Los Alamos National Laboratory, 1946

OPERATION CROSSROADS – An archive of 33 photographs from the atomic tests at Bikini Atoll, 1 & 24 July 1946.

Primarily gelatin silver prints together with a chromogenic print, varying sizes from 192 x 192mm (7 1/2 x 7 1/2 in.) to 511 x 609mm (20 1/8 x 24in.). some bearing penciled notations on verso and others stamped "LOS ALAMOS PHOTOGRAPHIC LABORATORY," (several photographs bear creases, many with some marginal wear). Thirteen images bound in a hand-made wooden album.

The atomic tests at Bikini Atoll, July 1946. A photographic record of the first nuclear tests staged following the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. The large-scale, public tests were designed to determine the effectiveness of nuclear weapons against warships. After relocating the native residents of the Marshall Island atoll, nearly 100 warships were placed into the region at varying distances to determine the amount of damage that would be inflicted. Two bombs, both plutonium devices similar to what was tested at Trinity and dropped on Nagasaki, were used for the test. The first test (known as Test Able), held on 1 July 1946 involved an areal drop with the detonation occurring approximately 500 feet above the water surface. The second test (Test Baker), held on 24 July involved an underwater detonation. The second detonation resulted in a high degree of radioactive contamination. It led chemist Glenn T. Seaborg, the longtime chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, to declare Baker "the world's first nuclear disaster." He meant, of course, the first unintentional nuclear disaster. Bikini Atoll continued to be used as a nuclear testing ground until the late 1950s and the area and its people have struggled with issues of radioactive contamination to this day.

From the collection of Roger S. Warner. These photographs were kept by Roger S. Warner (1907-1976), who was in charge of the non-nuclear components of the first three atomic bombs ever made. After the successful test at Trinity in July 1945, Warner was sent to Tinian Island, where he oversaw the final assembly of both "Little Boy," and "Fat Man." It was in this capacity that he worked at Bikini Atoll, though much of his time during the actual tests was consumed with escorting various military officials and dignities who came to witness the tests. Please see lots 99 and 100 for additional photographs from Warner's collection.