1 00:00:08,939 --> 00:00:11,804 TRUMAN [over radio]: The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed, 2 00:00:14,014 --> 00:00:17,362 the like of which has never been seen on this earth."” 3 00:00:17,776 --> 00:00:20,951 MAN [over radio]: 3, 2, 1. Fire! 4 00:00:20,986 --> 00:00:24,679 [explosion]. 5 00:00:25,439 --> 00:00:29,408 NARRATOR: In 1945, America unleashes the horrifying 6 00:00:29,443 --> 00:00:33,205 power of the atomic bomb. 7 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:37,554 Devastating the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 8 00:00:38,417 --> 00:00:42,904 The world will never be the same again. 9 00:00:45,597 --> 00:00:48,013 A year later the U.S. military begins 10 00:00:48,048 --> 00:00:50,671 a series of nuclear tests in one of the 11 00:00:50,705 --> 00:00:54,226 most remote places on the planet. 12 00:00:58,748 --> 00:01:02,407 Nearly 5, 000 miles from the west coast of America, 13 00:01:02,441 --> 00:01:04,719 in the middle of the Pacific Ocean... 14 00:01:04,754 --> 00:01:07,688 Bikini Atoll... 15 00:01:08,723 --> 00:01:11,105 Part of the Marshall Archipelago, 16 00:01:11,140 --> 00:01:14,281 Bikini is a circle of 26 tiny islands around 17 00:01:14,315 --> 00:01:18,664 a lagoon 23 miles across. 18 00:01:20,390 --> 00:01:23,600 Fringed with coral reefs that cling to the rim of 19 00:01:23,635 --> 00:01:27,225 an ancient volcanic crater. 20 00:01:29,089 --> 00:01:31,988 MIKE: Today, Bikini Atoll is one of the most beautiful places in the world, 21 00:01:32,022 --> 00:01:35,612 it's peaceful, it's tropical, it's quiet, 22 00:01:37,718 --> 00:01:39,375 but here is also the location of some of the 23 00:01:39,409 --> 00:01:42,343 most violent actions that ever took place. 24 00:01:48,763 --> 00:01:52,077 NARRATOR: Between 1946 and 1954, 25 00:01:52,112 --> 00:01:56,875 80 million tons of explosive nuclear power rock Bikini... 26 00:01:57,703 --> 00:02:00,879 in a series of deadly experiments. 27 00:02:01,431 --> 00:02:05,125 Left behind are the remains of over a dozen wrecks. 28 00:02:05,159 --> 00:02:10,026 Battleships, submarines and even an aircraft carrier. 29 00:02:10,682 --> 00:02:14,927 '‘Ghost ships' that bear the scars, and hide the secrets, 30 00:02:14,962 --> 00:02:18,724 of the world's most terrifying weapons. 31 00:02:20,001 --> 00:02:22,003 ART: This is the only place on the planet where 32 00:02:22,038 --> 00:02:25,421 you can witness a nuclear battlefield... 33 00:02:29,218 --> 00:02:32,945 NARRATOR: Today, a group of scientists has come to Bikini 34 00:02:32,980 --> 00:02:38,054 on an unprecedented mission: to carry out the world's 35 00:02:38,088 --> 00:02:42,645 first 3D survey of the nuclear wrecks... 36 00:02:45,372 --> 00:02:47,650 The team from the University of Delaware, 37 00:02:47,684 --> 00:02:50,204 led by Dr Art Trembanis, 38 00:02:50,239 --> 00:02:53,828 is on board the research boat Indies Surveyor. 39 00:02:56,106 --> 00:02:59,765 They've brought with them the very latest hi-tech scanning equipment. 40 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:02,561 ART: So we've taken this very modest tin boat and 41 00:03:02,596 --> 00:03:05,426 turned it into the most advanced sonar mapping system 42 00:03:05,461 --> 00:03:07,739 that's ever been brought to Bikini... 43 00:03:07,773 --> 00:03:09,534 And we're starting to pick it up I think. 44 00:03:09,568 --> 00:03:12,916 Nice. That looks really good. 45 00:03:15,367 --> 00:03:17,852 NARRATOR: The survey team is targeting the area 46 00:03:17,887 --> 00:03:21,684 where the first Bikini tests took place. 47 00:03:23,272 --> 00:03:26,309 The wrecks hidden here are the last physical traces 48 00:03:26,344 --> 00:03:29,830 of this earth-shattering experiment. 49 00:03:31,072 --> 00:03:35,111 Draining them will reveal astonishing stories. 50 00:03:35,145 --> 00:03:38,494 And some shocking images. 51 00:03:42,118 --> 00:03:45,604 The tests have a code name... 52 00:03:46,950 --> 00:03:50,264 JERRY: Operation Crossroads was designed to try to figure 53 00:03:50,299 --> 00:03:54,164 out the nature of war in the atomic age. 54 00:03:55,925 --> 00:03:58,307 JAMES: They brought together 42, 000 men, 55 00:03:58,341 --> 00:04:00,585 a fleet of over 240 ships, 56 00:04:00,619 --> 00:04:04,416 95 of which were going to be used as targets. 57 00:04:04,899 --> 00:04:07,005 They viewed the entire fleet out there as simply 58 00:04:07,039 --> 00:04:09,973 being fish in an atomic barrel. 59 00:04:10,664 --> 00:04:13,218 NARRATOR: The first test of Operation Crossroads, 60 00:04:13,253 --> 00:04:17,947 on July 1st, 1946, is code-named Able. 61 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:24,436 ART: The Able test was a test of an air detonation of an atomic bomb 62 00:04:24,471 --> 00:04:26,127 and these were fission bombs like the ones, 63 00:04:26,162 --> 00:04:29,993 identical to the ones used and dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 64 00:04:32,030 --> 00:04:34,791 Those were done in secret and, and part of the wartime effort, 65 00:04:34,826 --> 00:04:37,760 this was being done in the open as part of a planned 66 00:04:37,794 --> 00:04:41,453 and carefully coordinated scientific study. 67 00:04:44,629 --> 00:04:50,082 NARRATOR: The Able bomb, named Gilda, has a power of 23 kilotons. 68 00:04:52,464 --> 00:04:56,192 No one knows how it will affect Bikini. 69 00:04:56,226 --> 00:04:58,815 Will it destroy the entire atoll? 70 00:04:58,850 --> 00:05:01,784 Will it sink every ship? 71 00:05:01,818 --> 00:05:06,236 Will it make navies of the future completely redundant? 72 00:05:09,378 --> 00:05:12,588 Engineers fit the ships with special instruments, 73 00:05:12,622 --> 00:05:16,143 to record blast pressures, radioactivity levels, 74 00:05:16,177 --> 00:05:19,388 and especially the extreme temperatures. 75 00:05:20,699 --> 00:05:22,943 MAN [over radio]: Engineers make a trial run with the instruments 76 00:05:22,977 --> 00:05:26,256 to record the terrific heat spawned by the blast. 77 00:05:28,258 --> 00:05:30,813 NARRATOR: The bomb's target, a bullseye right at the center 78 00:05:30,847 --> 00:05:36,163 of the guinea pig fleet, is the US battleship Nevada 79 00:05:36,197 --> 00:05:40,063 painted an unmissable bright orange. 80 00:05:40,650 --> 00:05:43,377 She's built of solid steel, with a melting point of 81 00:05:43,412 --> 00:05:47,519 2,642 degrees Fahrenheit. 