—
6.
It was necessary to provide adequate secure mooring
facilities for the boats assigned to the boat pool which could
not be hoisted aboard ships of the task group during evacuation.
An extensive survey was conducted off Eniwetok and pontoons,
mooring buoys and small boat anchorages were marked off to provide for the security of all boats.
7.
On 17 March, CTG 7.35 investigated the feasibility of lay-
ing e Sono buoy barrier at the Deep Entrance and Wide Passage.
Since such a plan was considered to be practical, BuShips was requested to provide the necessary equipment by air shipment.
By
24 April, the buoys had been planted and two monitoring stations
had been set up, with one being located on Parry Island and me on
Eniwetok Islend.
These were manned continuously throughout the
remainder of the operation.
8.
On 8 April, a full dress rehearsal for gl] task groups
was conducted.
For the Naval Task Group a coordinated evacuation
plan was placed in effect.
This entailed departure of some units
on minus 3 Day, including dispatching LST 219 to Ujelang on PETER
X-RAY minus 3 Day.
This vessel was thereafter stationed at Ujelang
until after ZEBRA Day, in order to provide for the removal of the
natives to safety if, by chance, that island were to become hazardous
due to radiological fall-out or contamination from rain or winds.
This was purely a precautionary measure.
Seotion VII
68