(Curiously, SW9 is the only one of the stones to be a National Historic Landmark. It is named for Benjamin Banneker, and is an “Intermediate Stone,” unlike the four which mark the cardinal points of direction. What is left is a one foot square sandstone block, extending about 18 inches above ground and probably about […]

(This is what is left of SW9, and is illustrative of just how hard it would be to find the pesky things if they were just the little stubs. Thankfully, the Daughters of the American Revolution provided the distinctive cage to protect whatever was left, and that is the signature the discerning stone seeker learners […]

It is kind of a relief to not start out on the fantail of an ancient Dreadnaught, preparing to be irradiated by scientists who did not appreciate the magnitude of the forces with which they were playing. That said, it was a grand ride and now here we are again in the Present, with all […]

(His Imperial Japanese Majesty’s Ship Nagato. Photo USN). On 26 November, 1941, the Combined Fleet and its Kidō Butai (also known as the Carrier Striking Task Force) set sail from Hittokapu Bay in Japan’s Kurile Islands under the overall command of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. He had personally selected the battleship Nagato as his flagship, the […]

(Deck Department conducting decontamination drill on one of the support ships after the BAKER Test at Bikini Atoll. Photo USN). There is a corollary to the term “SNAFU.” It is “FUBAR,” which is usually the end-state of a SNAFU that goes beyond the normal regime. That was precisely the situation in the lagoon at Bikini […]

Nagato seemed all right after the Baker blast, though the Radiological Control officers told us it was unsafe to go aboard. We circled her in the land craft, and it was hard to believe that our erstwhile home was now emitting dangerous radiation. She appeared a little lower in the water, as if some seams […]

“Warfare, perhaps civilization itself, has been brought to a turning point by this revolutionary weapon.” – Vice Admiral W. H. P. Blandy, USN, Commander of Operation CROSSROADS (Combat Artist Grant Powers painted this striking image of USS Arkansas starting to go vertical into the BAKER water column. We watched in amazement from USS Mount McKinley […]

(LSM-60 configured for the BAKER test. Shown here is the antenna used to receive the radio signal that would trigger the bomb. The mid-ship hoist used to lower the bomb to the caisson is shown just forward of the bridge. This was the first underwater test of an atomic device, and the explosion produced so […]

(Deck Department puts turns on Nagato’s anchor chains after Test Able). Between swimming in the lagoon and supervising the Bo’sun as he began to order the deck department to commence dogging hatches and assisting the technicians place their sensors there was enough to do, though the morning rains and the sultry afternoons made any time […]

(Hollywood Bombshell Rita Hayworth in her 1946 role of “Gilda.” The Fat Man A-Bomb used for the ABLE test at Bikini was named for her and her likeness was stenciled on the weapon prior to M-hour). We had abandoned ship the afternoon before the bomb dropped for Test ABLE. We were taken by landing craft […]