82 00:05:47,554 --> 00:05:51,558 But the Able explosion should be almost five times hotter than that. 83 00:05:52,041 --> 00:05:55,493 Hotter than the surface of the sun. 84 00:05:58,565 --> 00:06:02,189 But things don't go to plan. 85 00:06:04,950 --> 00:06:08,713 [explosion]. 86 00:06:09,438 --> 00:06:14,201 Gilda misses the Nevada by half a mile. 87 00:06:16,859 --> 00:06:20,207 And it's where the bomb actually detonates... 88 00:06:20,241 --> 00:06:23,797 that the survey team is now searching. 89 00:06:23,831 --> 00:06:26,731 For a ship that accidentally finds itself 90 00:06:26,765 --> 00:06:29,112 right in the firing line. 91 00:06:30,700 --> 00:06:33,979 The USS Gilliam. 92 00:06:34,014 --> 00:06:36,568 She's an Attack-Transport ship. 93 00:06:36,603 --> 00:06:40,745 A survivor of a torpedo strike and the Okinawa landings. 94 00:06:42,263 --> 00:06:46,544 For the Able test, she's meant to be merely a bystander. 95 00:06:46,578 --> 00:06:49,581 But she ends up being the first ship in history to take 96 00:06:49,616 --> 00:06:52,515 a direct hit from a nuke. 97 00:06:53,171 --> 00:06:56,416 Find her, and they'll learn exactly what happens to a ship 98 00:06:56,450 --> 00:06:59,902 when struck by an atomic bomb. 99 00:07:01,731 --> 00:07:04,251 As the team searches for the Gilliam, 100 00:07:04,285 --> 00:07:07,461 they crisscross the lagoon in their hi-tech tender. 101 00:07:07,496 --> 00:07:11,154 Scanning every inch of the seabed, 60 yards below. 102 00:07:15,089 --> 00:07:17,920 Half a mile away from the center of the Able test, 103 00:07:17,954 --> 00:07:19,715 they pick up a signal. 104 00:07:19,749 --> 00:07:20,923 ART: Look. Sweet! 105 00:07:20,957 --> 00:07:22,096 Yeah I think this might be one of '‘em. 106 00:07:22,131 --> 00:07:23,339 CARTER: No, there's something right there. 107 00:07:23,373 --> 00:07:24,996 ART: Yeah. Oh hoho! 108 00:07:25,030 --> 00:07:26,238 Oh that's nice. 109 00:07:26,273 --> 00:07:27,999 CARTER: Over 100, about 110, 115. 110 00:07:28,033 --> 00:07:29,863 MIKE: Do you think that's Gilliam? 111 00:07:29,897 --> 00:07:33,280 Less structure than I expected to see on that... 112 00:07:34,730 --> 00:07:37,249 NARRATOR: The mapping team hurries back to the Surveyor 113 00:07:37,284 --> 00:07:39,700 to take a closer look at the data. 114 00:07:39,735 --> 00:07:41,046 CARTER: The orientation of the, 115 00:07:41,081 --> 00:07:42,841 the map that was drawn previously suggests that it 116 00:07:42,876 --> 00:07:44,947 was facing to the north, north-west. What we've seen so 117 00:07:44,981 --> 00:07:47,881 far, and the sonar data seem to support that. 118 00:07:47,915 --> 00:07:50,090 ART: Location, orientation and size, 119 00:07:50,124 --> 00:07:52,023 so those are 3 good clues all pointing towards the 120 00:07:52,057 --> 00:07:54,543 suggestion that this would be the Gilliam. 121 00:07:54,577 --> 00:07:55,647 SKIPPER: Alright. Sounds good. 122 00:07:55,682 --> 00:07:57,615 ART: Alright. SKIPPER: Let's go find it. 123 00:07:58,754 --> 00:08:00,514 NARRATOR: Using the sonar data, 124 00:08:00,549 --> 00:08:02,792 the skipper positions the Indies Surveyor directly 125 00:08:02,827 --> 00:08:05,036 above the wreck site. 126 00:08:05,070 --> 00:08:08,073 CHRIS: Relay to Brian, I'm right on top of it. 127 00:08:08,488 --> 00:08:10,351 BRIAN: Roger that. 128 00:08:10,386 --> 00:08:13,596 NARRATOR: Radioactivity levels at Bikini are still high in some places. 129 00:08:13,631 --> 00:08:16,979 But the water is now safe to dive. 130 00:08:17,669 --> 00:08:20,430 The team is about to take its very first look at a nuclear 131 00:08:20,465 --> 00:08:22,329 ghost ship. 132 00:08:22,363 --> 00:08:23,572 CHRIS: The pool's open, the pool's open! 133 00:08:23,606 --> 00:08:25,125 BRIAN: Roger, the pool is open. 134 00:08:25,159 --> 00:08:27,334 CREW: Okay, the pool is open. 135 00:08:27,368 --> 00:08:29,612 CHRIS: Roger, diver in the water! 136 00:08:40,934 --> 00:08:43,868 NARRATOR: The wreck lies 150 feet down, 137 00:08:43,902 --> 00:08:47,354 with visibility limited. 138 00:08:56,915 --> 00:08:59,953 DAN [over radio]: She's, she's just in pieces. 139 00:08:59,987 --> 00:09:02,783 That's extraordinary. 140 00:09:03,784 --> 00:09:07,961 I've never seen anything like this before. 141 00:09:09,238 --> 00:09:12,448 Wow, it, it's like she's melted. 142 00:09:13,725 --> 00:09:16,314 NARRATOR: The divers struggle to even work out which way 143 00:09:16,348 --> 00:09:19,006 round the ship is lying. 144 00:09:21,699 --> 00:09:24,425 DAN [over radio]: Is that the bow? 145 00:09:25,185 --> 00:09:27,290 NARRATOR: The team needs to see the wreck as a whole, 146 00:09:27,325 --> 00:09:30,570 to understand the impact of the nuclear blast. 147 00:09:39,475 --> 00:09:42,754 Using precise 3D data from the survey, 148 00:09:42,789 --> 00:09:47,207 we can now drain the waters of Bikini Atoll... 149 00:09:47,241 --> 00:09:52,488 to reveal the grotesque and shocking remains of the USS Gilliam. 150 00:09:55,733 --> 00:09:59,288 A whole ship has been flattened. 151 00:09:59,322 --> 00:10:03,706 Where once she measured 70 feet from the top of her masts, 152 00:10:03,741 --> 00:10:08,331 she's now been squashed to a third of that height. 153 00:10:10,782 --> 00:10:15,407 One mast is missing and the other lies smashed on the seabed. 154 00:10:16,443 --> 00:10:20,343 The steel gunwales droop over the ship's sides. 155 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:27,109 And the hull has melted in folds, like loose sailcloth. 156 00:10:38,016 --> 00:10:41,192 All the scientific instruments on board the Gilliam were 157 00:10:41,226 --> 00:10:44,989 smashed or melted in the blast. 158 00:10:45,023 --> 00:10:48,648 But data from other ships further out survives. 159 00:10:51,202 --> 00:10:52,962 CARTER: Yeah, there's pressure there. 160 00:10:52,997 --> 00:10:55,516 ART: So pressure and then to tidal corrections. 161 00:10:55,551 --> 00:10:58,071 NARRATOR: Using this data, and information from historical 162 00:10:58,105 --> 00:11:02,903 records we can reveal exactly what happens to the Gilliam. 163 00:11:10,704 --> 00:11:16,192 Before the Able test, Bikini Atoll is home to 167 people, 164 00:11:16,227 --> 00:11:19,299 most living on the main island. 165 00:11:21,473 --> 00:11:25,685 But their lives are about to change forever. 