is described as straightforward, spare, and “as precise and economical as a Mickey Spillane novel.” (Marine Corps League Magazine) Visit www.WilliamMcGeeBooks.com or the sister site www.TheDivorceSeekers.com.

Book preview

The blast damage to the conning tower of the submarine

USS Skate (SS-305), 3 July 1946. (National Archives)

Copyright © 2016 by William L. McGee and Sandra V. McGee

OPERATION CROSSROADS - LEST WE FORGET!

An Eyewitness Account, Bikini Atomic Bomb Tests 1946

by William L. McGee with Sandra V. McGee

Print ISBN13: 978-0-9701678-5-9

eBook ISBN13: 978-0-9984635-5-1

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.

PO Box 2327

Napa, CA 94558

WilliamMcGeeBooks.com

Publisher’s Note: This is a work of non-fiction. All photographs unless otherwise identified are from the Author’s Collection.

Front cover: Test Able bomb explosion, 1 July 1946

(Naval Historical Center)

Frontispiece: The blast damage to the conning tower of the submarine

USS Skate (SS-305), 3 July 1946. (National Archives)

Back cover: William and Sandra McGee

(Photo Joanne A. Calitri International)

Cover design: TheWonderlady.com

Praise

" Operation Crossroads – Lest We Forget! brims with all the dignity a man who remains proud of his military service can muster at the age of ninety…. My respects to the former gunner’s mate for producing a sobering but entertaining read. His book proves that important history telling doesn’t have to come in the shape of a weighty tome. Highly recommended.

—Mark Barnes, War History Online

McGee’s work offers a good introduction to the subject.

—Publishers Weekly

Well-written and engaging….The inclusion of material by other writers adds important elements to the story.

—Giff Johnson, Editor, Marshall Islands Journal

An excellent book.…I had to sit down and read it the day it arrived.

—Robert L. Ruyle, Nebraska State Commander, National Association of Atomic Veterans

A compelling, well-documented exposé of the cover-up after Crossroads.

—John Houck, Beta reader

A one of its kind firsthand story….McGee’s experience illustrates that the greatest danger of nuclear warfare lies not in the immediate hellish blast from an atomic bomb, but from the deadly radioactivity lingering in the fallout. What a great educational lesson for us younger generations. Add another masterpiece to the works from gifted author/historian William L. McGee.

—Zach Morris, Editor, LST Scuttlebutt magazine

Men in harm’s way.

On 25 July 1946, hours after Test Baker, an underwater photographer explores the Bikini Lagoon wearing only a face mask and quick-release type of lead-weighted belt. (U.S. Navy)

To the memory of the 42,000 servicemen, scientists, and civilians who unknowingly—or knowingly—stood in harm’s way and exposed themselves to the most lethal destructive agent yet devised by man: the atomic bomb. I was one of the 42,000 and this is my story of what took place 70 years ago at Operation Crossroads.

—William L. McGee

In the face of this new knowledge, these recently discovered truths concerning the atom, so suddenly thrust upon an already chaotic world, not only warfare but civilization itself literally stands at the Crossroads. Hence the name of this Operation.

—Vice Admiral W. H. P. Blandy, USN

Commander, Joint Task Force One, Operation Crossroads

Contents

Preface by William L. McGee

Preface by Sandra V. McGee

Foreword by Dr. F. Lincoln Grahlfs

War Ends!

Washington Girls

David Brinkley on Washington Girls

Europe Here I Come

En Route to Bikini, Jan–May 1946

Hampton Roads, Virginia to Panama Canal Zone, 31 Jan–5 Feb

Panama Canal Zone, 5–8 Feb

Panama Canal Zone to San Pedro, California, 9–16 Feb

San Pedro, California, 16 Feb–6 Mar

San Pedro, California to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 6–12 Mar

Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, 12 Mar–21 May

Pearl Harbor to Bikini, 21–27 May

Shipboard Routine Charts

Operation CROSSROADS

The Plan

The Build-Up

Hi-Jinks

Rehearsal, Queen Day, 24 Jun

The Big Day, Test Able, 1 Jul

The Lull Between Tests, 2–24 Jul

Another Rehearsal, William Day, 19 Jul

The Baker Blast, 25 July

The Media Weighs In

Homeward Bound, Aug 1946

Epilogue

Evaluations, Opinions

Demise of the USS Fall River (CA-131)

Fall River Shipmates Reunite Five Decades Later

Appendix 1. Later Lessons Learned

Operation Crossroads by Oscar Rosen, Ph.D.

