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Declassified record · U.S. Department of Energy

Daily Diary, Castle Operation Jan. 11, 1954 - May 11, 1954 (Deleted)

Dated
May 11, 1954
Document type
Diary
Length
201 pages
Open the original scanArchive record OSTI ID 16383945 · public domain

Document text

Machine-read from the scan, so expect some errors. Lines that couldn’t be read are left out.

Page 1

1. Find rolluploadingon LST 1167 and LCM1sunde-ay. 2, Will load I/X’s on LSD by 1800 hours. 3. LST loadednow but needs to tie equipmentd-. Ready for saflhg tomorrw pleted at 1200 hours. 5* TG 7.1 and !IC7.6 Bikinitransfereeto the USNS AINWORTH at 1600 hours.

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4. Scrap iron and Project2.4 bar~e will sail approximately2100 with 7* TISNSAIM=ORT? may be readyfor departureat 1900 hourstomorrw. 1 P. departedon USS BELLEGROVE for Elmer.

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3. All EG&G clearedexceptHow; do not need additionalmen. 59 Schuchrecoverycompleteas well as roll-up. 7. USNS AIN~OR~till re=in mtil Wednesdayas requested. 3recovezyat noon tonorrowand have YCV 1080 resi 10. TG 7.1 strengthreducedby three today.

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3. departedaboardUSS BELLEGROVE for Elmer.. & l-STbeing loadedwith view of sailingon Wednes&y. 5. Decontaminationcontinuedon boatiwhich have 1ess than lash% 7. Projectl.~ mi6sionis beingheld up until tomorrow. icularlythat loadedin INMt6 and vehicles. 9* _..--- and have been doinga good job on persmnel protection.

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1. YANKEEDIUS Ixo activitieslimitedto planningand preparationfor 3* ‘- and Project1~~ recoveriesbeingheld up until nothem water clears. h. Capt held profhtableconference with all interestedgroupsto 6. departedvia DDE for Elmer. e. Planslaid on to accomplishfollotingtomorrow: any msjor scientificgear for recove~ in *o or threemon*80 Believeall such TG 7.1 eq’~ipment,withoutradiationdanger,will be aboardMT or WU by 10 May.

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Data recoverycompletedfor Stations1550,13&?, and Rejects l*2a, EMG 3. Splendidcopter teamworkmade recoverywork possible~ 6. Watt source has alsobeen loadedaboardthe USS CURTISS. 7. Project1.4 plans @ use YCV1OB1 as can and gear trensportto Elmer. 8. Decontamir.ntionof LCU 278 and 279 delayeduntil 1730,but one good . 9. Personnelstrengthas of tonight.

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Rad-Safesmvey by Ogle wae conductedat 1035. Surveyreportso of 1200 Marine Rampwashed out. 2 mileu south Able 800 at 500 fee% 6. USS ESTES departedat 1830 hours for Elmer requestedby With the departureof the USS to the USS CUR’ITSS. 7. Shipsreturn to anchoroff Nan tomorrow at 8. USS CURTISSwill departtomorrowat 2000 hourswith recoverydab and a-milableat Ehiwetokthreeor four operatingcoptersif YG ’791requiredthem If no req’~irementsukmitted,?G 7.4 would continuepolicyof continuallypetiofing =intenme on copterscurrentlyat Mwetok.

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DAILY DIA3Y BIKINI ATOLL at 200, Is ‘ore opti=istls of readiness has h~d complete electr~nics checl. believes all ready and 4. Mist cargo on LST 1157. 5. cp moved to Estes during morning.. % 6. departed at 1700 hems.

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DAILY DI~Y BIKINI ATOLL on Dog thru George. installed Yatiee gages at 3 surviving staticns. until Yankee recovery. 3.2 com~leted Union swvey found crater flat bottomed 26 feet. 1.2a about 2000 ft and depth below Prior ‘eesurement ~~d”~alibrated gages. 1.2a will activate oboe tomorrow. 2. 1.6 only made copter reconnaissance. 3* 3 persomel of 6.6 embarked PC 1546 for Rongerlk. for 1500 anh 1342 good. % 5. =tation 40 in true position at 16OO today. signal runs tomorrow at 15@O_ 7. Station 1210 (~att) equipment evacuated. returned Q and retwn Elmer tomorrow. 99 Local and Joshua comuicaticns not good today fro~ Cutiss.

