Memo to Distribution, Subject: Reports on Evacuation of Natives and Surveys of Several Marshall Island Atolls (Encls; Re: Same Rongelap, Ailinginae, Utirik Atolls, 3/5/-24/54)

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JOINT TASK FORCE SEVEN SUBJECT: Leparts on Evacuation of Natives and Surveys of Seveml Marshall Island Atolls RG 326 US ATOMIC ENERGY TO: See Distribution 1. Reference is made to letter this headquarters, J-3/729.3, subject: Radiological Surveys of Several Larghall Island fitolisjaatea 1!3~arc&195L 2. Attached herewith for your tifonnation and retention are copies of additional reports and memoranda pertaining to the above reference. graphy was accor.plishedon various phases of the initial Fre-evac~ation surveys and on the reception of natives at Kwajaleti. Contact black and white prints of the still photography are being prepared as furtier .raterial to document the native evacuation effort. These prints will net be of Professional qua~ty aridwill be forwarded primarily to indicate the o~’er-a~ and ,notion~icture coverage, may be procured in accordance with &_rieXT tO graph 2b, Annex T covering Distribution and Control of photographic materials by the Atomic Energy Comission and the Department of Defense.

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HASL, NYOO (c/o Mgr Opns) (2 cys) USS NICHOLAS (DDE-449) (1 Cy) Report by CO USS PHILIP, Ser 001, subj: Evacuation of Rongelap and Ailinginae Atolls on 3 Nar 54, dtd 5 Mar 54. Report by CO USS FdLSWi, Ser 038, suhj: Report of Evacuation of Natives, Utirik ~toll~ Report by CO USS NICHOLAS, (and 1st Ind by Report by CO CSS NICHOLAS, Ser 054, subj: Report of Rongelap Survey Trip, 25-26 !!er54, dtd 23 Mar 54. H/R: Miscellaneous Radsafe Surveys of Rongerik.

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From: Commanding Officer To: Commander, Task Group 7.3 Subj: Evacuation of Rongelap and Ailinginae Atolls on 3 Ii!arch1954; Ref: (a) COMT.4SKGROUF7.3 Disp 0208482 of March 1954 Erwl: (1) Passenger lists of evacuees from Rongelap and Ailinginae (2) Radiological statistics reported by monitor teams, Rongelq and Ailinginae Atolls (3) Location of water cisterns,.Rongelap Island F la In compliance with reference (a), the PHILI? got underwey from Bikini at 2145[ on 2 March end arrived and anchored off Rongelap Island in the lagoon at 0730M on 3 March. A PBLf-5A(VP-29) aircraft, No. 2085, piloted by LCDR “WELCHwhich previously had been dispatched from Kwtialein anchored about 100 yards off the beach of the sam island shortly before the PHILIP anc’lored. Prior to anchoring, the PEW, in good radio communication w-iththe PHILIP, made a thorough recomaissamce flight aro~d the atoll. Also OE departure the previous evenixg, the Commanding Cfficer of the PC 1546 offered much valuable navigational and general information which was of great help to the PEILIF. 2. The beach party including the Comanding Officer, Zxecutive Officer) “;.VLX,civilian representative of the Civil Akinistration Unit, l~~rshdls Trust Territories of Pacific Islands, and Oscar De3r~., llush~~ese inout danger to the boat. 3. The party was met at the bench by John, the Ha=istrate of Zongel%p. ~jonitori~gof the island commenced immediately. On the besis of initial re~dings it appeared obvious that evacuation was defir.it~lyin order. eral picture based on monit~ring inf’o=iation,smd on being informed that emphatic re~arting the need for ev~cu~tion. Through the interpreter

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it was explained that it was to the best interests of the Rongelap people to leave the ztoll end that the PHILIP was there for that purpose. Mr, Wilds was present during all the conversation with John the Magistrate end was of much assistance as clso was LCDR V. L. WRTHA, Executive Officer of the PHILIP whose Majuro Island Government background proved very helpful in convincing the Marshallese that they should leave. 4. The information that the people would le~ve Rongelap was passed very quickly. Each person was asked to bring a small handbag as tho only baggage since the monitors ’readings indicated c high dosage on sleeping mats, paJm baskets, and other personal belongings. It is ccmsidered very important that once the accepted lexder is established and identified that all requests be made through him without exception~ w This procedure expedited the entire oper~tion. 5. It was decided to utilize the PBH to transport the elderly and the sick to Kwaj alein. John designated sixteen (16) persons and this party v:-.~embarked in the aircraft in about ~ hour and a half after the perty first landed. These passengers are listed in Enclosure (1) which 6. Fort’wately, the Narshallese ware not reluctm,t to leave the isle.nd. dzdc?ed that all of the ?eopls would soon ba providzd the nscessmy lee. Twc emchors were dropped and tt’.cboat ~ppearad to be in good holding 7, The forty eight (4~) rem~inir.gK?rshallese were tr’asported vic two -hip’s whale boats to the PHILIP. Nams of svacuses are listed in “tier.teams oristation ready to guide the passengers to the ds-con.tmiaaaft and after a thorou~h shower clenanclothss wers rzciily avail?ble at bezn as effsctive.

