Dropping of the atomic bomb twice on Japan in August of 1945 effectively ended World War II. The bombs possessed a power unknown to mankind until the moment its blast radius was made abundantly clear to the world. Japan’s emperor, Hirohito, accurately described it as “a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to damage is, indeed, incalculable.”
After the Atom Bomb
During the years leading up to the war’s nuclear climax, mathematicians and physicists had assembled in a secretly constructed city called Los Alamos in north central New Mexico. It was a pivotal part of the Manhattan Project. There they created the atomic bomb. Although history’s greatest conflict had ended, the research into nuclear weapons continued.
One of the physicists working within the Manhattan Project was the German-born Emil Klaus Fuchs. In the 1930s, he joined the German Communist Party. When he fled Germany to Great Britain, he retained those communist sympathies―sympathies that would prove detrimental to the West once the war was over. It was later discovered that Fuchs had been sending top secret nuclear information to the Soviets. This information accelerated the Soviets’ ability to develop their own nuclear weapon, and on Aug. 29, 1949, the Soviets detonated their first atomic bomb.
With most of Eastern Europe and China under communism, the scientific debate raged on whether a more powerful weapon should be developed. A weapon that physicists called the “Super.” This “Super” weapon was based on the design concepts of Los Alamos Laboratory physicist Edward Teller and mathematician Stanislaw Ulam.
The ‘Super’ Green Light
By the end of January 1950, President Harry Truman gave the green light to pursue the super weapon. Teller’s and Ulam’s theory would be put to the test. On May 9, 1951, on Eniwetok Atoll in Marshall Islands, a test was conducted that exploded less than an ounce of deuterium and tritium. The explosion was equivalent to 25 kilotons of TNT, which was twice as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb. Over the next year and a half, research into a hydrogen bomb continued. On Nov. 1, 1952, the hydrogen bomb was detonated, completely obliterating the island Elugelab from the earth.
Another Soviet Deterrent
While the power of the H-bomb was being discovered, Boeing was busy building their own deterrent to Soviet power. The aerospace company had been tasked with building a plane that could successfully conduct “ferret” missions. These covert aerial missions were part of the U.S. Air Force’s Strategic Air Command (SAC) to collect data on the Soviet’s and other communist nations’ radar capabilities.
Just a Simulation
Maj. Howard Richardson piloted the B-47 Stratojet “Ivory Two.” The three-man crew, which included copilot 1st Lt. Bob Lagerstrom and radar navigator Capt. Leland Woolard, conducted a simulated bomber mission along with another B-47 Stratojet called “Ivory One.” The two bombers left Homestead Air Force Base near Miami for New Orleans, then flew toward the Canadian border, and finally turned south back to Homestead. The pilots had been told they would be clear of “enemy” territory once they reached south of Virginia. The fighter pilots at Charleston Air Force Base, however, were told something very different.As the B-47s flew along South Carolina, three F-86 Sabres took off toward them. The Sabre possessed a max speed of 695 mph and could reach heights of nearly 50,000 feet. Following radar, the Sabre pilots rushed toward their target. The three Sabres intercepted Ivory One in a simulated attack. Ivory Two, however, was a mile behind and neither the Sabres’s radar nor the base’s air defense radar picked up the bomber.
At approximately 38,000 feet with both bombers and jet fighters flying at 500 mph, 1st Lt. Clarence Stewart, the pilot of one of the Sabres, was focused on his radar. Unexpected turbulence caused his attention to look up from his radar. His immediate reaction was to roll his jet to the right in order to miss Richardson’s B-47. He did not miss it altogether.
The Sabre crashed into the Stratojet’s right wing. Stewart immediately came to the realization he would have to bail: His jet was now wingless. Stewart ejected into the freezing stratosphere. By the time he reached land (actually, a swamp), he had spent more than 20 minutes descending and was frostbitten.
For Richardson and his crew, they struggled to control the massive B-47. The bomber finally came under control at 20,000 feet. Flying at nearly 250 mph, Richardson decided to make an emergency landing at Hunter Air Force Base near Savannah. He was advised to use caution as the landing strip was being repaired. For Richardson and co-pilot Laegerstrom, the risks were minimal. They were two of SACs best pilots. The risk, however, was too great for their payload. Ivory Two was carrying a 7,600 pound Mark 15 thermonuclear H-bomb―about 60 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb.
Richardson made the decision to jettison the bomb. It was during this week in history, on Feb. 5, 1958, that an H-bomb was delivered to the relatively shallow waters near Tybee Island just east of Savannah. Upon its impact with the water, the crew was relieved to see no explosion.
A recovery effort was quickly conducted, but the bomb was never recovered.