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1. 1.2a prepered for the rehibllitation of 120.05 end 131. 1.2b . . reconnaissanceshowed 3 staticns were m:sslng and several damaged. Recovery romorrow and Till reactivate 3 statlcns and 2 gages each. 2.5b assembled all gear on Nan. 1.4 cent nued NOL can vork. 2.2 completed rollup with following results: 2 Dog stations mere ok. Easy washed out and partial data was obtained fro-mthe Fox-Geor&e StatiOnS* {3.4 comple ed except for2 strings. 3.2 completed survey of Koon. It is expected that Union “;-illbe cozpleted to:orrow. 2. Stat-ion40 vas moored by 16OO but found to be lCOO ft north of desired position. This was doe to an error in the gyro compass. Corrective actirn W2S taken Irncediately. ZSOO report by indicate it will be completed by 1000 tomorrow. T.’illkeep you informed but v’e are optimistic at present, l 39 Preparation for rollup stressed vith all projects today. Station 1210 will evacuate tomoryow with 4 !)UITsend 2 LCUS. 4. Found severly damaged jeep lCO ft. off Nan IJartne ramp in 10 5* Can release Estes Yankee day. Linsmcrtk.plus 1 and C’urtiss plus ,2. AII at 2200 hours. 6. Complete roll.upby PIUS 5 of 6. 7. arrived Eairoko today.

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1. 2.5b completed except Oboe and Love stations. 2. 2.5a returned samples to Elmer as final operations. 3. 1.4 recovered 2 NGL cans. 1 has had record. They recovered all ball crusher strin s except two. 5 3.4 continued recovery on 10000 ft string. 34ocIand 6 00 have been recovered. 2.2 reconaisance ‘ndicated Dog-George stations ok. Easy filled with vater and Fox detector 4. 2.1 only lacking 2 of 17 fihr badges. Project now completed at Bikini. 3.2 trailer now in 1348 and prepared for survey. Other project preparing Yankee. EG&G timing station on George con?letel. reP~fred by it will present at least 3 R to equipment and operators. 7. 1342 ok vith LCU nov:off George. 8. Scrapiron is rscding 3000 ix. ~f”il:wash down tcrorro’w. 9. Station 40 mooring all completed. 10. r~fuesl ti~.errorfrom 0700 to 14C@ and vill be off Station 40 on return. 11l spent the day at Station 70 leaving In<ern at 0700, transferred to the Iceberg. replaced on the informed me that JF-8097, received to~ay ras a security

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obtained negative results because batterY to remove~ covered leav~.ng4 NOL cans and crusher geges will retwn to Elmer ~’:ithsamples tomorrov.. 2.~ photo mission and recovery completed ready for rol:up. but heve not located 2000 ft. string. They are flnd~ng anomolus and Smith boats ready. cleaned and prepared for equi~ment recovery. 7. 3.2 trailer to be unloaded fror ~~-inswrothtc LCU 1348 tcmorrow, Un<er adverse conditions 2 station 40 moorings ~igna~”cable ready to attach= Tin.ng station on George is to be 10. A~MWort~ 1300 arrival very helpfd perclttlng

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DAILY DIARY BIKIN1 ATOLL in ground and 1.4 DTllBcan all complete. Felt data developed and reported good. 2*% recovered ln Fox, George, Love ad How. All negative results except How. 1 Russian curshed, 1 mine filled with water and beth show scorching. Five more recovered with no repert. 4* 18 passengers’and data departed on Rehshaw for Elmer. 5. Beth cables good from Nan thru George. Sugar-Tare stations to get work tofiorrowo If Ainsw%rfib.does not returm Friday morning Yankee operations till be seriously hampered. Suggest 551 take h place If Nectar Is delayed. ‘%Yankee marker bouys new set. Will pr- eed with moorings tomorrow. LSD departs tomorrow with LCU 638 and Tatt trailer. Need its return with other Watt trailer. H&X report Tare airstrip now ready for Deflectors. 6, FtIlllength to barriers clear with 106 ft. width. Will increase width to 150 ft. temecrew morning. 7. All passengers will heve to be ceptered until At.nswo::bret~s to Nan anchorage. 8, Have hopes of timing signals Sunday. 9. Reactivation of 1550 starts tomorrow. Both generators now

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DAILY DIARY BIKII?I ATOLL 1. Considerable recovery, under strict RadSafe control, was 2. Project 1.6 lbtained good records from their short recorder on How and fair ones from I?an. Other ??an rec~rds were damaged. FOU of water except Nan-Charlie. stations obliterated. Three on samples and 1.4 recovered recovered wtth negative results because 2.5a recovered Han and How. All other rafts recovered one with good results 1 NM can at 7580 foot station. 4. Experiencing some difficulty ln DTMB can but expect to 5. 3.4 marker buoys observed to b; In place. T 6e early recovery completeb very successful and continuing to analyze. Program 18, EGG and completely recovered. report for area survey resultsO 8. Ajc,sq~.~*~;departed 2040. All personnel necessary for missions transferred to ether shfps in the area. 9. Phi,]ipdeparted 2000 with approximately 30 passengers and data aboard. Have requested LSD depart here Thursday for Sta. 4U. 10. lWV fnltiates submarine cable rehabilitation and airstrip 11. Recommend following Yankee critical events$ Curtiss and YCV depart 1400,-Ean sh<.psl~O; arm 1600; Clark plus boat crews 1830 will copter to Nan then to Bairoko which Is 6 miles at sea from Nan thence to Estes 10 miles from Nan. TMs allows realtstic the for . .

