Lieutenant-Commander George Earl IV has claimed that he dumped radioactive Waste off the Atlantic seaboard on three flights in 1947. Lt-Commander Earl said he disclosed the radioactive dumping because of the U.S. Government's apparent lack of concern over the possibility of the cannisters leaking. Luckily only the weapon's explosive material detonated.
Nothing is known of attempts to recover the nuclear weapon and presumably it is still in the ocean.
The bomb case was demolished and some high explosive material burned. The nuclear components of the weapon were recovered and returned to the Atomic Energy Commission. The high explosive portion of the weapon aboard detonated on impact. No nuclear capsule aboard the aircraft. Due to an in-flight aircraft emergency, a weapon containing a capsule of nuclear material was jettisoned over water from an altitude of 10,500 feet.