Soon after the advent of nuclear weapons, the military was tempted to experience their devastating effects on warships. By October 1945, the United States had developed a plan for the nuclear bombing of the squadron. The main task of the operation, which later received the name Crossroads (Operation Crossroads), was to prove the resistance of the ships to the damaging factors of nuclear weapons, thereby emphasizing the prestige of the fleet and refuting the accusations of the powerlessness of sailors in modern times.
Unlike conventional buildings and ground vehicles, large warships have demonstrated exceptional resistance to nuclear fire. The enormous steel structures weighing thousands of tons proved to be of little vulnerability to the damaging factors of nuclear weapons.
The main reason for the death of ships on Bikini was not so much the explosions themselves, but the absence of any damage control (due to the absence of crews on board). No one put out fires, closed holes and pumped out water. As a result, the ships, having stood for several days, weeks and even months, gradually filled with water, turned over and sank to the bottom.
The very sight of the giant water column at the site of the explosion was undoubtedly frightening. However, all subsequent events in one way or another refute the widespread ideas about the absolute destructive power of nuclear weapons.
Samurai Suffering
“I remember the top of the hill. Cherry branch in hand. And in the rays of the setting sun … "The death of the Japanese battleship" Nagato "is worthy of the pages of the Bushido codex. Having withstood two terrible blows (an air explosion "Able" and, three weeks later, an underwater "Baker"), he quietly capsized on the night of July 29, 1946. The night haze hid the death of the samurai from the eyes of arrogant enemies.
During the first explosion, "Nagato" was at a distance of less than 900 meters from the epicenter (power was 23 kilotons), but the thick-skinned Leviathan escaped with only moderate damage. The paint on the sides was charred, the superstructure's light structures were deformed, and a flash killed the “gun servant” on the upper deck. However, this did not threaten him with the loss of combat effectiveness. As an experiment, a group of specialists boarded the "Nagato" started one of the boilers in the engine room, which worked without stopping for the next 36 hours. The ship retained its buoyancy, speed, power supply and the ability to fire with the main and medium caliber!
The second explosion thundered under water 690 meters on the starboard side, causing terrible damage to the “Nagato” in the underwater part - huge holes through which raging streams of water rushed inside!
What will those who watched the death agony of the battleship tell?
Immediately after the explosion, a “dangerous” roll of 2 ° to starboard was recorded. By the evening, the flooding of the compartments became "irreversible", the roll increased to an incredible 8 °.
Later, experts will establish that in order to create a roll of 8 °, at least 700 tons of seawater (1.5% of its full displacement!) Should have flowed into the “Nagato”.
700 tons in the 10 hours since the explosion means that the average water flow rate was ~ 70 tons per hour.
In other words, the second nuclear explosion (23 kilotons) in the immediate vicinity of the battleship affected it a little more than in any way.70 tons per hour - an emergency batch would be able to eliminate such a problem in the shortest possible time. During the war years, smaller ships took 2-3 thousand tons of water inside the hull in a matter of minutes, but their crews managed to cope with the situation, straighten the ship and safely return to base.
Unlike a torpedo warhead, a nuclear explosion could not destroy the battleship's PTZ and damage the watertight bulkheads in the depths of the hull. A strong hydrodynamic shock only knocked out some of the rivets and loosened the casing sheets in the underwater part, which caused small leaks to open, which initially did not threaten the ship's buoyancy.
If there were even a small team of sailors on board the Nagato, regularly straightening the roll by counter-flooding the compartments of the opposite side, then even without pumping water, the battleship would sink on an even keel not for four days, but at least several months.
In reality, the roll to starboard gradually increased. Four days later, the uncontrolled ship “scooped up” water through the holes in the deck and the upper part of the side and quickly went to the bottom.
Yes, there is one more important detail worth paying attention to. By the time it was sent to the slaughter, “Nagato” (the only surviving LC of the Imperial Navy) had long represented a rusty sieve riddled with American bombs. There is no doubt that no one would seriously engage in repairs and repairs to the damage received by "Nagato" in the last months of the war. The battleship, sentenced to death, underwent only temporary repairs so as not to sink on the way to Bikini Atoll.
