Naval History - August 1996 - Bombshell at Bikini

August: "Vietnam Fault Line"; "Flying Coach" by Max Brand; "Bombshell at Bikini" - atomic blasts 50 years ago;

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UNITED STATES NAVAL INSTITUTE July / August 1996 Volume 10 • Number 4
In this edition, we take on
several historic issues that
still resonate today. Robert Timberg writes about the wide gap between Vietnam veterans and draft evaders, many of whom became folk heroes at home. Times have changed, he says, but some attitudes die hard.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the atomic bomb tests at Bikini atoll, a maritime historian retells the story of the tests and the legacy they left behind. An Operation Crossroads historian also details why and how the Navy decided to open the tests to press coverage.
An expert on early-20th-century naval strategy profiles Admiral Sir John Fisher, one First Sea Lord who changed the Royal Navy.
Also in this issue—the biographer of Admiral Clifton A. F. Sprague asks baseball announcer Ernie Harwell about his reporting for Leatherneck magazine in World War II; Max Brand takes to the air at Guadalcanal; submarines become operating rooms; and a Civil War ship finds a home in North Carolina.
Naval History, ISSN 1042-1920, is published bimonthly by the U.S. Naval Institute, 2062 Generals Highway, Annapolis, Maryland 21401 (editorial offices are located at U.S. Naval Academy, Preble Hall, 118 Maryland Avenue, Annapolis, MD 214025035, fax no. 410-269-7940). The U. S. Naval Institute is a private, self-supporting, nonprofit professional society, which publishes Proceedings magazine as a forum for the sea services, and professional books. The Naval Institute is not part of the U.S. Government. The opinions and assertions herein are the authors'. Second class postage paid at Annapolis, Maryland, and at additional mailing offices. Annual Naval History subscription rates: Naval Institute member, $18.00; nonmember, $20.00. International subscribers add $6.00. Copyright 1996, U.S. Naval Institute. Copyright is not claimed for editorial material in the public domain. Postmaster: Send address changes to Naval History, U.S. Naval Institute, Circulation Department, 2062 Generals Highway, Annapolis, Maryland 21401.
The Vietnam Fault Line 15
By Robert Timberg
The author of The Nightingale's Song, which follows five Naval Academy graduates to Vietnam and back, still sees a chasm between veterans and draft evaders
Fisher's Naval Revolution
By Jon Sumida
At the turn of the century, Admiral Sir John Fisher led an assault on Britain's traditional fleet. He favored smaller battle cruisers and submarines.
Operating Under Pressure
By Robert C. Bornmann and Jan K. Herman
Pharmacist's mates on board submarines in World War II performed appendectomies, despite criticism from an unapproving medical community ashore.
Flying Coach
By Max Brand
The war veteran and shoot-'em-up Western author of more than 240 mostly cowboy books lends his action-packed style to a story of valor at Guadalcanal.
Bombshell at Bikini
By James P. Delgado
The two atomic bomb blasts at Bikini Atoll 50 years ago—Operation Crossroads—tested the backbone of combatant ships but also left a radioactive legacy.
Dateline Crossroads
By Lloyd J Graybar
During its heated competition with the Air Force and Army in the nuclear weapons sweepstakes, the Navy invited the press to cover the bomb tests.
Ernie Harwell for Leatherneck
By John F. Wukovits
The future voice of the Detroit Tigers reported from Wake Island in September 1945 with several of the Marines who had been forced to evacuate it in 1941.
North Carolina's Ironclad
By Commander Tyrone G. Martin, U.S. Navy (Retired)
Crew members were so unaccustomed to ironclads that they called the CSS Neuse a "Neus-ance." She never fought a battle, but she kept Union forces distracted.
A Question of Wood and Time 49
By Jann Calhoun
Saving the CSS Neuse may come down to a waiting game against the elements. Departments
Looking Back 4 Book Reviews 53 Salty Talk 59
In Contact 6 Books of Interest 55 Historic Fleets 60
Museum Report 51 Naval History News 56 Reunions 62
Cover: Half a generation missed the horrors of the Vietnam War—depicted by Charles Waterhouse in "Bringing in the Wounded, Near the DMZ"—or made no sacrifices at all. One author tells how his half feels about that, beginning on page 15.
Publisher
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Atomic Bombshell at Bikini: 50 Years Later
NAVAL HISTORY
UNITED STATES NAVAL INSTITUTE AUGUST 1996