ON THIS DAY
1 March 1954: US tests hydrogen bomb in Bikini. The US has produced the biggest ever man-made explosion so far in the Pacific archipelago of Bikini, part of the Marshall Islands. It is believed the hydrogen bomb was up to 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. It was so violent that it overwhelmed the measuring instruments, indicating that the bomb was much more powerful than scientists had anticipated. The 15 megaton bomb delivered a force far more powerful than expected. One of the atolls has been totally vaporised, disappearing into a gigantic mushroom cloud that spread at least 100 miles wide and dropping back to the sea in the form of radioactive fall-out. The Atomic Energy Commission announced this was the first in a series of tests to be carried out in the area. Tests first began in Bikini in 1946 after the natives were moved to the island of Rongerik, then to Ujelan a year later and to Kili in 1949. This is the second H-bomb test in the area. A 10.4 megaton bomb was exploded on 1 November 1952 at Enewatak, west of Bikini. It destroyed one island and left a crater 175 feet deep. It was hundreds of times more powerful than that used over Hiroshima. Unlike that device which tapped energy by splitting atomic nuclei, the Enewetak weapon forced together nuclei of hydrogen to unleash an even greater destructive force. (Source: BBC)
19 Feb 09. Danton wreck found in deep water. A French battleship sunk in 1917 by a German submarine has been discovered in remarkable condition on the floor of the Mediterranean Sea. The Danton, with many of its gun turrets still intact, is sitting upright in over 1,000m of water. It was found by the Fugro geosciences company during a survey for a gas pipeline between Algeria and Italy. The Danton, which sank with 296 sailors still onboard, lies 35km southwest of the island of Sardinia. Naval historians record that the Danton’s Captain Delage stood on the bridge with his officers and made no attempt to leave the ship as it went down. (Source: BBC)