He drowned
The second test subject arrived on Bikini from the other side of the world. The heavy cruiser "Prince Eugen" (like his classmates TKR type "Admiral Hipper"), was considered a failure of the German shipbuilding, and such, undoubtedly, was in fact. Large, complex and extremely expensive ship. At the same time, it is poorly armed and poorly protected, with thin armor “smeared” over the entire side area.
However, even this "wunderwaffe" has demonstrated amazing resistance to nuclear weapons.
"Prince Eugen" prepares for the "last parade"
The explosion of the first bomb only peeled off the paint on the side facing the explosion and tore off the radio antenna at the top of the mainmast. The cruiser itself was at that moment at a considerable distance from the epicenter, at a distance of 1600 meters, so it is not surprising that it suffered an explosion without serious consequences.
When the spray and fog cleared from the second, underwater explosion of the Baker, the cruiser's charred box still towered over the disturbed lagoon of the atoll. The damage in the underwater part was so serious that the ship stood without heel and did not even try to sink.
Decontamination of TKR "Prince Eugen"
What happened to the cruiser, why did he end up drowning? This story is full of mysteries. The well-known monograph by V. Kofman says that as a result of a series of explosions, "Prince Eugen" did not drown, received such a high dose of radiation that it made it impossible to find people on board. The cruiser could not be deactivated for several months. The Americans towed the Prince to Kwajalein Atoll for further use as a target for nuclear tests. Finally, five months later, the bilge pumps stopped on December 21, and the last of the German heavy cruisers collapsed on the reefs of Kwajalein Atoll.
But was it really so?
It is known that it took only a few days to deactivate the ships (even those that were much closer to the epicenter at the time of the explosion). A week later, entire commissions of experts were already roaming their decks, assessing the damage received. Why would “Prince” receive such a high dose of radiation that it could not be deactivated within five months?
On the deck of the cruiser Pensacola 8 days after the explosion (650 meters from the epicenter). The radiation safety measures taken are evidenced by the clothes of those present.
What does the phrase “bilge pumps have stopped” mean? For their work, electricity is needed, which means the presence of people in the engine room. How does this fit in with the words about “impossibility of decontamination”?
Why do they conduct a thorough decontamination of a ship, which is intended for further nuclear tests, at all?
The logical explanation may be as follows. The wounds of the old "Prince" were insignificant and did not pose any danger to the ship. Its complete decontamination was not carried out, due to the lack of any sense in this. The captured German cruiser was towed to Kwajalein and left unattended, where its hull slowly, over several months, filled with water until it capsized and sank.
The Japanese light cruiser Sakawa died during the first explosion. Of course, he did not die instantly, evaporating from a powerful flash. “Sakawa” sank for 24 hours until it finally disappeared under water. The shock wave destroyed the superstructure, the hull was damaged and the stern was broken. A fire raged on board for many hours.
And all because “Sakawa” was located 400 meters from the epicenter …
Thundering not far from the place of its sinking, the second explosion "Baker" scattered the wreckage of the cruiser all over the bottom of the lagoon.
During the test "Baker" the battleship "Arkansas" was sunk. It is still unknown what happened to the battleship in the last seconds. A giant water column hid it from the eyes of observers, and when the spray dissipated, the battleship was gone. Later divers will find him lying prone at the bottom, buried under a layer of settled silt.
At the time of the explosion, "Arkansas" was only 150 meters from the epicenter.
Located a kilometer from this place, the submarine "Dentiuda" got off with only a slight fright. A month later, she arrived under her own power at Pearl Harbor and was again returned to service. Subsequently, "Dentiuda" was used as a training submarine until the end of the 60s.
Three boats returning safely from Bikini. Far left - USS Dentuda (SS-335)
Tests at Bikini have shown that submarines are hardly susceptible to kiloton nuclear weapons (such as the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki). Their robust hulls, designed taking into account the water pressure at depths of hundreds of meters, can only be damaged if a nuclear mine is detonated very closely. Even the Skate submarine, located 400 meters from the epicenter, got off only with ruptures of the light hull and damage to the wheelhouse. Despite the injuries received, the strong hull was not damaged and the Skate was able to return to Pearl Harbor on its own.
