eraemaareser-onn
2.2
LAGOON STATIONS
Twenty stations within the Eniwetok Lagoon (Fig. 2.1) were mounted on standard Navy
60-man life floats fastened to moorings provided by Holmes and Narver. The anchor for each
mooring was a 4000-lb concrete block to which a discarded oil drum was attached as float.
A 1-in. wire cable, which was one-third greater in length than the depth of the water, was
shackled to the anchor and made fast to the float by passing it through two pad eyes welded to
the drum and then secured by clamping on itself. An LSU with a crane aboard placed the anchors. Engineers stationed on two of the Atoll islands maintained radio contact with the LSU
and directed it to the proper positions. All instruments were installed aboard the life floats at
Parry Island. These floats were then loaded aboard an LSU and taken to the designated moor-
ing. Once at the mooring a crane placed the floats in the water. An LCM then towedthefloat to
the mooring, where it was secured to the pad eye on the top of the drum with 100 ft of 3-in.
manila line. This phase of the operation was completed by M—15 day.
Two teams using LCM’s visited each location approximately one week after the initial in-
stallation and again on either M—3 or M—2 dayfor final adjustment of the equipment aboard
the floats. A dinghy, which had been towed to the location, was used to board the floats to
avoid any possible damage to the equipment should the LCM and the float bump together.
Of a total of 20 life floats, two were discovered to be missing at the end of one week. In
each instance, both the float itself and the oil drum to which it was fastened were missing. It
is assumedthat the failure occurred where the cable was clamped onitself after passing
through the pad eyes on the drum orat the anchor.
During a storm on the night of M—4 day and also on M—3 day, four life floats broke loose.
Although a 3-in. manila line was used, it was chafed apart about 3.5 ft from the shackle. It is
believed that, as the {float swung, the line became wedged in the V created by the clamping of
the wire underneath the drum. On M-2 day a short section of wire was added to the mooring
lines to eliminate further difficulties of this kind. Two of the four floats which broke loose
lodged on the reef only about one-quarter mile off their original position, and samples were
recovered from them. after the shot.
2.3.
SEA STATIONS
Because of the depth of the water surrounding Eniwetok Atoll, it was not operationally
feasible to place any number of mooredfloats outside the lagoon. The 500-fathom curve runs
approximately 1 mile from the edge of the reef. By 5 miles the depth increases to about 1000
fathoms and beyond that rapidly approaches depths between 2000 and 3000 fathoms. The use of
ships in the area and a type of free-floating station were the obvious solutions for extending
the collecting area.
2.3.1
Shipboard Stations
Fall-out stations were installed on 10 task force ships [see Appendix D for Appendix I,
Task Group 132.1 (TG 132.1) Operation Order]. A description of the collectors used on
shipboard will be found in Chap. 3. Mounting the collectors aboard the ships was relatively
easy. Operational movements of the vessels in a few instances required close coordination be-
tween ship and project personne! in placing the equipment aboard, instructing ship personnel in
operation of the equipment, and the recovery of the samples for air shipmentto the United
States. The additional variable introduced in the measurements by the movementof the collector was virtually eliminated by keeping a careful record of the ship’s position at stated inter-
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