Collection of Photographs and Eyewitness Account Letters of the First Bikini Atoll Nuclear Bomb Tests.

Rare collection of photographs of the first atomic bomb test "Able" at Bikini Atoll with letters of eyewitness accounts of the first atomic bomb testing and the second test "Baker" at Bikini Atoll. Four photographs of the detonation of the first atomic bomb test, "Able." Two depicting mushroom clouds in the ocean above an island. Two depicting mushroom clouds in the ocean and columns of water next to Navy ships with the beach of an island of Bikini Atoll in the foreground. Each in near fine condition. Accompanied with three letters of eyewitness accounts about the first and second atomic bomb tests. The first letter, dated June 12, 1946, is a revealing eyewitness account by a member of Operation Crossroads recounts the preparations leading up to the first test "Able", which took place on July 1 of that year, while also describing the day-to-day life of that soldier while stationed in the remote central Pacific islands. Signed "Bob" and addressed to a Mr. A.R. Sharples. The second letter, dated two weeks after the second test "Baker" (the first underwater nuclear explosion) on August 6, describes in detail that explosion. Originally enclosed with the second letter is an official mimeographed account of the explosion of the second bomb, dated June 12, observed by the crew aboard the USS Wharton, a US Navy troopship that transported observers to witness the blasts. Octavo, three typed pages and two hand-written pages, and two mailing envelopes. In near fine condition. Eyewitness accounts of this testing are very uncommon, and provide an inside glimpse of the beginnings of the nuclear arms race during the Cold War. The first and second atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll, known as Operation Crossroads, were conducted by the United States in July 1946 to evaluate the impact of nuclear weapons on naval vessels. The first test, Able, was an aerial detonation that produced limited damage, while the second, Baker, was an underwater explosion that caused significant contamination and demonstrated the complex environmental effects of nuclear warfare. These tests not only marked a pivotal moment in Cold War military strategy but also had lasting consequences for the displaced Bikini Atoll inhabitants and raised early concerns about nuclear fallout and ecological harm.…