Broken Arrow
How the U.S. Navy Lost a Nuclear Bomb
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
This "unnerving exposé" of a lost American nuclear bomb "is a valuable contribution to the history of the navy, the cold war, and nuclear weapons" (Booklist).
On December 5th, 1965, the USS Ticonderoga was on its way from Vietnam to Japan, practicing nuclear combat procedures along the way. A young pilot from Ohio strapped into an A-4 Skyhawk bomber for a routine simulated mission. But after mishandling the maneuver, the plane and its pilot sunk to the bottom of the South China sea, along with a live B43 one-megaton thermonuclear bomb. A cover-up mission began as rumors of sabotage began to circulate.
The incident, known as a 'Broken Arrow', was kept under wraps for twenty-five years. The details that emerged caused a diplomatic incident, revealing that the U.S. had violated agreements not to bring nuclear weapons into Japan.
Broken Arrow tells the story of Ticonderoga's sailors and airmen, the dangers of combat missions and shipboard life, and the accident that threatened to wipe her off the map and blow US-Japanese relations apart. For the first time, through previously classified documents, never before published photos of the accident aircraft and the recollections of those who were there, the story of carrier aviation's only 'Broken Arrow' is told in full.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this niche but accessible history, aviation writer Winchester (American Military Aircraft) recounts a Broken Arrow incident (code for the loss of a nuclear weapon) that occurred onboard the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga in December 1965. During a drill to test preparing a nuclear strike from an aircraft carrier, an A-4E Skyhawk fighter bomber loaded with an unarmed one-kiloton nuclear weapon slipped off the elevator of the aircraft carrier and landed in the water upside down, sinking more than 16,000 feet along with its pilot, Lt. Doug Webster. Winchester devotes attention not only to Webster's background and the process of notifying his family of his death, but also to why the incident occurred and why the military kept some crucial details quiet namely that a nuclear weapon was involved. (This later caused public uproar about potential health hazards, particularly in Japan, when Greenpeace disclosed the payload's location in 1989.) Other aspects of naval aviation are also explored, including carrier operations against North Vietnam during the Vietnam War and the Navy's role in overall U.S. national nuclear strategy. Despite occasionally wandering away from its center subject, this informative account will appeal to readers interested in the details of Cold War nuclear strategy or air operations during the Vietnam War.