166 00:11:27,169 --> 00:11:30,793 WYATT: "“The United States government wants to attempt to 167 00:11:30,828 --> 00:11:34,763 turn this into something good for mankind..."” 168 00:11:36,799 --> 00:11:42,391 NARRATOR: In the weeks before detonation, the islanders are evacuated. 169 00:11:43,461 --> 00:11:47,672 And their island is turned into a test bed. 170 00:11:50,675 --> 00:11:54,196 But this isn't just a military experiment. 171 00:11:54,230 --> 00:11:56,923 This is theatre! 172 00:11:56,957 --> 00:12:00,650 JAMES: Operation Crossroads was designed to test the bomb 173 00:12:00,685 --> 00:12:03,550 publicly, to invite observers from all over the world, 174 00:12:03,584 --> 00:12:06,001 to film it, to broadcast it, live, 175 00:12:06,035 --> 00:12:10,522 via radio and show the world just what the bomb could do. 176 00:12:11,006 --> 00:12:15,079 JERRY: It was meant to be a media spectacular. 177 00:12:16,563 --> 00:12:18,807 NARRATOR: The explosions will be filmed by hundreds of 178 00:12:18,841 --> 00:12:23,881 cameras, using half the film stock in the entire world. 179 00:12:26,124 --> 00:12:29,990 MAN [over radio]: The time has come to send the atom bomb by air to Bikini. 180 00:12:30,025 --> 00:12:34,615 The most explosive experiment in history is about to begin. 181 00:12:37,032 --> 00:12:39,034 NARRATOR: At 5:55am, 182 00:12:39,068 --> 00:12:42,175 the B-29 bomber 'Dave's Dream' takes off from 183 00:12:42,209 --> 00:12:45,972 Kwajalein airbase, 200 miles away. 184 00:12:48,595 --> 00:12:52,150 Her only cargo is the Able bomb. 185 00:13:18,901 --> 00:13:24,734 [explosion]. 186 00:13:25,321 --> 00:13:27,945 MIKE: It exploded about 500 feet above Gilliam and 187 00:13:27,979 --> 00:13:30,602 basically flash-melted it. 188 00:13:32,190 --> 00:13:33,778 NARRATOR: In less than a second, 189 00:13:33,813 --> 00:13:37,437 the fireball strikes and the Gilliam grows hotter than the 190 00:13:37,471 --> 00:13:40,785 surface of the sun. 191 00:13:41,268 --> 00:13:45,479 The steel sides of the ship start to melt. 192 00:13:47,481 --> 00:13:50,622 Blast pressure from above crushes the ship down 193 00:13:50,657 --> 00:13:54,972 causing it to lose buoyancy and start sinking. 194 00:13:56,766 --> 00:13:59,390 The white hot steel is then quenched by the water as it 195 00:13:59,424 --> 00:14:03,187 solidifies into its final misshapen form. 196 00:14:14,543 --> 00:14:17,960 JAMES: This, the first ship ever sunk by an atomic bomb, 197 00:14:17,995 --> 00:14:22,413 it's surrealistic, it's stunning and it really does 198 00:14:22,447 --> 00:14:27,280 give you a powerful sense of what the power of that weapon was. 199 00:14:35,564 --> 00:14:38,878 NARRATOR: After the first atomic test at Bikini Atoll, 200 00:14:38,912 --> 00:14:42,812 the watching world expects destruction on a biblical scale. 201 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:47,714 But the same size bomb that flattened Nagasaki, 202 00:14:47,748 --> 00:14:50,613 has only sunk five vessels at Bikini. 203 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:55,584 Most of the ships are still afloat. 204 00:14:56,067 --> 00:15:00,071 JAMES: When the bomb went off and only five ships sank 205 00:15:00,106 --> 00:15:03,903 all of the press that were watching said, that's it? 206 00:15:03,937 --> 00:15:05,905 That's all? 207 00:15:06,526 --> 00:15:09,011 JERRY: They were expecting that virtually the whole 208 00:15:09,046 --> 00:15:12,981 flotilla would end up at the bottom of Bikini harbor and so 209 00:15:13,015 --> 00:15:17,364 in that sense, this was a huge disappointment. 210 00:15:18,503 --> 00:15:20,540 MAN [over radio]: There is no earthquake, no tidal wave or 211 00:15:20,574 --> 00:15:23,888 other catastrophe to justify the fears of some. 212 00:15:23,923 --> 00:15:27,892 The final verdict remains shrouded in military secrecy. 213 00:15:30,550 --> 00:15:34,416 NARRATOR: But Operation Crossroads is far from over. 214 00:15:34,450 --> 00:15:37,350 The second test is just three weeks away. 215 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:44,840 This time, the world's first ever underwater nuclear detonation. 216 00:15:45,323 --> 00:15:48,395 Code name: Baker. 217 00:15:49,258 --> 00:15:51,778 JAMES: Baker test was designed to see what a bomb would do 218 00:15:51,812 --> 00:15:54,367 if it had gone off in a harbor. 219 00:15:54,401 --> 00:15:56,852 What would it do to a fleet at anchor if, 220 00:15:56,886 --> 00:15:58,371 instead of being dropped, 221 00:15:58,405 --> 00:16:01,650 the bomb had been detonated, say, by a submarine. 222 00:16:02,271 --> 00:16:04,722 JERRY: It was designed to see whether an 223 00:16:04,756 --> 00:16:08,001 underwater explosion would crush the hulls of these ships 224 00:16:08,036 --> 00:16:11,832 and send them plummeting to the bottom of the atoll. 225 00:16:12,626 --> 00:16:15,526 NARRATOR: Might the explosion even blast a massive hole in 226 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:18,632 the sea floor itself? 227 00:16:18,667 --> 00:16:22,119 The US Navy tries to allay widespread public fears. 228 00:16:22,843 --> 00:16:25,018 BLANDY: "“The bomb will not start a chain reaction in the 229 00:16:25,053 --> 00:16:29,747 water, converting it all to gas and letting all the ships 230 00:16:29,781 --> 00:16:32,267 on all of the oceans drop down to the bottom. 231 00:16:32,301 --> 00:16:34,476 It will not blow out the bottom of the sea 232 00:16:34,510 --> 00:16:37,168 and let all the water run down the hole. 233 00:16:37,203 --> 00:16:41,517 It will not destroy gravity. I am not an atomic playboy!"” 234 00:16:44,382 --> 00:16:46,453 NARRATOR: Baker will be detonated close to where the 235 00:16:46,488 --> 00:16:49,422 Able bomb was dropped. 236 00:16:51,182 --> 00:16:54,737 To help them understand the effects of an underwater nuke, 237 00:16:54,772 --> 00:16:58,707 the University of Delaware scientists continue their scan. 238 00:17:00,191 --> 00:17:02,331 MIKE: We have the technology out here now to really finish 239 00:17:02,366 --> 00:17:04,782 what Operation Crossroads started. 240 00:17:04,816 --> 00:17:07,198 To look at the whole landscape of Bikini, 241 00:17:07,233 --> 00:17:11,478 the impact of these bombs on the lagoon bottom. 242 00:17:11,513 --> 00:17:13,791 NARRATOR: There's one wreck from Test Baker that they 243 00:17:13,825 --> 00:17:16,725 really want to find... 244 00:17:19,279 --> 00:17:22,903 The Pilotfish. 