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men provided temporary shelter under a canvas tmp~ulin rigged on the 01 level betv=en the stacks. Cots were avzilcble zs seats in both ,locations. The after officerrs head and washroom, a short distance from the torpedo room was designated for use by the women nnd children. The men had the use of the after crewfs head and washroom. Tha separation of the Mmshdlese was mendatory dus to the limited space available in the torpedo room. A continuous 24 hour sentry watch, all petty officers, was set at both locations to insure privacy end to assist in any rsquasts made by the Mc.rskallzse. 10. All childran were provided milk shortly oftar da-contanin~tion. The Marshallese went through the regular mess line fur meals and hud the s~e ration as the craw. The mat course was the least popular, The m~ority of the p~rty asked for more soup, bread md vegetables. Hot soup was most in demcnd. Ice cream was”the naturnl favorite of @- ill the children. 11. The contaminated clothing was washed in the shipls laundry with Twelve (12) cots and two (2) stretchers were set up in the torpedo room of 3.02 Roentgens, with a maximum rexling of 3.65 Roeritgcns. Honitor teem statistics are included in enclosure (2). It wzs lucky the.tthis 14. Six (6) smpl~s of water ttien from.v.=lIson Ron.gelaph~ve been forw.rded in compliance tith reference (b). Approxincto locations of wells are indicated in e~closure (3). ,

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15. The ship then procc~ded to Ailinginc,eAtoll. The Ycgistrate believed it possibla that a party was on Enibti Island, A party WaS lcmded, conducted n thorough search but found no one. The ship remzined in the vicinity of Enibuk while tha two whale boats procczdcd to Sifo Islmd. A sloop WRS sighted mchorcd in the lagoon off Sifo the need for le~ving Rongelap. Eighteen ?18) Marshdlese war. trmsportad from this island. Both this group, end John, assured the party evacuation wss considered conplst~d.” The sloop wss mchored off the islmd in a good lea. The ssuneprocedures for handling the 18 cv~cuces from Sifo were followed as described in the prccaeding pmagrnphs. were disembarked during the morning of 4 Mcmch md removed to the lj~val _ Stction, Kw~j~lcin, nnd rspresontatives of Conmamder Joint Task Force 17. In spite of the Willingness of the people to l>ZVS their hones therz was understcmd~ble co~czrn over th~ sefety of the two sloops left t~$~djir>tio~.cf their evacuation, the co~.ce.~Aov~r the above items will i~. It is r:corrnendedth~t aircrdt periodically check the ccndition psrson~l-bclcmgings on Rongelap, Sifo~ Eninetok. Thsre is c possibility d?r~cmdirigm,d zxer.plwy in conduct. It V:ZSa distinct plaasure for the crew of the F31LIP to havz b~en dfordad the opportunity to assist thzsz

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%Fleet Post Office h Reply Refer to To: Commander Task Group SEVZh’POINT THREE Subj: Report of Evacuation of Natives, Utirik Atoll, 4 lda~h 1954 Encl: (1) Inforralliarrative of Evacuation of Utirik Island Natives 1. In accordance with reference (b), enclosure (1) is submitted heretith. 2. A limited number of photographs wer~ taken of some phases of the evac ation by the ship’s official photographer. These are not being processed and it is later planned to submit prints as a supplement to this report. 3. The four drh.king water samples ,mentionedin enclosure (1) as obtained from the regular living area, Utirik, were delivered to CJTF 7 on 8 Larcn

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UTIRIK ATOLL, MAhSHALL ISLALDS Having received orders,at just before dawn on s Uarcil1954, to proceed to Utiri~ fitol~,tne Henshaw, immediately departed from the patrol area north of Eniwetok ~toll and set course eastward to pass south of Bikini enroute. Speed was adjusted to arrive at daylight the neti day and the LOO nile voy~ge was completed without incident. tions, tide tables and alJ possible sources of information on the Atoll were searched and ~vialy studied. Qthough the decision that the natives would be evacuated was not known on board until late in the night of the 3rd, plans were firmed up for handling the people. S.-vera.lschemes were p’~tforward but the final plan was made with the invaluable knowledge and assist~]ce of Z. K. Trybaj B!iCjUS. He had served a tour of duty in t.r’ustterritories west of the Karshalls and Piadexperience in evacuation of natives, Pher estirated arrival ~;asnot until OL1330i[,hence plans were made for the ~ssibility of receiving on board Renshaw all the reported 180 riativ.sof TF,eappraach to the target Atoll was made from the westward and north of ‘ Taka Atoll which is only 4 miles SW of Utirik. It was sighted at about 0630.. or.the morr.in~of h larch and course was set southeastward to p~ss between V:CFassed close to the reef on the westerm side in order to get a lcok at l.ltirikFzssLge. There was no thought of entering this cknnel inas,mch as Sailing Directions were very definite that r.ostip larger th= a FC should Lake the atte,r.pt.I;ever.heless,a look was desired to determine if charted boats entering the lagscn or perhaps even the DE sh,ouldit b. found too danH! ft. drag aft wculd clear the charmcl about 3 ft. if the charted depths C.Cl,would be about like that of Russian roulette. Upon xmur,dingthe S,;tip of the Atoll, course was set eastvard to skip. the reef alor.E:P: Soutnern leg which appeared to offer the best lee from .;iir,dand surf for the evzcuatior.. Fortunately the weather was exce~ticnally to at about 5G3 yds just south of Utirik Is.j the largest of the Atoll and had not arrived nor had an ETA been received.

