In 1946 the U.S. Navy conducted 'Operation Crossroads' at Bikini Lagoon in the Marshall Islands. They placed dozens of old American WWII ships, plus captured German and Japanese warships (battleships, aircraft carriers, submarines, freighters, troop carriers) in Bikini Lagoon and subjected them to two atom bomb tests. Prior to the tests they loaded each ship full of fuel and ammunition, trying to replicate wartime conditions, so they could see what would happen to the ships when they were hit by a nuclear explosion. The Navy didn't put any people on the ships, but they did place many live animals in crates on the ships, so they could see what would happen when they became contaminated by radiation poisoning from the atomic blasts. During the first test which they called 'Able', a B-29 dropped a bomb from a height of 500 feet over the target area. Surprisingly, not many ships were sunk during this first atomic blast. The Navy then conducted a second test two weeks later which they called 'Baker'. During this test they hung a bomb 50 feet under a small landing craft before detonating it. When the atomic device exploded it sent a huge column of water and island debris into the air, which did sink many of the huge ships in the lagoon. Because of strong and lingering radiation almost all of the ships had to be towed to a deep part of the Pacific Ocean and sunk. Also because of the radiation contamination, all the Bikini people who had to leave their atoll before the tests, were never able to return. When I tried to get government officials to give me permission to take a team of divers and film-makers to Bikini, so I could produce a film about diving on ships at Bikini sunk by atom bomb testing, the officials never actually gave me permission. Always believing the glass is half-full, I reasoned they might not have said "yes", but they also didn't say "no". So, I put together an expedition team and flew over to Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands. We rented an island freighter called the "Mieco Queen", then went on a wonderful dive trip to Wotje Atoll, Kwajalein Atoll and Bikini Atoll. At Wotje, we dove on a Japanese freighter that had never been dived upon before. I also dove on a Japanese Kawaneshi Flying Boat that was sunk 50-feet deep in Wotje Lagoon. At Kwajalein we dove on the German Heavy Cruiser Prinz Eugen, which was the sister ship of the German Battleship Bismarc. Then at Bikini we had to fight deadly radiation and sharks, but were able to dive on the U.S. Battleship Arkansas, the Japanese Battleship Nagato (which was Admiral Yamamoto's Flagship when he attacked Pearl Harbor) and we dove on the U.S. Aircraft Carrier Saratoga. She was sitting right-side-up on the bottom, so we could land our two wet-subs on her flight deck, just like Hellcats did during WWII. In Saratoga's hanger deck we were able to sit in several of the Hellcats that were still tied down in place even after being subjected to two atom bomb tests. I produced a film when I returned home called "Deadly Fathoms" which featured famed film and TV star Rod Serling and "Fathoms" won a Silver Medal at the Atlanta International Film Festival. I think you'll like to read about how we did survive the radiation, sharks and multiple deep dives into Bikini Lagoon...and lived to talk about it! Mike Harris Producer-Director Expedition Leader
About the Author: Mike Harris is an accomplished writer, explorer and film producer who has led major expeditions throughout the world, including the first expeditions to search for the Titanic in the North Atlantic. On Mike's first expedition in 1971 he led a group of professional divers and film-makers to Bikini Atoll in the Marshall islands where they dove on American, German and Japanese warships that were sunk by atom bomb testing after WWII. His film "Deadly Fathoms" featured famed 'Twilight Zone' producer Rod Serling and won a Silver Medal at the Atlanta International film Festival. During Mike's second expedition he took a group of mountain climbers and Biblical scholars up the slopes of Mt. Ararat in Eastern Turkey to search for Noah's Ark. His film "Expedition to Noah's Ark" featured acclaimed Hollywood actor Joseph Cotten as his on-camera host and narrator. Mike's third expedition found him with a group of treasure hunters looking for gold and silver in the mountains of Old Mexico. His film "Pancho Villa's Treasure" featured film and television celebrity Cesar Romero as his on-camera host and narrator. Then in 1980 Mike organized a group of marine scientists and oceanographers and led them on the first-ever search for the ocean liner Titanic in the North Atlantic. His film "Search for the Titanic" featured legendary actor Orson Welles as his on-camera host and narrator. On Mike's second Titanic expedition he produced "Return to the Titanic" which featured television star James 'The Virginian' Drury. Jim actually joined Mike on his second historic Titanic expedition. Mike has also filmed eye-witness accounts from people in the Marshall Islands and on Saipan who claim Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan didn't just drop into the ocean and disappear in 1937 as history would want us to believe. They say she crash-landed her Lockheed Electra on Mili Atoll in the Marshall Islands, was captured by the Japanese, then taken to Saipan where she and Fred were put into prison before eventually being killed. Mike's many projects have taken him from Guyana to the Arctic Circle, Greenland to Israel and have included multiple studies of the famed Chinese Admiral Zheng He and the incredible fleet of Ming Treasure Ships he led sixty years before Columbus discovered America. Mike is a member of The Explorers Club of New York, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London and listed in Who's Who in America since 2000.