245 00:17:22,938 --> 00:17:26,838 An American Balao Class attack submarine. 246 00:17:26,873 --> 00:17:30,463 Launched in 1943, 247 00:17:30,497 --> 00:17:34,432 she makes six war patrols in the Pacific. 248 00:17:37,573 --> 00:17:42,337 In July 1946, she takes up her final position for the Baker test. 249 00:17:43,269 --> 00:17:45,857 Less than 400 yards from the center, 250 00:17:45,892 --> 00:17:49,102 with her stern facing the blast. 251 00:17:49,137 --> 00:17:53,624 Suspended at 56 feet with cables and weights. 252 00:17:53,658 --> 00:17:57,214 The Pilotfish will be the US Navy's very first underwater 253 00:17:57,248 --> 00:17:59,008 nuclear casualty. 254 00:18:00,009 --> 00:18:01,735 JAMES: Submarines are built to take pressure and they're 255 00:18:01,770 --> 00:18:05,014 built to take a pounding...but nobody had ever anticipated 256 00:18:05,049 --> 00:18:09,122 the kind of forces that the atomic bomb was going to 257 00:18:09,157 --> 00:18:11,676 generate underwater. 258 00:18:12,263 --> 00:18:14,472 NARRATOR: The surviving ships from the Able test are 259 00:18:14,507 --> 00:18:17,303 rearranged for Baker. 260 00:18:17,337 --> 00:18:19,305 At the center of the crosshairs, 261 00:18:19,339 --> 00:18:23,723 a World War II landing ship, the LSM-60, with a single, 262 00:18:23,757 --> 00:18:26,726 sacrificial role. 263 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:29,556 MAN [over radio]: Aboard the LSM-60, the bomb-carrying vessel, 264 00:18:29,591 --> 00:18:31,317 last minute preparations... 265 00:18:31,351 --> 00:18:34,561 signal for evacuation..."” 266 00:18:38,324 --> 00:18:39,946 NARRATOR: Suspended 90 feet below 267 00:18:39,980 --> 00:18:42,949 the moored landing ship... 268 00:18:42,983 --> 00:18:45,848 is a watertight steel chamber. 269 00:18:48,437 --> 00:18:52,717 Inside is a 23- kiloton atomic bomb, 270 00:18:52,752 --> 00:18:57,274 nicknamed "“Helen of Bikini"”, the same size and design as 271 00:18:57,308 --> 00:19:01,070 the bomb that destroyed Nagasaki. 272 00:19:01,657 --> 00:19:03,314 GRANT: Power I'm not gonna have any control. 273 00:19:03,349 --> 00:19:04,729 CARTER: Yeah. 274 00:19:04,764 --> 00:19:06,145 NARRATOR: The team is searching in the area where 275 00:19:06,179 --> 00:19:09,182 the Pilotfish was moored for Operation Crossroads. 276 00:19:09,217 --> 00:19:12,185 CARTER: Uh you do what makes the boat good for you, Graham. 277 00:19:12,220 --> 00:19:15,154 NARRATOR: And it's a bumpy ride. 278 00:19:16,396 --> 00:19:21,436 Taking their lead from the 1946 charts and other post war surveys. 279 00:19:21,470 --> 00:19:24,163 They hone in on the most likely location and 280 00:19:24,197 --> 00:19:26,268 start collecting data. 281 00:19:26,303 --> 00:19:27,821 ART: Cool, yeah. 282 00:19:27,856 --> 00:19:29,478 MIKE: And that's the edge of the crater. 283 00:19:29,513 --> 00:19:32,171 NARRATOR: The scan data suggests a submarine-like shape. 284 00:19:46,909 --> 00:19:49,153 DAN [over radio]: This is incredible. 285 00:19:54,572 --> 00:19:57,748 This can only be the Pilotfish. 286 00:19:57,782 --> 00:20:00,060 It's got to be her. 287 00:20:03,754 --> 00:20:06,584 NARRATOR: There's only one way to find out exactly what blast 288 00:20:06,619 --> 00:20:09,587 damage the submarine suffers. 289 00:20:12,314 --> 00:20:15,973 Revealed for the first time in 74 years... 290 00:20:16,594 --> 00:20:20,115 the first submarine ever destroyed by a nuclear bomb, 291 00:20:20,943 --> 00:20:23,843 the USS Pilotfish. 292 00:20:26,225 --> 00:20:29,918 Compared to the melted mess of the Gilliam, 293 00:20:29,952 --> 00:20:32,990 the sub looks surprisingly intact. 294 00:20:34,681 --> 00:20:37,822 Part of her deck has collapsed. 295 00:20:37,857 --> 00:20:40,825 Reports show that this was caused by later salvage 296 00:20:40,860 --> 00:20:44,277 attempts, not by the bomb. 297 00:20:46,003 --> 00:20:48,695 But the metal of her hull has been '‘shrink-wrapped' 298 00:20:48,730 --> 00:20:51,560 around her internal frames. 299 00:20:52,734 --> 00:20:55,323 Considering how close she was to the blast, 300 00:20:55,357 --> 00:20:58,878 it's astonishing that she hasn't been ripped to pieces. 301 00:21:00,189 --> 00:21:04,401 Then, at the stern, the end of the sub that was facing 302 00:21:04,435 --> 00:21:07,266 the blast, signs of a rip. 303 00:21:09,406 --> 00:21:12,788 Could this be the damage that sinks the Pilotfish? 304 00:21:16,033 --> 00:21:20,589 To answer that, the team examines the way the sub is built. 305 00:21:23,074 --> 00:21:27,458 It has an internal watertight structure, the pressure hull, 306 00:21:27,493 --> 00:21:31,600 and around that, a much lighter steel superstructure. 307 00:21:34,016 --> 00:21:37,813 Damage to the superstructure should be survivable. 308 00:21:39,401 --> 00:21:42,922 The hole seems only to pierce the outer hull. 309 00:21:42,956 --> 00:21:47,340 So the team doesn't think it's this that sinks the Pilotfish. 310 00:21:47,375 --> 00:21:50,239 In that case, what does? 311 00:21:56,038 --> 00:21:59,697 NARRATOR: Can the drained wreck give up more secrets? 312 00:22:02,217 --> 00:22:04,633 By the forward torpedo room, 313 00:22:04,668 --> 00:22:07,602 and piercing the critical watertight compartment, 314 00:22:07,636 --> 00:22:11,122 a much larger hole. 315 00:22:12,538 --> 00:22:15,472 Even the torpedo tubes inside have been squashed together 316 00:22:15,506 --> 00:22:18,371 by huge forces. 317 00:22:19,545 --> 00:22:22,582 So what can explain this hole in the bow, 318 00:22:22,617 --> 00:22:26,793 the end of the sub furthest away from the underwater Baker blast? 319 00:22:32,799 --> 00:22:34,836 ANDREW: And you can see then how the pressure hull's been 320 00:22:34,870 --> 00:22:36,493 pushed right in. 321 00:22:36,527 --> 00:22:38,149 DAN: So that looks like she's failed at the bow. 322 00:22:38,184 --> 00:22:39,772 ANDREW: It does look like that, yeah. 323 00:22:39,806 --> 00:22:41,601 NARRATOR: On board the Indies Surveyor, 324 00:22:41,636 --> 00:22:44,190 the team is trying to figure it out. 325 00:22:44,224 --> 00:22:47,193 MIKE: They estimated about 5200 pounds per square inch of 326 00:22:47,227 --> 00:22:50,265 force hitting the submarine from Baker, 327 00:22:50,299 --> 00:22:52,612 whereas it was only rated to 300. 