mhansen2
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- #81
My mistake from the above entry.
30 June
1966 - A-4C / Near Vieques Island, Puerto Rico
Due to equipment malfunction, a complete OST bomb without nuclear materials was accidentally lost off a Navy bomber during an operational suitability test flight near the island of Vieques, off the east coast of Puerto Rico. The Navy plane was operating from the carrier U.S.S. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT (CVA-42). The weapon was believed lost in waters 120 feet deep while the plane was conducting a practice strike against a simulated airfield on Vieques, an island used by the U.S. Navy as a bombing and gunnery target.
Although there was no danger from explosion or radioactivity, the loss of the classified device in shallow waters led to a search by seven Navy mine sweepers, a landing ship dock, and a salvage ship. After scanning a 10 square mile area, the weapon was found about 1,500 yards offshore. The search effort was hindered in part by the large amount of metallic debris on the ocean bottom.
The OST device was located at 5:42 AM EDT on August 20 two miles northeast of Punta Este. The center body was intact and fragments were scattered within a 100 yard radius. There had been no detonation of the HE in the device. The OST weapon was recovered by 7:45 PM on the same day; by August 22, all major components had been recovered and delivered to the Roosevelt Roads naval station. The device was later disassembled at Sandia base in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Because of fear of attempts of recovery by unauthorized or hostile parties, no public announcement of the incident was ever made.
Chuck Hansen, “The Swords of Armageddon,” Vol. VII, p.285.
30 June
1966 - A-4C / Near Vieques Island, Puerto Rico
Due to equipment malfunction, a complete OST bomb without nuclear materials was accidentally lost off a Navy bomber during an operational suitability test flight near the island of Vieques, off the east coast of Puerto Rico. The Navy plane was operating from the carrier U.S.S. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT (CVA-42). The weapon was believed lost in waters 120 feet deep while the plane was conducting a practice strike against a simulated airfield on Vieques, an island used by the U.S. Navy as a bombing and gunnery target.
Although there was no danger from explosion or radioactivity, the loss of the classified device in shallow waters led to a search by seven Navy mine sweepers, a landing ship dock, and a salvage ship. After scanning a 10 square mile area, the weapon was found about 1,500 yards offshore. The search effort was hindered in part by the large amount of metallic debris on the ocean bottom.
The OST device was located at 5:42 AM EDT on August 20 two miles northeast of Punta Este. The center body was intact and fragments were scattered within a 100 yard radius. There had been no detonation of the HE in the device. The OST weapon was recovered by 7:45 PM on the same day; by August 22, all major components had been recovered and delivered to the Roosevelt Roads naval station. The device was later disassembled at Sandia base in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Because of fear of attempts of recovery by unauthorized or hostile parties, no public announcement of the incident was ever made.
Chuck Hansen, “The Swords of Armageddon,” Vol. VII, p.285.