Milford chronicle., 1946-07-26
BY WALTER \. SHEAD
WNU Washington Correspondent

ABOARD USS APPALACHIAN.
From military standpoint the rX-
ploSiOn Of the fourth atomic bomb
was a huge success but as a spec
tacle worth travelling $1,000 miles to
see it did not live up to its advance
billing. From the standpoint OF IL
ficitncy and precision the plutouium
bomb WAS dropped squar"ly in the
target area. The advance Weather
predictions held true. II was
dropped ON time To the second The
air drOncS were sent throuGh the
cloud area and shcphcrdcd back hy
their mother ships. The boat dronrs
were sent into the area of radio
activity and brought back VIA radio
control The cameras clicked and
the Instruments built especially to
measure the results OF the blast
worked
But to those of us here aboard
the Appalachian, who had been ori-
eutatcd and l"cturcd day after day
for the past two weeks. who had
interviewed scientists and scicn-
tifiC writer's. the bomb burst and
the atomic cloud were a disurpuiml-
mcnt
The rtcapitulatiOn OF the damage
showed the troop transports Giljom
and CaIliSl" sunk: the destroyer
L.ampson carsizcd: heavy danae,
was done TO the submarine Skate
the light cruiser Pensacola, the ear
ricr Independence. the lap cruiser
SukaWa and the German pocket
battlcShip PrlnH f,UGru Light t'
negligible ddHalr VAS caused on
the Jap batrlrship Naeata. thr bat
tlcShip Nevada the oilcr 80. 49,
and LCM No.l Small tir"S were
started and later cNtjn@uish"d Ol
the destroyer Wilson. th, Pensacola
the transport Bri#cnc. TN" NcNldd
the carrier Saratoga and transport
Niagara Bladrn. Bauta, Butte
Cortland Brackrn and FHun ana
the hattlcship New York EIoavi"s
damage was caused ON Ihr lMdo
pcndcncc and I'll" lrc which hur@
into flames ON hcr stern VAS mon
dramatic 10 watch than tn" bonn
burst insofar as This writer wa
concerned
/ Because the atomic cloud did no
reach the heights achieved in IruNi
ous drops WAS not considered a
F. reflection upon the efficiency OF TIA
= bomb Reasons for tn" rrlatiyoj
> low cloud given were that water I'll
| surhcd much OF the heat vn"r2y an
; the difference in atmoSSh"rir Stru'
! turc was caused 4 slower rise.
. II may be that those of Us Wh
4 stood along the starbuard rail {
the Appalachian were expecting "a
/ much We had been led to b,
: lrvc from many sources TO cNpc'
4 drama and adventure and cXcit,
I mcnt. Let me assure YOU then
was no drama and certainly no cl
e citment. | confess THAI as pull,
the polarizcd plastic goggles ov'
- my eyes as "" heard the sign;
i "bOmbs away | did NOT feel cXcit,
and tense as awaited tn" bias
- 1t came as saw it, we'll ahoN
Q, tn" horizon. a huge orange ball.
II might have been Il tircW0rl
:, display ON the Fourth OF July. Il
>, though not near 50 dazzling
" watched the cloud appearing iii
- nothing moro than a huge chcrI
II ice cream soda. Cream white ,
the surface hut d"cr inside Il
! hucs were pink and rose. and
:, boiled and sccth"d up through
, Cumulous natural cloud which II
&c it from our view. | felt Il sli2ht"pf
~. in my ears but tolt no heat bias
X Seconds later the sound of dcton
20 ti0n came like Il distant peal
m roll of thunder that's all. but Tho
J. We were Is miles away.
y Ten minutes after tn" blast ii
+. cloud had muShr0omcd up to
height of 20 600 foot and WAS n
pr0Ximat"ly 12.000 fcct across +
top. The trade winds soon brnl