328 00:22:52,647 --> 00:22:55,028 DAN: This is, this is a monumental failure of the 329 00:22:55,063 --> 00:22:56,754 pressure hull. 330 00:22:56,789 --> 00:22:58,618 NARRATOR: By combining the team's investigation with 331 00:22:58,653 --> 00:23:00,827 evidence from the drained wreck, 332 00:23:00,862 --> 00:23:05,142 we can now reconstruct the final moments of the Pilotfish. 333 00:23:06,730 --> 00:23:10,423 MAN [over radio]: This is Baker Day, the day of the second atomic bomb test. 334 00:23:11,113 --> 00:23:13,771 NARRATOR: The Pilotfish is already tethered to the seabed, 335 00:23:13,806 --> 00:23:19,363 363 yards away, braced for an earth-shattering blast. 336 00:23:19,743 --> 00:23:23,988 [ticking]. 337 00:23:24,023 --> 00:23:29,442 MAN: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... Fire! 338 00:23:29,477 --> 00:23:34,447 [explosion]. 339 00:23:54,916 --> 00:23:57,332 NARRATOR: Within seconds, pressure waves slam into the 340 00:23:57,366 --> 00:23:59,990 back of the sub. 341 00:24:00,404 --> 00:24:03,372 Traveling close to the speed of sound they force in the 342 00:24:03,407 --> 00:24:06,375 steel panels between the structural frames, 343 00:24:06,410 --> 00:24:09,586 '‘shrink-wrapping' the Pilotfish. 344 00:24:10,449 --> 00:24:12,589 Blast waves make the hull shake, 345 00:24:12,623 --> 00:24:15,833 weakening the structure of the sub. 346 00:24:16,903 --> 00:24:19,527 When these combined forces reach the bow, 347 00:24:19,561 --> 00:24:22,426 they find a weak spot by the torpedo room, 348 00:24:22,461 --> 00:24:25,291 and punch a hole through both superstructure and pressure 349 00:24:25,325 --> 00:24:30,089 hull causing terminal damage. 350 00:24:32,643 --> 00:24:35,404 In under a second, the Pilotfish becomes the world's 351 00:24:35,439 --> 00:24:39,478 first victim of an underwater nuclear blast. 352 00:24:40,893 --> 00:24:43,205 MAN [over radio]: I can see nothing at all of the target vessels, 353 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:46,277 they are all completely obliterated. 354 00:24:46,312 --> 00:24:49,108 NARRATOR: For the U.S. Navy, it's clear proof of 355 00:24:49,142 --> 00:24:53,043 the deadly effect of an underwater atomic bomb on subs. 356 00:24:58,082 --> 00:25:02,397 The team now wants find out if the Baker blast has the same 357 00:25:02,431 --> 00:25:04,917 impact on the surface. 358 00:25:05,918 --> 00:25:08,368 They're scanning the sea floor, 359 00:25:08,403 --> 00:25:11,371 searching for a ship they hope will give the answer. 360 00:25:13,166 --> 00:25:15,755 And not just any ship... 361 00:25:15,790 --> 00:25:19,310 The biggest of all the warships here. 362 00:25:19,345 --> 00:25:22,003 The gigantic aircraft carrier... 363 00:25:22,037 --> 00:25:24,074 the USS Saratoga. 364 00:25:24,108 --> 00:25:28,941 888 feet long. Fast and powerful... 365 00:25:30,563 --> 00:25:34,912 Her lethal payload is around 18 Hellcat fighters and 366 00:25:34,947 --> 00:25:38,157 40 Avenger bombers. 367 00:25:38,813 --> 00:25:41,436 And she's a battler. 368 00:25:41,470 --> 00:25:44,957 In World War II she survives two torpedo strikes, 369 00:25:44,991 --> 00:25:48,098 and 5 kamikaze attacks. 370 00:25:49,099 --> 00:25:52,689 And over 17 years of service, a world record of nearly 371 00:25:52,723 --> 00:25:56,382 99, 000 planes launch from her deck! 372 00:25:57,210 --> 00:25:59,523 ART: She had come through all of that and was brought 373 00:25:59,558 --> 00:26:02,284 out to the Operation Crossroads tests to be 374 00:26:02,319 --> 00:26:04,355 one of the guinea pigs. 375 00:26:05,978 --> 00:26:08,394 NARRATOR: The carrier is located just 300 yards from 376 00:26:08,428 --> 00:26:12,709 the LSM-60, the landing ship carrying the Baker bomb. 377 00:26:13,641 --> 00:26:16,644 Strapped to her deck are planes, tanks and other 378 00:26:16,678 --> 00:26:21,165 equipment, to see how the blast affects them. 379 00:26:22,339 --> 00:26:24,962 With 1, 000 watertight compartments, 380 00:26:24,997 --> 00:26:28,759 the Saratoga should be almost unsinkable. 381 00:26:32,383 --> 00:26:36,767 She may be huge, but she's not easy to find. 382 00:26:36,802 --> 00:26:41,254 The Bikini wrecks are spread over 5 square miles. 383 00:26:41,289 --> 00:26:46,018 Only a methodical scan will reveal her exact position. 384 00:26:47,157 --> 00:26:51,264 CARTER: A little starboard, we're coming up to the end of 385 00:26:51,299 --> 00:26:54,613 the line in 10... 386 00:26:59,963 --> 00:27:01,723 MIKE: It looks like an aircraft. 387 00:27:01,758 --> 00:27:04,243 There it is...Yeah. 388 00:27:04,761 --> 00:27:06,659 ART: Oh wow. 389 00:27:06,694 --> 00:27:08,419 Hello you big beauty! 390 00:27:08,454 --> 00:27:09,662 Wow. 391 00:27:09,697 --> 00:27:11,250 NARRATOR: There's only one ship on the Bikini 392 00:27:11,284 --> 00:27:13,562 seabed anything like this. 393 00:27:13,597 --> 00:27:16,635 ART: Oh my god she's, look, it's taking up so much of that screen... 394 00:27:16,669 --> 00:27:19,499 just keeps going. 395 00:27:19,914 --> 00:27:23,469 It's just astounding the, the just the enormity of it... 396 00:27:23,503 --> 00:27:26,714 NARRATOR: Intriguingly, the 40, 000 ton carrier 397 00:27:26,748 --> 00:27:29,682 now lies 300 yards from where she was 398 00:27:29,717 --> 00:27:32,340 moored for the test. 399 00:27:41,349 --> 00:27:46,457 Almost immediately, the remains of an aircraft. 400 00:27:46,492 --> 00:27:49,944 Could this be from the deck of the Saratoga? 401 00:27:55,777 --> 00:28:01,472 Then, nearby, the gigantic bow of the carrier. 402 00:28:07,030 --> 00:28:09,998 But if the Pilotfish sinks where she's tethered, 403 00:28:10,033 --> 00:28:14,900 how is it that this enormous vessel ends up so far away? 404 00:28:20,181 --> 00:28:25,634 The answer may lie in the remains of the Saratoga itself. 405 00:28:46,379 --> 00:28:51,522 On her starboard side, extensive damage, 406 00:28:53,317 --> 00:28:58,357 massive warping and rippling, known as washboarding. 407 00:28:58,391 --> 00:29:01,878 This can only be the result of huge horizontal forces 408 00:29:01,912 --> 00:29:05,053 from the blast. 409 00:29:09,609 --> 00:29:13,855 MIKE: And here, I think, I think that may be Saratoga. 410 00:29:13,890 --> 00:29:16,375 ART: I think that's the Saratoga we're seeing here... 411 00:29:16,409 --> 00:29:19,136 NARRATOR: The 1946 charts show the Saratoga's 412 00:29:19,171 --> 00:29:22,139 position, close to the detonation point. 