oa Watney
units of the Surface Security Unit.
These atolls were also surveyed and
resurveyed in order to establish the degree of contamination, and to establish how the fallout may have been taken up in the food chain by plants
and animals.
This required several returns to the atolls, which were still
radiologically hot enough to require that shore parties be badged.
These
activities are summarized in Table 66.
Table 66.
Dates
CASTLE evacuation and resurvey activities, March-April 1954.
Ship
Activity
Location(s)
3 Mar
Phili
DDE-498)
Evacuation
Rongelap and Ailinginae atolls
4 Mar
Renshaw
Evacuation
Utirik Atoll
5-8 Mar
Renshaw
Resurvey
8-12 Mar
Nicholas
(DDE-449)
Resurvey
(DDE-499)
(DDE-499)
.
6 March:
Likiep, Jemo Island, and
Ailuk Atoll; 7 March:
9 March: Utirik and Aon Islands at
Utirik Atoll, and Bikar Island at
Bikar Atoll; 10 March: Enewetak Island
Island at Rongerik Atoll, and Ailingi-
nae Atoll; 11 March:
Tap Atol]
25-26 Mar
21-23 Apr
Source:
~
Nicholas
(DDE-449)
Resurvey
Rongelap Atoll
Phili
Resurvey
21-23 April:
CDDE-98)
Mejit Island
23 April:
northern Ronge-
Rongelap Atoll;
Ailinginae Atoll]
Reference 16, Appendix H.
Rongerik remained too radioactive for continuous occupancy after BRAVO
and required evacuation because of the contamination of the weather station and the Project 6.6 station there.
However, because JTF 7 still
required weather information from this station, it was operated intermittently to make daylight soundings before shots ROMEO and KOON by personnel
flown in and out by seaplane.
For shots UNION and YANKEE, personnel were
348