-from Bluejacket Odyssey (at left): Since the race to produce the bomb had precluded all but a cursory analysis of how it would affect military operations over the long term, many important questions remained such as what to do with the bomb and how to control it. Furthermore, there was no reliable information available on the bomb’s effects on ships, airplanes, and military equipment, or defense against it.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff created Joint Task Force One (JTF-1) and assigned it the mission of atomic bombing a target array of naval ships. A fleet of more than ninety vessels was assembled as a target for the tests. It consisted of older U.S. capital ships, three captured German and Japanese ships, battleships, destroyers, submarines, (some on the surface and some submerged), transports, cargo ships, landing ships, concrete barges, and a concrete dry-dock. The ships were partially loaded with fuel and ammunition to better simulate real conditions.

The pool news report described the blast:

The mushroom broke out suddenly at the top, and the cloud changed colors. It was a fascinating picture. For a few minutes, it looked like a giant ice cream cone as it turned completely white. Looking at it then through binoculars, it seemed like floating layers upon layers of whipped cream. Again it changed colors, now to peaches and cream. All this time, the trade winds were driving it hard. In 30 minutes the cloud began to disintegrate into a crazy pattern of fat Zs. In an hour, the wind had so battered it that the disintegrating cloud began to look like a giant, willowy dragon in a small boy’s dream

This page-turner by Fall River sailor Bill McGee will keep you on the edge of your seat!

BLUEJACKET ODYSSEY : From shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to the atomic bomb testing at Bikini, Bill McGee experienced WWII in the Pacific like few others.

McGee has produced an engrossing book, all from the unique perspective of a volunteer enlisted man, one who has "been there and done that."

The book is a combination of his own daily shipboard journal with three recent years of interviews with former shipmates, records and declassified documents from the National Archives, and exhaustive personal research.

The book is an honest, factual story - laced with humor - that takes the reader for a ride through the war zones on four merchant ships and the Fall River heavy cruiser. Dubbed by one reader as a "must-read and not just for veterans," you’ll experience history at such now legendary places as Guadalcanal, New Guinea, the Marshalls and Marianas, and even kamikaze attacks in Leyte Gulf and the Philippines.

Follow this link to order Bluejacket Odyssey.