413 00:29:24,763 --> 00:29:28,697 Crucially, she is lined up starboard side onto the bomb. 414 00:29:29,837 --> 00:29:34,082 Exposed to the full force of the nuclear blast. 415 00:29:35,290 --> 00:29:39,881 ART: We've found the Saratoga more than 600 meters away from the blast zone... 416 00:29:42,332 --> 00:29:45,784 more than twice the distance from where it had originally been placed. 417 00:29:47,855 --> 00:29:50,340 NARRATOR: The blast waves that destroy the submarine 418 00:29:50,374 --> 00:29:54,068 have a completely different effect on the surface. 419 00:29:55,655 --> 00:29:59,004 JAMES: Pressure waves shooting out, slamming into the ships, 420 00:29:59,038 --> 00:30:03,698 generating a massive series of atomic tsunamis. 421 00:30:07,564 --> 00:30:10,912 NARRATOR: It's these huge tidal waves that washboard the 422 00:30:10,947 --> 00:30:14,813 hull and shunt the carrier sideways. 423 00:30:15,606 --> 00:30:19,507 But there's no clear sign of a hole that might have sunk her. 424 00:30:19,541 --> 00:30:26,065 So what other forces finally send this mighty carrier to the bottom? 425 00:30:29,413 --> 00:30:33,038 [explosion]. 426 00:30:33,693 --> 00:30:36,351 NARRATOR: To understand how the Saratoga finally ends up 427 00:30:36,386 --> 00:30:39,976 on the seafloor, we need to return to the drained 428 00:30:40,010 --> 00:30:43,358 landscape of Bikini Atoll. 429 00:30:45,119 --> 00:30:50,952 Are there any more clues on the carrier itself? 430 00:30:52,229 --> 00:30:55,715 Standing out clearly is a deep channel pummeled into the 431 00:30:55,750 --> 00:30:59,443 flight deck, running half the length of the entire ship. 432 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:11,559 But if the main force of the underwater blast strikes the Saratoga 433 00:31:11,593 --> 00:31:16,771 from the side, why is her deck so badly damaged? 434 00:31:19,705 --> 00:31:23,502 Using the new survey data, we can explain exactly what 435 00:31:23,536 --> 00:31:25,918 happens to the Saratoga... 436 00:31:25,953 --> 00:31:29,266 inside the explosion. 437 00:31:32,787 --> 00:31:34,168 MAN [over radio]: The final switches have been thrown, 438 00:31:34,202 --> 00:31:35,824 no one can stop it. 439 00:31:35,859 --> 00:31:36,964 The atomic bomb is about to explode. 440 00:31:36,998 --> 00:31:39,207 MAN [over radio]: Firing time! 441 00:31:41,692 --> 00:31:45,282 MAN [over radio]: 4, 3, 2, 1... 442 00:31:46,456 --> 00:31:48,699 [explosion]. 443 00:31:48,734 --> 00:31:51,875 NARRATOR: 4 millionths of a second after the initial flash, 444 00:31:51,910 --> 00:31:55,499 a mass of steam, sand and blasted coral starts 445 00:31:55,534 --> 00:31:58,537 racing up into a '‘spray dome'. 446 00:31:58,882 --> 00:32:03,438 Moments later a 94-foot high tsunami slams into the starboard side. 447 00:32:06,234 --> 00:32:11,032 The underwater force lifts the huge carrier 43 feet up... 448 00:32:11,067 --> 00:32:15,278 wrenching her loose from the mooring blocks. 449 00:32:16,279 --> 00:32:21,491 Successive waves toss planes and machinery from her deck. 450 00:32:21,525 --> 00:32:25,322 And as the horizontal forces drive the Saratoga sideways, 451 00:32:25,357 --> 00:32:27,738 a huge column of vaporized sand, 452 00:32:27,773 --> 00:32:31,535 coral and steam races upwards. 453 00:32:31,570 --> 00:32:36,023 JAMES: Half a million tons of lagoon bottom literally ripped 454 00:32:36,057 --> 00:32:40,406 and thrown up, along with a couple of hundred million tons 455 00:32:40,441 --> 00:32:44,548 of water and steam in a mushroom cloud whose stem was 456 00:32:44,583 --> 00:32:48,104 1, 000 feet across. 457 00:32:49,657 --> 00:32:52,004 NARRATOR: 10 seconds after the explosion, 458 00:32:52,039 --> 00:32:55,525 the massive column starts to collapse. 459 00:32:59,701 --> 00:33:04,672 Millions of tons of debris crashes down on the Saratoga... 460 00:33:06,225 --> 00:33:09,470 fatally weakening the deck and the whole hull, 461 00:33:09,504 --> 00:33:12,991 allowing water to penetrate the ship. 462 00:33:15,614 --> 00:33:18,686 Now 300 yards from where she was moored, 463 00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:21,965 the carrier starts to sink. 464 00:33:22,793 --> 00:33:27,039 MAN [over radio]: The USS Saratoga sank at 8 minutes past 4 Bikini time, 465 00:33:27,074 --> 00:33:30,180 7 hours and 33 minutes after the atomic bomb had 466 00:33:30,215 --> 00:33:33,218 dealt her the death blow. 467 00:33:39,396 --> 00:33:43,193 NARRATOR: Nine ships are sunk by the Baker blast, 468 00:33:43,952 --> 00:33:47,784 joining the five already sunk by Able. 469 00:33:50,304 --> 00:33:54,756 As the nuclear mists start to clear, 470 00:33:54,791 --> 00:33:58,105 what will the US military and scientists learn from 471 00:33:58,139 --> 00:34:01,039 Operation Crossroads? 472 00:34:03,075 --> 00:34:05,836 Despite the awesome power of the bombs, 473 00:34:05,871 --> 00:34:09,254 the results are not entirely as expected. 474 00:34:09,288 --> 00:34:12,567 JERRY: Operation Crossroads demonstrated that an atomic bomb 475 00:34:12,602 --> 00:34:15,674 cannot destroy a naval flotilla, that was a surprise, 476 00:34:15,708 --> 00:34:18,918 that was also a disappointment. 477 00:34:22,129 --> 00:34:25,235 NARRATOR: But the most powerful effect of the blast... 478 00:34:25,270 --> 00:34:28,342 is invisible. 479 00:34:36,074 --> 00:34:38,352 JAMES: It became very clear that they couldn't get the 480 00:34:38,386 --> 00:34:41,493 radiation off the target ships. 481 00:34:41,527 --> 00:34:44,841 Worse yet, was the fact that all of the support ships 482 00:34:44,875 --> 00:34:46,877 that had come back into the lagoon were now 483 00:34:46,912 --> 00:34:50,157 also getting radioactive. 484 00:34:53,298 --> 00:34:55,921 NARRATOR: Deadly radioactivity spreads across the whole of 485 00:34:55,955 --> 00:34:59,442 Bikini Atoll. 486 00:35:00,891 --> 00:35:03,549 Levels are so dangerously high, 487 00:35:03,584 --> 00:35:07,829 that Operation Crossroads is shut down. 488 00:35:15,078 --> 00:35:19,738 But the Cold War atomic arms race has now begun. 489 00:35:19,772 --> 00:35:24,570 So America's test program continues unabated, 490 00:35:24,605 --> 00:35:27,918 in the Nevada desert and other Pacific islands. 491 00:35:27,953 --> 00:35:32,647 And in 1949, the Soviet Union detonates its own atomic bomb 492 00:35:32,682 --> 00:35:36,203 in a remote part of what's now Kazakhstan. 