Curiosities 36 - Broken Arrows: The Lost Atomic Bombs
João Henrique Barboza Jorgetto • May 4, 2024
Everyone has lost something, whether through carelessness or accident. From cell phones to car or house keys, from your wedding ring (this is a problem to explain later) to where you parked the car, it happens to everyone and everywhere. So it doesn't seem strange for me to tell you that you've already lost some atomic bombs out there.
Accidents or incidents involving nuclear war material have a specific military jargon called "Broken Arrows" (broken arrows, in Portuguese). They are not as rare as we would like them to be. Today's post will present some curious data and stories about these losses.
First, it's nice to introduce a small bit about nuclear warheads. First used in World War II, atomic bombs continue to define political and military rules to this day. But do you know how many bombs have been tested on our planet to date? Since the first test in 1945, the old planet has witnessed no less than 2,056 atomic explosions! Not to mention one or two that have not yet been proven. In the video below, you can quickly see the evolution of nuclear tests.
The data shows that in terms of nuclear devices, no one beats the United States and Russia. The reason is apparent: the Cold War. The tension between the powers and the arms race forced the American Air Force to carry out flights 24 hours a day, seven times a week, carrying bombs in its bombers on standby. The same was happening on the other side of the world, with the Soviets also ready to defend themselves. It is worth remembering that at the beginning of the arms race, there were still no ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles), so to attack your enemy, you had to do so at the base of the plane. It is estimated that the total number of accidents involving nuclear weapons exceeds 50 cases, but little is proven or disclosed by the nations involved (mainly the Soviets). The United States has some known cases. Are they:
Incident at Riviere-du-Lop, 1950
The Americans were secretly moving bombs between Canada and the United States of America when a B-50 plane had engine problems and had to get rid of a Mark 4 model bomb, activating it so that it exploded 700 meters above the St. Lawrence. The explosion was heard throughout the region. This specific bomb was without the plutonium "heart," a key element in the atomic reaction (due to the high cost of the device at the time), which did not generate an accidental nuclear explosion. For years, the American government claimed that the boom was the result of training with simple bombs.
B-36 crash in British Columbia, 1950
A B-36 was returning from Alaska when three engines caught fire. Fearing the worst, the pilots chose to discard a Mark 4 bomb on the Canadian coast, generating an explosion. The 17 crew members tried to escape by parachuting, but unfortunately, five died. The bomb, according to the pilots, contained lead and TNT inside, without the nuclear device. The plane crashed into the sea and was only found some time later. The bomb was lost for years until, in 2016, a diver found debris from what could have been the bomb.
B-47 lost in the Mediterranean, 1956
The B-47 from Tampa, Florida, was carrying two nuclear bombs when it disappeared into the skies over the Mediterranean Sea. The plane, as well as the two bombs, were never found.
The collision in Savanah, Georgia, 1958
That was tense! During a training action, a B-47 collided with an F-86 fighter, damaging the bomber so seriously that the solution for its crew was to drop the bomb over Tybee Island, the "safest" place they found. Everything was done in desperation, as the bomb could explode when it hit the ground. In detail, it was a Mark 15, a mighty hydrogen bomb. And she just disappeared! To this day, there is no evidence of where she ended up or what condition she is in. We may have a nuclear bomb under the ocean today.
The North Carolina Bombs, 1961
It's a good thing that there have only been accidents in remote places, right? So, this happened: a B-52 bomber was flying over the city of Goldsboro when one of the wings broke, dropping two Mark 39 hydrogen bombs on the area. For understanding, each of these bombs has 260 times the power of the one used in Hiroshima. The first fell in a pasture in the village of Faro. The second, however, remained activated on the ground, and the only reason it did not become a catastrophe was because a low voltage mechanism (present in the final part of the bomb's detonation stage) prevented the warhead from exploding. Of the bomb's four safety systems, only the last one worked. At the end of their prayers, everyone in the region should include a "thank you, God, for the low voltage mechanism, amen."
The accident on the aircraft carrier Ticonderoga, 1965
The Pacific Ocean also holds an American bomb thanks to an accident involving a Navy A-4 Skyhawk jet. The aircraft carrier performed a maneuver causing a severe tilt just as the aircraft was being taken armed by the ship's elevator to the deck. The pilot was not attentive to the desperate signals from the crew and did not apply any brakes, sliding to the bottom of the sea with the plane and a B-34 bomb. Neither pilot, aircraft, nor bomb have been found to date.
The Palomares case, 1966
Bombers in nuclear attack simulation training needed to travel long distances; the enemy was on the other side of the world. The missions followed the entire ritual, including aerial refueling, to provide further realism to the training. It was in one of these that the American B-52 collided with the KC-135 tanker, resulting in it crashing with 4 Mk28 bombs. The KC-135 exploded, killing the entire crew. In the B-52, four soldiers survived, although significantly injured. And the bombs? Three of them fell in Palomares, a Spanish village. Of them, two exploded their non-nuclear devices on the ground, contaminating an area of 2km² with plutonium. The third rested intact on the ground and was recovered. After long searches, the fourth bomb was found in the Mediterranean Sea.
As I said, these are some of the countless cases. We still have dozens of bombs lost in incidents of nuclear submarines and malfunctioning ICBMs.