Operation Crossroads: Able & Baker Day Tests Part 1 of 2

Operation Crossroads: Able & Baker Day Tests Part 1 of 2 Presented by Commander of Joint Task Force One Military film re atomic tests at Bikini Atoll carried out by US Army, Air Force & Navy in co-operation w/ Manhattan Engineering District to check effects of an atomic blast on shipping. Long rolling title explains operation. 10:59:11 Aerial views Bikini w/ various ships anchored in lagoon including USS Nevada; President’s Evaluation Commission views final preparations for test ABLE; military vehicles & equipment lashed to ship’s decks; animals put on deck to substitute for humans. Steel observation towers on atoll - film cameras set up in lead & concrete boxes. Sign ‘Ebeye Bikini Air Line’ w/ picture of atomic blast over earth. Naval PBMs lined up to remove personnel. 11:01:32 Navy Secretary James Forrestal comes aboard USS Mount Mckinley, greeted by Vice Admiral Blandy, Commander of Task Force One. Crews abandon ship inc. Captain Bibby of USS New York. Command ships leave target area to observe blast. 11:02:44 Dawn over neighboring atoll of Kwajalein, 01Jul46 - ABLE day. USAAF planes taxi & take off inc. B-29 & C-54 photographic planes. Bomb-carrying aircraft B-29 ‘Dave’s Dream’ on runway - silhouette - takeoff. Bomber in flight above clouds - air to air shots. 11:04:24 Navy camera planes & PBM flying boats loaded w/ stills cameras - take off accompanied by Air Force photographic planes. USAF drones prepare to take off from Eniwetok Atoll. Navy F6-F pilotless control planes catapulted from deck of carrier USS Shangri-La. Aircraft flying overhead. 11:06:21 Good shots observers wearing goggles waiting for blast including TV cameraman. Aerial of blast gauges parachuted into target area from weather & instrument planes. 11:06:52 Bomber over target - blast & ‘white-out’ - mushroom cloud seen in center of atoll - shots repeated in slow motion & from various cameras positioned on ground. 8-mile high cloud column. Bomber comes in to land at base on Kwajalein & film unloaded from photographic planes. Air Force drones land on Eniwetok - radioactive dust bags removed. Navy F6-F drones flown back to Bikini by mother control planes & landed by operator at control tower; filters removed for analysis - cases opened w/ long metal rods. Nuclear / Atomic Weapons; Bomb Testing - Pacific; Post-WWIII; Science;