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to prvceed at once as best we could until the trust officials arrived or if necessary without them. It was hoped that we might find a missionary, a pidgin English native or even a trust repr.smtztive ashore. in charge. tiewas to try tp get ashore as soon as possible, organize the natives for evacuation and determine the best location and means for the evacuation, Included in this party were the Fkdsafe Officer, monitor, hospitalman, sigmzlmm, etc. J*Ssoon as this party shoved off, a second ;~?it~ was launched with the Gunnery Officer in charge, who was to search along the reef for a bre~ or a more.favorable spot for szfe boat handling in the Now, as the boats left the ship, we commenced execution of our plans for receiving the natives on board. liwnifigswere rigged on the fantail with side strips from the deck to the redge I“OFeS. bdfitional life lines were rigged for the saf~ty of children. Fore md aft and vertical accesses to the fantail were closed or ruped off and awnings rigged where necessery to ensure privacy for the nztives. The entire crw:!s washroom and ticadaft ation inasmuch as this is the ship’s main station for this purpose. k. outand sufficimt clean dungaree shirts, tr~’;ssrs,etc., were rziscd by m by closing off access to a 3“ gun tub. l;e plarmed to tether chickens to life lines on the 01 declcand let the dogs roar.free amongst the poFulace. . Xeanwhile, the tiecutivc Officer ?.ndps.rtyApproached ths south shore here and clse::h,erehas a continuous outer peri:.cterof table re.fs extending in no progress. Cor,siderablehmor and some cmatm were cvo~eci2t sigfitof around but makin~ no progress. It was later det~r~~ti,edtk.~.tthe lir.efran

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Utirik Is. After establishing radio comrwnications ~;ithth~ plane and ascertaining the n’umberof passengers, the &ucutive Officer was directed to cross over to the lagoon side and use the rubber raft or any means to land the plane passengers. \Jith tha friendly help of the cooperative natives, the X.O. with the robber raft, Set out in an outrigger canoe towards the seaplane in the lagoon. But just as hc arproachcd the plane it taxiied away apparently not distinguishing him amng the nltivcs. It had been sug~ested to tileplane that if hc had difficulty landing passengers in the lagoon, hc might try landing outside the lagoon near the ship. Upon hearing this suggestion, the ~l~me took off immediately and after one try} a tr~m~ndous bounce, another circle and approach, landed near the ship about ()’?l~li, Meanwhile, the gig having disembarked the Executive Officer was instructed by him to proceed east~;ardabout 500 ~-ardsto a small cove where the natives said landinSs could be made with r.orcease and safety. This was done but calling it a covc is a misuse of the term. Ease and szf~ty did not se~m to fit the situation either but it did appear less dangerous. By using the Zncnor to se~’;;ardthe gig was slowly worked up to th~ reef edge where the F.adsafeOfficer and his tean diser.bark=dand waded e.shore to the sane friendly wclccme, handshakes and “Good Lfoming” from every nativ~’. large and smll. During this tine the Executive Ofiicer had returned to the beach from the lagoon and his try at re~eiving Kthe pl~~e p3.ssmgers and a vis~d the native chief to prepare his people for evacuation. Sori,~of th~ assistance in this. At this time the ship was advised by the X.0, of the necessity for evacuation on southern and se2v/ar.lside of Utirik Island and that native boats would be of no practical assistance. The Gunnery Offic&r . in the WB, after searching for several.miles zlong the south lec of tklc

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While this was going on the Radsafe Officer and his team were making their survey with ra~iac-imstnunents AN/PDR-2’7E. The first readtilgstaken wore on the eeaward side of the “islandwhere intensities of 110 mr (with out shield) were indicated along the foot path connecting the seaward side of the island to the village on the lagoon side. Upon arrival at the village, several natives were monitored with the.following readings common to all; over all body 100 mr (with and without shield), hands 100 mr (with and without shield), gone.ds105 mr with shield and 110 .mrwithout shield, feet 115 m with shield and 120 mr without shield. Since the readings in the air ova? the entire middle section of the island was lCKlmr, it is believed that the 100 m readings stated in this repofi were due to background intensity effects. Other items monitored in the village and their intensities were; th:tched roofs 125 rnrwith shield, 130 mr without shield, 4 water samples from wells 100 mr with and without shield, all food with exception of coconuts 100 m with ardwithout si.i~ld,coconuts m their various forms of preparation rmg~d without shield. A short field trip was,made into the undergro~{thand grass without shield, were found close to the grcundj indicating concer.tr.tedad coreelpieces SOT1e10 yards into the lagcon where the water gave a 50 m rezding with and wit~io~tthe shield. ‘Ther,ospitaliwmwas assigned the tax of Wter from 4 of …