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"This rare map of the Pacific Ocean was prepared by the United States Hydrographic Office in April 1946 for Joint Army-Navy Task Force One. Just two months later, the world's fourth and fifth atomic bombs would be successfully detonated in test explosions nicknamed Operation Crossroads. Interestingly, only one bomb is referenced on the map. The first three - Alamogordo (Trinity), Hiroshima (Centerboard I), and Nagasaki (Centerboard II) - have their respective blast sites pinpointed and dated. Airline distances between points are noted in nautical miles, highlighting the remote nature of the Bikini Atoll. Insets in the upper left and lower right provide further geographic context on the small archipelago in the Marshall Islands, which remains uninhabitable to this day from nuclear fallout and radiation. Nearly 200 indigenous residents were forcibly removed to facilitate the tests. According to the Naval Heritage Command; "Operation Crossroads was an atmospheric nuclear weapon test series conducted in the summer of 1946 at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The series consisted of two detonations, a low altitude test and a shallow water test. The devices, each with a yield of 21 kilotons, were named shots ABLE and BAKER. A planned third test, a deep underwater detonation, was canceled after the second test. The series was intended to study the effects of nuclear weapons on warships, equipment, and material. These tests would provide important information on the survivability of warships in the event of nuclear war. Both the Navy and the Army Air Forces were, given the possible budgetary effects of such tests, very interested in the outcome of these experiments. From a scientific point of view, technical experiments were also planned on nuclear weapon explosion phenomena and radiation contamination." The map is scarce and noted only once in WorldCat as of July 2024, at the University of Utah's J. Willard Marriott Library. Sources: OCLC# 26268052; Naval Heritage Command; National WWII Museum" Sheet Width (in) 22 Sheet Height (in) 15.5 Condition Description Three stains within the image, the largest in the Marshall Islands and the second largest in the lower right inset. The third, much fainter, south of Hawaii. Creased along old fold lines, some irregular wrinkling, and wear in the margins. About good condition.
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