Bikini Witch’s Brew by Jonathan M. Weisgall

Appendix 2. A Brief History of the Atomic Bomb

Bibliography. Nuclear Weapons Testing and Its Aftermath

About the Authors

Books by William L. McGee and Sandra V. McGee

Praise for Books by William and Sandra McGee

Preface by William L. McGee

As a World War II veteran, I am often asked what is my opinion of the use of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945? And how did I feel about being used as a guinea pig (as many called us later) in the postwar atomic bomb tests in 1946 at Operation Crossroads in the Bikini Atoll?

My answer: I was just like all the other patriotic youths of the World War II era. I was eager to serve my country and never second-guessed my duty assignment—wartime or postwar.

Having said that, today I am legally blind from macular degeneration, I have cancer, and my body is a road map of skin cancers. When I ask a doctor if any of this could have been caused by radiation exposure at Crossroads, the doctors, to a man, are quick to answer, I don’t want to go there.

In my interviews with Crossroads shipmates for this book, I always asked: 1) Did you have any follow-up lab tests for your blood count? 2) If yes, did you receive any radiation test results? Bottom line: A few participants had follow-up tests; some didn’t; others couldn’t re-member. (See the Epilogue, " Fall River Shipmates Reunite Five Decades Later" for more on this.)

Today, as I write this memoir, most of these shipmates have passed away from cancers very possibly related to ionizing radiation expo-sure at Crossroads.

As I was writing this Preface, with the purpose that my story would inform younger generations about a part of history few know about today, the Nuclear Security Summit was wrapping up in Washington, D.C. On April 1, 2016, The Associated Press ran the following story, which clearly reinforced the nuclear threats that still exist in the world today:

Seeing slow progress, leaders face disparate nuclear threats

by Josh Lederman, Associated Press

WASHINGTON—Dozens of world leaders assembling Friday for a nuclear security summit will confront a disparate array of modern-day threats, ranging from government actors like North Korea to murkier groups like the Islamic State.

Frustration over the slow pace of reducing nuclear stockpiles shadowed the final day of the summit . . . However, the absence of key players—especially Russia—underscored the lack of unanimity still confronting global efforts to deter nuclear attacks.

The global stockpile of fissile material [material capable of sustaining a nuclear fission chain reaction] that could be used in nuclear bombs remains in the thousands of metric tons. What's more, security officials warn that the radioactive ingredients for a dirty bomb [a speculative radiological weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives] are alarmingly insecure in many parts of the globe. . . .

Ahead of the summit, fewer than half of the countries participating had agreed to secure their sources of radiological material, readily available in hospital, industrial and academic settings. Concerns about substances like cesium or cobalt getting in the wrong hands have escalated sharply following deadly attacks by IS, raising the disturbing prospect of a nuclear attack on a Western city. . . .

Decades after the Cold War, the threat of a nuclear war between superpowers has faded, replaced in part by concerns about IS and al-Qaida offshoots. . . .

For their contributions, I wish to thank Dr. F. Lincoln Grahlfs and Dr. Oscar Rosen—both Crossroads participants—for sharing their eyewitness accounts and their powerful findings about Crossroads. I also wish to thank Jonathan Weisgall, attorney for the people of the Bikini Atoll, for sharing his Crossroads findings.

Operation Crossroads and the use of the atomic bomb was—and still is—a serious controversy. To quote Dr. Rosen: Who is telling the truth? Who knows the truth?

On the 70th anniversary of Operation Crossroads, author William L. McGee with Operation Crossroads, Lest We Forget! An Eyewitness Account on display at the National Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada, September 2016

Preface by Sandra V. McGee

In October 1997, my husband, Bill, and I were invited to the American Film Institute in Hollywood for the 50th anniversary of the Atomic Cinematographers. From 1947 to 1969, this group operated a secret film studio in the Hollywood Hills and produced thousands of films of atomic bomb and hydrogen bomb tests. The original group was composed of 250 directors, producers, and cameramen, many of whom witnessed and filmed the atomic bomb tests at Operation Crossroads in July 1946. (See the excellent 26-minute film on Crossroads produced in 1946 at www.atomicheritage.org/history/operation-crossroads.)

The anniversary gathering coincided with the publication of Bill’s World War