![]() ![]() 1991 Delgado 1996), and the aircraft carrier USS Independence (CVL-22) off San Francisco (Delgado et al. Archaeological studies of Crossroads target ships moved to secondary locations post-test include the former German cruiser, Prinz Eugen at Kwajalein Atoll (Delgado et al. This allowed a team from SEARCH and the University of Delaware in June 2019 to study them as a simulated nuclear battlefield that included the actual blast crater of the second test and its effect on lagoon sediment movement. 1991 Delgado 1996) and a detailed survey of the lagoon floor along with all associated wrecks of ships lost during Crossroads. That includes shipwrecks directly lost at the time of the tests, and vessels which were subsequently sunk by the US Navy, most through scuttling or as targets in naval gun and aerial attack drills, as they were “outmoded” and “too hot to handle,” or in at least one case, presumably in of fear of revealing atomic secrets through analysis of atomic residues.Īrchaeological study of Bikini and material records of Operation Crossroads include initial work by the National Park Service in 1989–1990 (Delgado et al. The larger cultural landscape of Operation Crossroads, however, is broader with greater geographic distribution of individual wreck sites where associated facilities and artifacts associated with those ships and test equipment and artifacts associated from Crossroads comprise the historical extents of the sites. Bikini Atoll is a larger archaeological site and cultural landscape that reflects not only the 1946 tests, but subsequent nuclear weapons tests at Bikini through the hydrogen bombs tests of the 1950s. ![]() That archaeological legacy is defined by the site of the tests at Bikini, the fleet of test vessels sunk there as a result of the two atomic detonations, as well as vessels subsequently scuttled “in place” at Bikini. While an historic American battleship with an important symbolic significance for the American people, as an archaeological resource Nevada is one of a number of sites, including sunken vessels, that comprise a detailed archaeological record of the beginning of the atomic age and the Cold War, and specifically Operation Crossroads, the first tests of the new weapon at Bikini Atoll. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |