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THE NEW YORK TIMES Associated Press Cablephoto AFTER RECOVERY FROM MEDITERRANEAN: U.S. hydrogen bomb, 10 feet long and containing the explosive power of 20 mUlion tons of TNT, is lashed down and checked on submarine Petrel. One of bomb’s dents is visible. Dented H-Bomb Is Displayed on Recovery Ship By TAD SZULC Special to The New York Times ABOARD THE MISSILE CRUISER ALBANY off ton United States hydrogen bomb, a bit dented but other wise intact after 80 days on the. sea bottom, was put on display before officials and correspondents today to es credibility” of the United States. It was the first time a nuclear weapon had been The weapon was. recovered yesterday after a final threehour underwater drama when everything again seemed lost. Observers aboard this mis sile cruiser viewed the 10foot-long, silvery bomb from approximately 35 yards. The bomb lay on the fantail of the Navy submarine rescue ship Petrel. Part of it was covered, • apparently to con ceal serial numbers or other signs for security reasons. Rear Adm. William S. Guest, commander of the task force that recovered the bomb, stood beside it. In brilliant morning sun shine, the Petrel sailed slow ly along the starboard side of the Albany, then backed closer toward the cruiser to permit a better view of the The United States Ambas sador to Spain, Angier Biddle Duke, who had insisted on the display to counter Soviet propaganda alleging that the United States might lie about recovering the bomb, leaned over the Albany’s rail to get a better leok at the weapon. “Before the eyes of the whole world we have accom plished what we set out to The bomb was one of four that fell Jan. 17 when a B-52 fueling tanker collided.
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The New York Times article cont*d [ “It fell 30,000 feet and it hit illie visible debts, however, seemed minor. The back tail-| plate was gone,'but a yellow, Igrill-like fin known as thej Alvin Caught in Parachute As the Petrel sailed a mile of^ the . port of Garrucha, the three little research submersibles whose , crews found and helped to recover the bomb bobbed nearby on ' the gentle One of them, the 22-foot Al vin, which made 145 dives in the lagt two months, became entangled in the bomb’s para chute early yesterday 2,850 ’feet today as he spoke in his ward room. The Alvin’s pilot, Valen civilian expert from Falmouth, Mass., made . a quick turn and freed the vehicle. , The Alviii had succeeded ’in attaching two lines to the para underwater research vehicle, a known as CURV, clamped a claw on the bomb. : aboard the Petrel,was ready to order the bomb-hoisted. But word came from the Alvin that the CURV was now caught in the parachute and that currents were carrying the bomb toward Admiral Guest.. remarked to Ian aide: “I prefer combat to “I said, ‘We have to take the The winch on the Petrel be gan" to roll,; and the hydrogen bomb was moved toward the surface, slowly, gingerly. Guest went on, “the second crit ical moment came, placing the Whole operation in Jeopardy.” The weight of . the bomb and) the waterlogged parachute ■ was no longer evenly distfibr uted on the lines, he explained, and there was danger that the cables would break as they had ' Vibration In line This, danger passed, hut at I 8:19, with the bomb only 1001 feet below the surface, the| tion, again threatening to break. additional lines’ to the bomb as avpreeaution. and at 8:45 the shrouded in the gray parachute, reached the Petrel's deck. “Thank God, we finally did it!” Admiral Guest remembered saying at the time: Navy and Air ‘Force ordnance connected i its. ..electrical plugs “Only then did; the. Admiral (flash word of, the recovery to Sixth Fleet headquarters. 1 “I wanted to identify the (weapon myself and be damned (sure we really; had it this time,” THE BOMB AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA: Hydrogen bomb that fell into Mediter ranean after crash of U.S. Air Force jets is wrapped in its parachute in underwater photo taken from one of the, recovery crafts.. Radar device of recovery craft is at the bottom. Thus ended the long, expen-1 | volved 16 ships, the three sub-I | mersibles, 2,500 sailors and 701 (operation exceeded the scope of I ling that for the submarine 1 (Thresher three, years ago, and I ( that it had produced a wealth ( of new knowledge about the] While the sea search', was I (for the bomb on land and hadl llage of Palomares, where .thel (three other bombs had landed) | after the air collision. Now, the fourth bomb, packed! [will be returned by ship to the! . The admiral was asked if he! | attempt had failed. I Would have tried until we sucArticulate and Pleasant The admiral, although ex- | articulate and pleasant as usual j las he told of the final' hours. | | Most -of the time after hel | formed Task Force 65 on Jan. I 123 to coordinate the search he| Short and squat, reminiscent 1 I of a bulldog, he wore a dark] | Navy pilot to sink a Japanese | | He likes to.. Work with maps! I and charts, and he is proud not r I only of the bomb’s reeoyqry but] I we first eame to Ealpmares. Wei I had to; chart-.the sea at the hot-| 1 tom from scratch, just as Vasco|