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 tests. This involved a great deal of work by Task Group (TG) 1.2 in making the ships watertight so that pumping would not be required to keep them afloat. Many of the target ships could be classed as "war weary," making this task difficult. For the make of the experiment, the ships were to be in as near to fighting condition as was reasonable, which included loading them with ammunition, torpedoes, fuel, radar equipment, etc.

The target ships also required close pretest inspection since the aim of the tests was to measure the effects of the nuclear detonations. This was done by inspection teams of the Ship Material and Inspection Division and ships' crews and was documented extensively with photographs. Instrument placement board these vessels also was extensive. Compartments in nearly every target vessel were inspected and the condition recorded before and after each test. An aerial view of the target array is shown in Figure 21.

ABLE OPERATIONS

By mid-June the task force was in place. Burleson, with its cargo of experimental animals, was one of the last arrivals (14 June). Several small-scale rehearsals and one major rehearsal on 24 June 1946 (Queen Day) preceded the test. For the Queen Day rehearsal a number of non-self-propelled or slow-moving vessels were evacuated to Kwajalein, some not to return to Bikini until after ABLE. Projected ABLE Day remained 1 July.

At the morning weather conference on 30 June 1946, favorable weather was forecast for the following day, so Commander JTF 1 (CJTF 1) set 0830, 1 July, as shot time. At the evening weather conference, conditions still appeared

Figure 21. CROSSROADS, ABLE target array in Bikini Lagoon. View is looking south.