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Copy No,
13
of
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE —
WASHINGTON 25, Ds Cy
dune 13,
1957
Dear Mr, Chairman:
I refer to my letters of March 6, 1957, and March 14, 1957,
regarding the attendance of a U, 5, observer team at the Brivish ©
nuclear weapon test near Christmas Island, This letter is to give
you a preliminary report of the results of the visit,
The operation was the first British test in the Pacific and
The aiming point
consisted of an air drop of a British device,
Offset bombing
for the air drop was a tip of Malden Island.
techniques were used as the target was about one and one half
miles off shore,
quite well,
The actual bombing operation was carried out
‘The miss distance was estimated to be 200 yards short
and 600 yards to the right from 42,000 feet drop altitude,
was fuzed for air burst at 8 - 10,000 feet.
Bomb
U. S, Witnesses were 30 miles away, and were provided com-
Twelve seconds after
=
detonation, when U. S. observers were permitted to view the shot,
it was estimated that the fireball was 7500 feet.in diameter,
The pas
the cloud rose to 51 - 55,9000 feet.
—
—"
BaIO
plete (head to toe) thermal protection.
arn
oN_The-British havethanked theDepartment for the cooperation
which they received in maintaining security of the timing of the
first shots by not announcing the names or participation of the
U.S. observers,
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Sincerely yours,
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Herbert B, Loper
Assistant to the Secretar
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of Defense (Atomic Energy
The Honorable Carl T, Durham
Chairman, Joint Committee on Atomic Energy
Congress of the United States
RESPRICTPED-DATA—
This document contains restricted data as
defined in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954,
Its transmittal or the disclosure of its
contents in any manner to an unauthorized
person is prohibited,
CUCLASSTFTEE
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