Finally, the main dessert. What happened to the aircraft carriers Independence and Saratoga participating in the tests? And nothing good: due to their specificity, aircraft carriers are very susceptible to the slightest damage, making it impossible for aircraft to take off and land. And the aircraft placed on the upper deck is the very source of increased danger (kerosene, ammunition).
As a result, both aircraft carriers were disabled.
However, even in the history of "Independence" and "Saratoga" there are many interesting moments. First of all, their severe damage was caused by their close location to the epicenter (during the second test, Saratoga was only 400 meters away). It is worth paying attention to another interesting fact: they received the main damage many hours after a nuclear explosion, when uncontrolled fires reached the ammunition and aviation fuel cellars. Ships have become typical victims of the lack of survivability.
The first air explosion did not have a big effect on the Saratoga, because the aircraft carrier was located two kilometers from the epicenter. The consequences of the explosion were only peeling paint. The planes on its deck were not damaged.
The second Baker explosion was fatal. Saratoga was too close to the site of the explosion of a nuclear weapon. A monstrous wall of water turned it into ruins. The aircraft carrier did not sink instantly, its agony continued for another eight hours. However, talking about the fight for the survivability of the Saratoga would not make much sense: the aircraft carrier in such a state was of no combat value and, in real combat conditions, would have been abandoned by the surviving crew members.
The light aircraft carrier Independence was severely damaged by the first Able explosion. The distance to the epicenter was about 500 meters. As a result …
Russian writer Oleg Teslenko gives an interesting version of this, which contradicts the canonical description of the consequences of the explosion. First, the superstructure of the aircraft carrier. Usually authors, referring to each other, repeat the same opus, allegedly "Independence" has lost its "island". However, it is enough to look at the photo to see that the island superstructure is completely intact. Also, Teslenko drew attention to a completely whole crane towering on the starboard side: if even this long tall structure remained intact, how can we talk about any serious damage to the “island” and the flight deck? Next, the planes: the shock wave threw them into the water. Maybe because they were simply not fixed?
All the terrible destruction was caused by a couple of powerful internal explosions. Some time after the explosion, "Able" detonated the ship's ammunition. The detonation of warheads of bombs and torpedoes did not happen from nuclear fire, it was the result of a powerful fire on the hangar deck, where aviation fuel spilled from burst pipes ignited. Actually, the fire and explosion of kerosene vapors caused the "swelling" of the flight deck.
Despite these circumstances, "Independence" survived the second nuclear explosion! The group of experts who boarded it did not find any leaks in the underwater part of the hull. After measures to deactivate it, the burned still radioactive aircraft carrier was towed to Pearl Harbor, and then to San Francisco. Five years later, Independence, turned into a nuclear waste storage facility, was sunk in the Pacific Ocean.
Paradoxically, even such a miracle as an aircraft carrier can withstand a series of nearby nuclear explosions without serious consequences! If there were a crew on board the Independence, the structure had the necessary protection elements (later introduced on modern aircraft carriers): depreciation, steel pipelines, automatic fire extinguishing and deck irrigation systems, local booking, fire bulkheads in the hangar. The aircraft carrier could remain in service and even retain most of its combat capability!
The main conclusion of this article is the fact that the presence of nuclear weapons (even half-megaton power) in no way guarantees victory in a naval battle. It is pointless to simply “hammer” nuclear charges over the areas (we launch a rocket - and everyone will be finished). Ships are affected only by very close explosions, the deviation should not exceed 1000 meters.
A small remark about "broken radars" - this circumstance is also not a condition for the loss of combat capability. To defeat over-the-horizon targets with long-range artillery and cruise missiles, a radar is not required (the earth is round, radio waves propagate in a straight line). Target designation comes ONLY from external reconnaissance means (aircraft, satellites, known coordinates of ground targets). This, in turn, requires only the presence of receiving equipment antennas on ships, which are easy enough to protect from the consequences of an explosion (retractable foldable antennas, a satellite phone in the commander's cabin, etc.).
Some of the biological aspects of radiation contamination of ships, the practical application of the data obtained and the amazing results of Soviet tests on Novaya Zemlya - all this in the next part of the article.