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UNION detonated at O61O hours 26 April with suooess. Ho fallout was deteoted on ships in the area. started his survey at 1235 hours with the following information gained: Radiation levels: TARE - 8 MR ground Considerable rubble on the Tarestrip which estimated would take t~o days to clear~ It is hoped-that”-t&~b will be finished and plans landing Thursday. Considerable water wa~e action over Tarestrip and around Station Recovery mlsslons started at.approximately 1400 hours with the EG&G partial at Nan. Power failure at 0900 at Nan affected the Joshua net end elevator on Station 70. This fall~e was due to water in power phnt. The power was repaired at 2230 but Joshua net remained out. All ships were back in Nan anchorage at 1630 hours. cm 7.1 shifted CP to the CURTISS at 1900 ho~g. 7.1 personnel transferred as follows: and Samples to the CURTISS. to the AR?S170R~. Estes departed for-Eniwetok at 2000 hours. 100 MIl at 25 Feet - YCP 1000 km at 200 no - Jig

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Airstrip oovered with boulders caused byuater wave esthated at 12 feet in lagoon side with 1* foot water over airstrip. J-3 persomel at Bikini are waiting excitedly for premier Of fib

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DAILY DIARY - BIKENI ATOLL Routine UNION minus two with recreation parties dispatched. Reoei~ed word at 1225 that today was UNION minus 1. All persomel and ships were alertedo Operational Letter #14 modified to meet situation. and EGG inspected ftial closeout of stations. *eject 3.4 oom.pletedU@JIg all mines. 1.4 and 1.6 reported ready as well as all other experimenters. CUR~SS depmted 1735, UNION armed 1940; firtig party with boat crews secued on ES~ 2220. Reentry plan under present disposition planned. reported to the EWES. ml passengers from Eniwetok llf~ed by copters direot to Sta ons Weather outlook at 2330 not too good for firing.

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At 0530 we were notified that today was NECTAR and UNION tiUS 2. Boat and Copter requirements were light. Arrangements mere firmed on Station 30 on protection from NECTAR Timing signals satisfactory. met at Tarestrip to discuss overall problem of. returns to Elmer tomorrow after Station inspection. 7.1 Bikini requested only one re$lector tomorrow. However , erstand there will be two. 9 No tifig signals tomorrow. :

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~lnus 2 status wntinued vith reasonableactitityticlumg tfig ~s” Frogrm 18 investigattigpossibleradioxinterfermceon titig signal. An infoti meetingwithPogo and TU ~ was held to discusslessonsle=md

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me prolongeddelws =e 2 considerableconcernto 1.4 becauseof instmmn tation H & N cmtinud naimtenm ce of generators. BAD.OKOwent to sea for 6 homs with cofl:r retmd to the UJR~SS for J-3 North.

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me 1500 signalruns were successM. the USS BAD.OKOwoti stayhere. de~~ted for the USS CZ..TIS5at 1300 and is now cover~ng

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at sez 5-ua 24 hour delay conditionthet we were ROW. AH shipsrecenteredthe lagoon at MWO. The USS CL%TISSwill re:-.a-het I!Al!

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IIHLY !)143-!- BIKIH ATOLL UKXX bus 2 activitieswere psrfomed smothly and includedfinalinstm- ~s~ion. %caus e of the unexpectanqof this mfssion sone difficultywas encountered I?ordwas receivedtodaythat therewould be no securityswee~of the atoll tGnonolT. Thishas not been verified. A lTZ was receivedheadliningall co~ers for a 2 hour inspection. This was no objectionto naming YAG 39 under the conditionsestablished. Fro&ran18 How generatorfailedand the replacenmt generatorwas er.route

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Therewas continusdprogresson all projects with emphasison to reduce the n@er of plannedcapter missionsfor minus one. Time, These were testedthis eveniqg, * a ordinatim was effectedzt Stztion70. yfj remained aboardUSS TherewiIJ be no Voice b Erpdcast m tmorrow?s 1000 signal Col arrivedand rejxrtedto the USS EAIROKOfor J-3duties

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for all d ations has mde sme pogress but M ‘dewof the 15 April

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I%ograrI 2 conpleted their FlyawayFour samplerecovq. Sampleswere shippedon the ProJect 1.8 recoveredjeepson TARE and transportedtoMN. Jeeps are scheduledfor Ro ject 1.2bis still contintig theirrecovery. Rejects 2.2 and 3.1 completedtheirimmediateremveries. and tour apparentlywas successful. Rain here reducedBGDnGE chainratiationmterially. conferenceresulted h that the AIM .IRTHwill de~rt 1900, 10 April,and fieryoneagreed on the UEITISS,YCV and STATION30 plans; till use CU3TISS new generator=ue scheduledto be in positionby IMO. is scheduledto nove aboardthe CURTISSupn de~rture of the ES’l%S.A redew of cne fourthof the load becauseof the type of d qcraft. Balanceof the load will be on the Station30 is now ~siti oned with one signalcableattaded. The secondcablewII-2be c2usedI:attsonetroublesincehe couldnot set into his station. .

