DAMAGE TO TARGET

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26214, 26 July 1946, Page 5

DAMAGE TO TARGET

THE ARKANSAS SUNK OTHER VESSELS LISTING BIKINI, July 25, Of the target fleet of 88 vessels, the United States battleship Arkansas was sunk, and some smaller vessels disappeared. Damage was inflicted on the Japanese battleship Nagato, and the American vessel Saratoga listed badly. 3o far as could be seen when, the observation fleet had moved to within five miles of Bikini Island no damage had been suffered by the other target vessels.

According to one commentator, the palm trees on the islands were almost all destroyed, possibly by the blast wave that immediately followed the explosion. Mr William Lawrence, scientific observer on board the Appalachian, who is the only man in the world who has seen the detonation of four atomic bombs, described the explosion as the most awe-inspiring, the most terrifying, and the most beautiful spectacle that has ever been seen by human eyes on this earth. This underwater explosion of the atomic bomb produced in rapid succession phenomena so spectacular, so varied, and so magnificent, and of. such magnitude, that it was difficult to follow what actually did take place in the short time available. Describing the explosion as the greatest that had ever been devised by man on this he likened its effect to a detonation of 50,000 tons of T-N.T. This represented the conversion of a very small amount of matter to energy, probably only the equivalent weight of a dime. The first impression was of a great pall of fire which quickly vanished, then arose a huge mountain of water, with a base width of three to five miles. From this base arose a huge stem illuminated with many colours, and this kept expanding and expanding. It presented a strange picture, as that of a great range of mountains rising from the ocean, a sight such as has never been seen since the world was young. Mr Lawrence said that the bomb was equal to the bomb exploded over Nagasaki, which had been the most powerful exploded so far.