493 00:35:37,756 --> 00:35:42,554 The Americans retaliate by planning an even more deadly device. 494 00:35:43,658 --> 00:35:45,695 Eight years after Crossroads, 495 00:35:45,729 --> 00:35:49,733 Bikini Atoll is judged to be safe enough for testing again. 496 00:35:49,768 --> 00:35:53,116 And it's about to experience the most powerful explosion 497 00:35:53,151 --> 00:35:56,499 yet seen on the planet. 498 00:35:59,674 --> 00:36:03,989 The survey team has completed its analysis of the first two atomic tests 499 00:36:04,023 --> 00:36:08,718 but there's one area they still want to explore. 500 00:36:10,513 --> 00:36:13,826 Less than 20 miles from the site of Operation Crossroads, 501 00:36:13,861 --> 00:36:17,175 in the north-west corner of the atoll. 502 00:36:18,693 --> 00:36:22,801 In 1952, the USA plans new tests here 503 00:36:22,835 --> 00:36:25,942 of a terrifying new device. 504 00:36:27,633 --> 00:36:29,704 The hydrogen bomb. 505 00:36:29,739 --> 00:36:34,053 And with it, the nuclear age is about to go thermonuclear. 506 00:36:34,744 --> 00:36:37,609 JERRY: The big difference with the thermonuclear weapon is 507 00:36:37,643 --> 00:36:40,922 that there's no limit to the power. 508 00:36:40,957 --> 00:36:44,650 NARRATOR: While the Able and Baker bombs used nuclear fission, 509 00:36:44,685 --> 00:36:48,930 splitting the atom, the hydrogen bomb harnesses 510 00:36:48,965 --> 00:36:52,279 the much greater energy that powers the sun, 511 00:36:52,313 --> 00:36:55,247 nuclear fusion. 512 00:36:55,282 --> 00:36:57,870 JAMES: You could indeed, with a series of these bombs, 513 00:36:57,905 --> 00:37:00,252 not only destroy another country, 514 00:37:00,287 --> 00:37:04,498 you could conceivably kill all life on earth. 515 00:37:13,334 --> 00:37:16,372 NARRATOR: The question the U.S. military wants to answer 516 00:37:16,406 --> 00:37:20,652 is whether this extraordinary power can be used in warfare. 517 00:37:22,205 --> 00:37:26,899 The first test will be called Castle Bravo. 518 00:37:26,934 --> 00:37:32,111 A huge device, with the code-name '‘Shrimp' is planned 519 00:37:32,146 --> 00:37:35,563 to produce a 5 megaton explosion, 520 00:37:35,598 --> 00:37:40,982 equivalent to 5 million tons of TNT. 521 00:37:41,017 --> 00:37:45,332 300 times bigger than the Hiroshima bomb. 522 00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:51,269 Its target will not be ships, 523 00:37:51,303 --> 00:37:55,652 but the landmass of Bikini Atoll itself. 524 00:37:55,687 --> 00:37:59,725 Nobody knows how big a crater it will create. 525 00:38:00,381 --> 00:38:03,246 The thermonuclear device is positioned on one of Bikini's 526 00:38:03,281 --> 00:38:05,628 tiny coral islands, 527 00:38:05,662 --> 00:38:09,701 in the north-west corner of the atoll. 528 00:38:12,738 --> 00:38:17,778 It's a huge area, taking many hours to map. 529 00:38:19,262 --> 00:38:20,539 CARTER: I mean you look at it this way you can actually 530 00:38:20,574 --> 00:38:22,403 see the crater. 531 00:38:22,438 --> 00:38:24,509 ART: We're seeing really good data, 532 00:38:24,543 --> 00:38:26,821 we're getting good coverage. 533 00:38:26,856 --> 00:38:29,755 The biggest thing I've ever had to map. 534 00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:36,279 We've covered back and forth all around the perimeter, 535 00:38:36,314 --> 00:38:38,902 certainly enough to get a very clear idea of the 536 00:38:38,937 --> 00:38:42,285 shape and complexity of the, of the site. 537 00:38:43,182 --> 00:38:46,979 NARRATOR: Using the survey team's unique data... 538 00:38:47,014 --> 00:38:49,775 We can peel back the water... 539 00:38:49,810 --> 00:38:53,538 To reveal a turning point in human history. 540 00:38:59,337 --> 00:39:02,650 It's a staggering sight. 541 00:39:02,685 --> 00:39:06,585 The crater is gigantic. 542 00:39:09,519 --> 00:39:13,005 Over a mile across. 543 00:39:15,422 --> 00:39:19,011 But pulling out from the massive Bravo crater 544 00:39:19,046 --> 00:39:22,498 reveals a major surprise. 545 00:39:22,532 --> 00:39:26,433 There's a second crater right in front of it. 546 00:39:26,467 --> 00:39:30,160 Is this also caused by the Bravo explosion? 547 00:39:30,195 --> 00:39:33,578 Or is it something completely new? 548 00:39:35,718 --> 00:39:39,894 ART: Let's take a zoom in here...Wow. 549 00:39:39,929 --> 00:39:41,206 MIKE: Look at that. 550 00:39:41,240 --> 00:39:42,794 ART: So we don't have just one crater here. 551 00:39:42,828 --> 00:39:45,417 MIKE: Yeah. ART: Very clearly we have two! 552 00:39:45,452 --> 00:39:47,730 MIKE: Could we get a line that shows the cross section 553 00:39:47,764 --> 00:39:49,801 of both craters? 554 00:39:49,835 --> 00:39:51,803 Oh wow, look at that. 555 00:39:51,837 --> 00:39:55,496 ART: There were numerous other tests that were done here. 556 00:39:56,739 --> 00:39:59,051 NARRATOR: The records confirm that the larger crater is 557 00:39:59,086 --> 00:40:03,331 formed by Bravo, and that the smaller one is caused by a 558 00:40:03,366 --> 00:40:07,543 later test, codename '‘Romeo'. 559 00:40:07,577 --> 00:40:10,753 But the team knows that the Bravo test is planned to be 560 00:40:10,787 --> 00:40:13,272 smaller than Romeo. 561 00:40:13,307 --> 00:40:15,758 So how has it made a crater... 562 00:40:15,792 --> 00:40:18,070 that's so much bigger? 563 00:40:22,799 --> 00:40:25,181 NARRATOR: The survey team is trying to figure out the truth 564 00:40:25,215 --> 00:40:28,080 about the Castle Bravo explosion. 565 00:40:28,115 --> 00:40:30,220 ART: So that now will be helpful for getting the, 566 00:40:30,255 --> 00:40:32,291 the sizing of it. 567 00:40:32,326 --> 00:40:34,570 NARRATOR: Top secret records now reveal that the bomb's 568 00:40:34,604 --> 00:40:38,021 designers made an important mistake. 569 00:40:38,056 --> 00:40:42,232 JAMES: When that weapon went off it proved to be far more 570 00:40:42,267 --> 00:40:45,822 powerful than the scientists had thought it might be. 571 00:40:45,857 --> 00:40:48,376 Instead of being 5 to 6 megatons, 572 00:40:48,411 --> 00:40:51,966 it grew to 15 megatons force. 573 00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:55,729 NARRATOR: The '‘official' explanation is that 574 00:40:55,763 --> 00:40:58,559 the scientists accidentally load the Bravo device 575 00:40:58,594 --> 00:41:02,390 with twice as much active nuclear fuel as planned. 