Facts
Check Please. "National Interest" Gets It Wrong.
Copyright 2021 by Michael H. Maggelet
A
recent article in the "National Interest" website entitled
"Missing in Action: Six of America's Nuclear Weapons Are
Unaccounted For" (April 18, 2021) is rife with errors. Not surprisingly, the article has been copied and the disinformation spread on the web on various websites.
Let's
take a look at some of the claims versus the facts. Many of the
claims are partially extracted from the 1977 and 1980 DOD accident
list, with some disinformation thrown in by the "Center for
Defense Information" and others over the decades.
Claim-
"February 13, 1950- The longest
missing nuclear weapon hasn't been seen in 71 years, and it is
unlikely it will be found anytime soon.
It
was lost when the crew of a United States Air Force Convair B-36
bomber was conducting a mock nuclear strike and was en route from
Eielson Air Force Base (AFB), Alaska to Carswell AFB, Texas, when it
developed engine trouble. Not wanting to have a crash with a nuclear
warhead, the crew was ordered to drop its 30-kiloton Mark 4 (Fat Man)
bomb into the Pacific Ocean.
According
to the "official" report, the bomb didn't
contain the plutonium core necessary
for
a nuclear detonation, but it still contained a substantial amount of
uranium."
Facts-
In
the case of the February 13, 1950 accident, the Mk 4 bomb was
intentionally jettisoned due to an in-flight emergency, and set for
an airburst. The aircraft did not have a nuclear capsule on board, and only a lead (Pb) training capsule was installed in the bomb. Only the
bomb's high explosive content detonated (a nuclear detonation was not
possible), and the depleted uranium content could not produce any
nuclear detonation (and was vaporized in the HE detonation).
-
- -
Claim-
"March
10, 1956-
Six
years after losing the first bomb, two nuclear cores were lost when a
B-47 bomber likely crashed in the Mediterranean Sea while en route
from MacDill AFB, Florida to Ben Guerir Air Base, Morocco. The
aircraft had successfully completed its first aerial refueling, but
it failed to make contact with a tanker for a second refueling
and was reported missing.
The
exact weapon wasn't disclosed, but the B-47 typically carried the
3,400-kilogram Mark 15 nuclear bomb. No trace of the plane nor the
cores has ever been found."
Facts-
There was
no nuclear bomb aboard the aircraft, only two capsules of nuclear
material stored in "birdcages". This information is rather
evident if one actually bothers
to read the official DOD narratives-
March
10, 1956 / B-47 / Mediterranean Sea
The
aircraft was one of a flight of four scheduled for non-stop
deployment from MacDill AFB to an overseas air base. Take-off from
MacDill and first re-fueling were normal. The second refueling point
was over the Mediterranean Sea. In preparation for this, the flight
penetrated solid cloud formation to descend to the refueling level of
14,000 feet. Base of the clouds was 14,500 feet and visibility was
poor. The aircraft, carrying two nuclear capsules in carrying cases,
never made contact with the tanker.
An
extensive search failed to locate any traces of the missing aircraft
or crew. No weapons were aboard the aircraft, only two capsules of
nuclear weapons material in carrying cases. A nuclear detonation was
not possible.
-
- -
Claim-
"February 5, 1958- During
a simulated combat mission near Savannah, Georgia, another Air Force
B-47 bomber carrying a Mk 15 weapon collided with an F-86. After
multiple attempts to land, the bomber crew was given the green light
to jettison the bomb to reduce weight, and also to ensure it wouldn't
explode during an emergency landing. The bomb, which was dropped over
the Wassaw Sound near the mouth of the Savannah River, wasn't
recovered."
Facts-
In actuality, an F-86 collided with the B-47. The Mk 15 Mod 0 bomb
aboard the B-47 did not contain a nuclear capsule, and a lead
training capsule was stored in the cockpit (nor could it be installed into the bomb unless downloaded from the aircraft). The aircrew did not attempt to land with the bomb
aboard, it was intentionally jettisoned before landing.
The
bomb was jettisoned off Wassaw Sound and has not been recovered. It
cannot explode in a nuclear manner since it does not contain a
nuclear capsule for the primary.
-
- -
Claim- "January
24, 1961- Somewhere
near Goldsboro, North Carolina, a uranium core is likely buried in a
field. It
had
been one of the cores for a pair of 24-megaton nuclear bombs that
were on a B-52 that crashed shortly after takeoff. What is especially
unsettling about this incident is that three of the four arming
mechanisms on the bomb that was recovered had been activated.
The
second bomb's tail was discovered 20 feet below ground in the muddy
field, and when efforts to find the core failed to uncover it, the
military did the next best thing. The
United States Army Corps
of Engineers purchased a 400-foot circular easement over the buried
components to restrict digging."
Facts-
There is no "uranium core" buried in any field in North
Carolina. What is missing was the secondary from bomb two, which
contains uranium (detailed in the 1977 DOD "Narrative Summaries of Accidents Involving US Nuclear Weapons, 1950-1980").
The bomb yields were not 24
megatons, they were approximately 3.8 megatons each, and due to
safety mechanisms (two electrical ready/safe switches in each
weapon), they were not pre-armed nor armed, and they could not have produced a nuclear detonation under the circumstances.
-
- -
Claim-
December 5, 1965-
"Somehow
an A-4E Skyhawk attack aircraft, loaded with a one-megaton
thermonuclear weapon, managed to roll off the deck of the USS
Ticonderoga
and
fell into the Pacific Ocean. The pilot, plane and bomb quickly sank
in 16,000 feet of water and were never seen again.
However,
it wasn't until 15 years later that the U.S. Navy even admitted the
accident had taken place, and only noted it happened 500 miles from
land. However, that wasn't true – as the carrier was about 80 miles
from Japan's Ryuki island chain. As a result of that accident, the
Japanese government now prohibits the United States from bringing
nuclear weapons into its territory."
Facts-
The A-4 did roll off the deck of the USS Ticonderoga, incidentally
after crewmen attempted to stop it with chocks. The accident was
acknowledged in the 1977 DOD "Narrative Summaries of Nuclear
Weapons Accidents". The locations of many overseas accidents were classified due to agreements with the host nation, and to prevent retrieval by hostile nations.
-
- -
Claim-
"Spring 1968- The
final bomb to be lost and not recovered occurred sometime in the
first half of 1968, and involved the loss of the U.S. Navy's nuclear
attack submarine USS Scorpion, which sank about 400 miles to the
southwest of the Azores Islands. In addition to the tragic loss of
the 99 crewmembers, the submarine was carrying a pair of
nuclear-tipped weapons, which had yields of up to 250 kilotons.
While
this should be as scary as suggested, the good news is that in the
past 50 plus years, no other nuclear weapons have been lost – at
least that we know of."
Facts-
The USS Scorpion was carrying two Mk 45 ASTOR torpedoes with W34 Mod 3 nuclear warheads. While the yield remains classified, it certainly
was not 250 kilotons. There is no evidence that the sub was sunk by
any torpedo or hostile action, and the two nuclear armed torpedoes
remain inside the sub's hull.
The author ignores the loss of
Soviet nuclear weapons on submarines in various accidents, not to mention the grounding of a nuclear armed Soviet sub in Swedish waters in 1981.
For more information on the facts surrounding US and Soviet
nuclear weapon incidents and accidents, please purchase the books by
Michael H. Maggelet and the late James Oskins.
