February 2007

The Bikini Atoll is a part of the Marshall Islands archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. It has a total land area of approximately 6 sq. km and surrounds a lagoon with a total area of 594 sq. km. It was here that the U.S. Army conducted tests of nuclear weapons, in the years 1946-1958. The Americans detonated a total of 67 nuclear devices in the Atoll and a neighbouring one, of which 23 were detonated at the Bikini. At the end of the twentieth century, the U.S. Congress has allocated millions of dollars to eliminate contamination. 300 thousand cubic meters of radioactive soil were removed under the programme. The Bikini Atoll today is primarily a place for monitoring radioactive contamination by the U.S. Atomic Commission and the site of a diving base opened in 1998. There is plenty to see, because a whole armada of ships lies in the waters of the lagoon. Among them the flagship of Japan's Imperial Navy, the battleship 'Nagato' (from its deck Admiral Yamamoto led the attack on Pearl Harbor), the 'Arkansas' warship, a Japanese cruiser 'Sakawa' and the submarine ‘Apogon’. But the most interesting wreck resting on Bikini Atoll, and the goal of our second expedition was the aircraft carrier "USS Saratoga".

The Bikini Atoll is still a little visited and little known place in the Pacific Ocean. While in 1998 a diving base was opened there, only 12 divers can be there at a time, which significantly reduces the number of people who can explore the area. It’s also not easy to reach. Only two airplanes are flying to Bikini with Air Marshall, both very old and in fairly poor condition. They are so bad, that usually when one is in the air, the second is in repair. And then you land on a strip that has not seen any repairs in 40 years, and time has not been kind to it. Next is the boat crossing to the island where the dive base is located. There are several dive base buildings here, and some buildings used by scientists studying radioactivity around the atoll. Apart from that – a transformer station and a power plant belonging to the United States. The rest are the palms, pristine beaches and water. The whole team of the diving are Jim, its head and two divemasters – Jim's wife Jen and an American, Ridge. Then a few local members working on the maintenance. A total of no more than 10 people. The atoll islands are uninhabited – the diving base support and the scientists studying the extent and effects of irradiation are staying there only temporarily, no longer than 4 months in a year. According to the scientists working there, it will still take some time to fully return the island to the state before the nuclear tests. Many species of animals that lived at Bikini prior to the testing are still missing. To this day, it is absolutely prohibited to pick and eat any plant, fish and drink the local water in the Bikini. All food is imported to the island from safe areas.

The Bikini Atoll on the Marshall Islands was an American nuclear testing ground in the years 1946-1958. The (in)famous operation Crossroads was carried out there, consisting of a series of nuclear weapons' tests, in 1946. Then the testing continued. On the 1^st of March 1954 the U.S. detonated the most powerful bomb of that period - a 15 megaton Castle Bravo. The power of the explosion was 1,000 times greater than that of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The underwater crater, formed after the explosion, is two kilometres long and 73 meters deep. The explosion was so great that the residents of Rongelap located about 200 km from the Bikini Island saw a ‘second sun’, six-foot waves and then ‘white petals’ started to fall from the sky. A few months after the incident, half of 63 residents of Rongelap died in suffering. Bikini was in the news again on 27^th of May 1956, when the world’s first three-stage bomb was detonated there.

At the turn of the 60's and 70's former residents returned to Bikini, but in 1978 they were again ordered to leave the island, because the radioactivity still exceeded the norm. Cessium-137 was detected in the coastal waters. Strontium-90 was found in plants, and Plutonium-239 and 240 in humans. Even the crabs were radioactive. Today, after a 40 cm thick layer of irradiated ground has been peeled off the island and stored in a crater on the Runit Island, short-term exposure during a trip to the Bikini is safe. And the island attracts divers. Primarily, due to the wrecks of sunken ships with all the equipment intact – they tested the influence of the bomb on all parts of the ship, so they were sunken complete. During the 12 years of nuclear tests at the Bikini Atoll a total of 242 ships and 156 aircraft were used. Many of them are accessible to divers and are very interesting objects to explore.

This idea of an expedition to the wrecks of both American and Japanese fleet matured in us for many years. First we took a trip to the Truk Lagoon in Micronesia, the world's largest naval underwater ship graveyard, where we could see a whole flotilla of Japanese ships, both military and transportation ones. We've been there twice, completing over a dozen dives to the wrecks. It was there that we learned about what is probably the most interesting place in the world when it comes to wreck diving – the Bikini Atoll. We knew, of course, that the trials took place there as part of Operations Crossroads and Castle and that original vessels were used. What we did not know, was that the ships used during these tests are now available for divers.

During our first trip, one of the ships that we had the opportunity to explore closer was the Japanese battleship Nagato. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Nagato was the flagship of the Japanese fleet and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto place of command (she lost that role after the entry of battleship Yamato into service). The order to attack Pearl Harbor was sent from the deck of this ship. In June 1942 she was also part of the Main Body in the Battle of Midway, but she took no direct part in hostilities. She also participated in the Battle of Leyte, where, together with other units, she sank the aircraft carrier Gambier Bay and three destroyers. In 1945 she was the last Japanese battleship to survive the war. Seized by Americans, she has been used as target boat during atomic test explosions in the Bikini Atoll. She survived the first explosion conducted on the 1^st of July 1946, but sank as a result of the second underwater atomic bomb explosion on 25^th of July 1946.

But what we wanted to do the most was to explore the CV-3 USS Saratoga ... thus began a long email discussion with Jim about the idea and after the details had been agreed, we returned to Bikini

This time the goal was clear - one of three sunken aircraft carriers in the world.

USS Saratoga is a giant, 300 m long aircraft carrier, launched in 1927. Larger than Titanic, she was able to carry 80 aircraft at one time. It was on this ship that all procedures for take-offs and landings on carriers were formed. 107 military aircraft crews lost their lives in training. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor (on the December 7^th, 1941), the USS Saratoga was in the Pacific. In January 1942, she was hit by a torpedo. She returned to service in June 1942 and again in late August, scored a meeting with a torpedo. In January and February 1944, she participated in the invasion of the Marshall Islands. On February 21^st, 1945 the Japanese kamikaze struck. From September 1945 Saratoga transported soldiers returning from the Pacific to the U.S.. In early 1946, it was decided that she will become a target of nuclear attack during the Bikini tests. The Saratoga has survived the first explosion (July 1, 1946), but sank after the second (July 25, 1946).

Our expedition to Saratoga proceeded without problems. The wreck lies at a depth of about 50 meters (starter deck is at 40m, 69m marks the keel). Part of it is not available, but the vast majority of decks are preserved in excellent condition. What you see is impressive, mainly because everything looks as if the crew had never left the ship. This giant, with multiple levels and dozens of corridors, was sunk with full equipment on board: from fuel to ship and aircraft, through full armour, furniture, crew's clothes and plates. The aircraft in hangars stand still, as if ready to take off. Every element of it being real and not a counterfeit, because the army wanted to thoroughly examine the impact of nuclear explosions not only on the ship, but everything that's on the ship.

And after the dive ... 50-60 minutes decompression time and contemplation of the unforgettable memories of Saratoga. We dived using air as the bottom gas (trimix is not available there). For decompression we had stages with nitrox 60, 75 and 85, depending on the depth and length of the dive. We also had a decobar on 9, 6 and 3 meters.