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repw to pery that UICIONreadiness~as questionableand statedthat is now on the 123TB.

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- LCU with Eiggersand sourceis now in Georgeposition. Felt has now reactivat~ LSD was loadedand departed at 1500 with RAYDIST eqtipmt for use in FhiwetokArea. conducteda conferencewith Navy l’Me FrojectPersomel to insurecoordination. Had en emergencyhelicopterM ding on DOG. Quickrepairof this copteralleviatedthe George1003;CU3TTSSde&t 1200, other ships1300- 1400;arm UYION 1500; Clark 1515 to George by LCH to NAN by copter; suppcrt.ingLCWs with WX’:!SarriveIW; 1730 thence - to have Amuu bus one time. and concur.

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localrein. KCON was detonatedon schedule made his survqy and found the following: 6-10R in M chain and of coursein the irmediate&ater area. Fatie I recover?was nade on Troject 1.6. . ~ccessful.:.A bearerwas used as an assistancein kndirgs. ‘l’hesaqles were reccwewd and returnedto fiedby L!+OO. The aircraLftare now k&itti.gfor refuelingand minorrepair; c. Pl~JsWETe made for the BAROKOtodep~t in the near future for a period of 3 days. The copterswill rezainm Rzm in the absenceof B4ECK0 if and de~rted for EZuer 7 Aptil. dad me sche”d~edto deryartfor Elner 8 Aptil.

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after recei~ 5nformtiono The plan was followedexceptfor the moveufis The added expefient whichre~ti~ LLOOriIXof tiogr~ 18 barge off HUW partyreturnedand was aboard~ 1828 hews. The W7 that bas given for supportsch~fles provedto be vev help3 of othershipsdependupon the s.ituat~onat the tune. Weatheroutlookis not ve~ prdsti,

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F KOONminus three activities again. Experienced light copterndsslons With no changein bating contitionse c tisit apparentlyprovedvev satisfactory conducted a tour for the Ad.uiral~sPaX%YO Meetinguith and to formuhte plan for ~ecautionaKY from this meethg were forwardedto by messageJP -6376. ing signalssnd voicetime runs are scheduledfor 1500 hours;It was requested that the CommanderTask Group7.1 be notifiedof this time and departedfor Ilmr this date,1700 hours to ferencesbeing held there. win be Commanderof 7.1 in the absence of Ogle in the RiMni

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went to andrecoveredhis fUn .-. requestedtodaythat H&N wet down the Nan road b prevent Rad Safe inspectedthe NAN vehiclesituationand reportedthat 7.1 the DX radio on Saturday. today approvedusingthe SIOUX buoy drift study. Ml voice time broadcastswere very satisfactoryherej lnt no report agreed to meet and suppmt plus six hundredpoundson Satur@.— LCU 291 will departfor Georgeapproximtdy 1200 hours for further ATT will departfor IlmerSaturdayeveningwith transprtainer, 15T 551 is e~ect ad to arriveon Saturdaytith the crane ~epared to We~ effortis ~ing made by one petit fourto imsureUIXON readiness; is helpingconsiderablyon this project. plans to departon odr 1200 fight is not preparednow to discussthe ZSTZS ing on the KNIN moves; he plansto discussikthcr

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At nCXlworkwas recuredfmm the sfipacommunicationcehterthat Gemerd plane wdd not stayat Bikini. Since this and the latestweat~ ic an attempt to get offickl word. SinceGeneral it was decidedto wait until the arrival of couldnot be cmtacted decidedit =s at least K-2 so all 7.1personnd were notified at 0815. However, the K-1 activitieswere so far alongthatMUCh efforthad been wasted. No officia1 for the K-1 de~fiwe. Mach effortcmld have bem savedhad some thouglfbeen givento passinsthe uord sooner. group made theirrecoveryon Able at 1~. fie groupreationat the airfieldand removedof samples-or to retuxnto the BA3MIK0. Tne sampleswere retu.medon the 1700 fllghtto Zlmer. to coordinatein pmtidi~ trasportatia for the VIP partyof 20 expected Arrangementswere made b transportthe WZL groupback …

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