576 00:41:03,806 --> 00:41:07,395 But declassified documents now reveal that aircraft at the 577 00:41:07,430 --> 00:41:10,468 time were cautiously positioned for a potential 578 00:41:10,502 --> 00:41:14,023 20-megaton blast. 579 00:41:14,057 --> 00:41:17,889 The actual expected figure remains a secret. 580 00:41:19,511 --> 00:41:21,340 JERRY: It turned out to be the most powerful bomb 581 00:41:21,375 --> 00:41:23,929 the U.S. ever exploded. 582 00:41:23,964 --> 00:41:27,588 About 1, 000 times more powerful than Hiroshima. 583 00:41:29,659 --> 00:41:32,144 NARRATOR: With data analyzed, the team combines 584 00:41:32,179 --> 00:41:35,803 their insights with the 1950s test records, 585 00:41:35,838 --> 00:41:38,737 and now can fully explain the terrifying events 586 00:41:38,772 --> 00:41:41,326 of Castle Bravo. 587 00:41:44,432 --> 00:41:50,611 MAN: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...fire! 588 00:41:50,887 --> 00:41:56,479 [explosion]. 589 00:42:00,759 --> 00:42:04,452 NARRATOR: The explosion is off the scale. 590 00:42:06,834 --> 00:42:11,114 And the thermonuclear effects are felt far beyond Bikini. 591 00:42:13,531 --> 00:42:16,534 300 miles away on Likiep Atoll, 592 00:42:16,568 --> 00:42:20,814 11-year old Charles Domnick is just starting his school day. 593 00:42:22,712 --> 00:42:24,542 CHARLES: When the Bravo went off, 594 00:42:24,576 --> 00:42:28,166 the trees were shaking, the earth was moving! 595 00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:31,341 I mean the building I was in was shaking! 596 00:42:31,376 --> 00:42:33,447 Everybody was scared, 597 00:42:33,481 --> 00:42:37,002 we were running around like crazy on the island! 598 00:42:39,073 --> 00:42:42,042 NARRATOR: Where once there were 3 inhabitable islands, 599 00:42:42,076 --> 00:42:47,392 after Bravo all that's left is a gaping void. 600 00:42:48,704 --> 00:42:52,190 JAMES: It erupted with such dramatic effect that it sent 601 00:42:52,224 --> 00:42:56,781 radioactive fallout for thousands of miles across the Pacific. 602 00:43:03,995 --> 00:43:06,825 NARRATOR: Bikini's original inhabitants have long since 603 00:43:06,860 --> 00:43:09,310 been relocated. 604 00:43:09,345 --> 00:43:13,142 But lethal nuclear fallout now starts dropping on 605 00:43:13,176 --> 00:43:15,834 the very islands they were moved to. 606 00:43:15,869 --> 00:43:20,667 MAN: The problem this time is especially acute because this entire area 607 00:43:20,701 --> 00:43:23,670 of the Pacific is subject to radiological fallout. 608 00:43:26,845 --> 00:43:31,574 NARRATOR: Dozens suffer serious radiation sickness. 609 00:43:31,609 --> 00:43:34,612 Even to this day, many Marshall Islanders still 610 00:43:34,646 --> 00:43:38,443 report an unusually high incidence of cancers and 611 00:43:38,477 --> 00:43:41,239 other long-term illnesses. 612 00:43:44,691 --> 00:43:47,728 Ever since the Bravo explosion, 613 00:43:47,763 --> 00:43:49,903 there has been much debate about whether or not the 614 00:43:49,937 --> 00:43:52,906 Americans knew that inhabited islands would be 615 00:43:52,940 --> 00:43:55,633 affected by the fallout. 616 00:43:57,220 --> 00:43:59,671 The full truth may never be known, 617 00:43:59,706 --> 00:44:01,846 but the damage to the environment, 618 00:44:01,880 --> 00:44:05,712 and to the local population, is a graphic illustration of 619 00:44:05,746 --> 00:44:09,716 the shocking power of a thermonuclear device. 620 00:44:14,341 --> 00:44:19,484 Amazingly, coral and marine life have come back to the lagoon. 621 00:44:24,489 --> 00:44:29,459 But Bikini islanders still cannot return to their home. 622 00:44:29,494 --> 00:44:33,671 Radioactivity lurks deep within the soil. 623 00:44:34,775 --> 00:44:36,708 CHARLES: For the people of Bikini that cannot go back to 624 00:44:36,743 --> 00:44:39,884 their island for we don't know how long. 625 00:44:39,918 --> 00:44:43,888 Let's put it that way, they are not happy with what's, what's going on. 626 00:44:49,376 --> 00:44:54,381 NARRATOR: The fallout from Castle Bravo fills the world with fear. 627 00:44:54,415 --> 00:44:58,143 But the arms race escalates still further. 628 00:44:58,765 --> 00:45:01,664 In 1961, in the remote Russian Arctic 629 00:45:01,699 --> 00:45:06,634 the Soviet Union detonates a 50-megaton device, 630 00:45:06,669 --> 00:45:10,155 [explosion]. 631 00:45:10,190 --> 00:45:12,433 the Tsar Bomba. 632 00:45:14,539 --> 00:45:19,268 By far the largest nuclear explosion the world has ever seen. 633 00:45:22,098 --> 00:45:25,895 Two years later, world leaders decide enough is enough, 634 00:45:25,930 --> 00:45:29,692 and agree to limit nuclear tests in the atmosphere. 635 00:45:31,314 --> 00:45:34,317 But since the 1963 treaty, there have been at least 636 00:45:34,352 --> 00:45:37,458 1500 further nuclear detonations, 637 00:45:37,493 --> 00:45:39,875 mostly underground. 638 00:45:39,909 --> 00:45:42,601 JAMES: By the 1980s there are tens of thousands of nuclear 639 00:45:42,636 --> 00:45:45,812 weapons on the planet, in various arsenals, 640 00:45:45,846 --> 00:45:48,538 capable of destroying all life on the planet 641 00:45:48,573 --> 00:45:51,921 several times over. 642 00:45:52,957 --> 00:45:57,271 NARRATOR: Today's nuclear weapons are more about accuracy, not size, 643 00:46:00,240 --> 00:46:02,138 with multiple warheads mounted on 644 00:46:02,173 --> 00:46:05,314 long-range ballistic missiles. 645 00:46:06,798 --> 00:46:11,113 So far, none have been used in anger. 646 00:46:11,147 --> 00:46:13,771 JERRY: We're currently living in the longest period of peace 647 00:46:13,805 --> 00:46:16,497 between superpowers in history. 648 00:46:17,498 --> 00:46:20,605 Is that due to nuclear weapons? 649 00:46:20,639 --> 00:46:25,748 Have nuclear weapons rendered war so catastrophic 650 00:46:25,783 --> 00:46:29,131 that it becomes inconceivable? 651 00:46:30,270 --> 00:46:33,169 That might be the case. 652 00:46:33,204 --> 00:46:36,000 But a lot of that depends upon luck. 653 00:46:36,034 --> 00:46:40,176 And the question is, when does our luck run out? 654 00:46:43,214 --> 00:46:46,044 NARRATOR: The nuclear tests on Bikini Atoll may have 655 00:46:46,079 --> 00:46:49,876 helped prevent war, but they also created a balance of 656 00:46:49,910 --> 00:46:53,949 terror that the world must live with... forever. 657 00:46:55,467 --> 00:46:56,779 Captioned by Cotter Captioning Services.