America Tested Tsunami Bombs

[G David Bock]

'Tsunami bomb' tested off New Zealand coast

The tests were carried out in waters around New Caledonia and Auckland during the Second World War and showed that the weapon was feasible and a series of 10 large offshore blasts could potentially create a 33-foot tsunami capable of inundating a small city.

The top secret operation, code-named "Project Seal", tested the doomsday device as a possible rival to the nuclear bomb. About 3,700 bombs were exploded during the tests, first in New Caledonia and later at Whangaparaoa Peninsula, near Auckland.



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...and-coast.html

[Mountain Man]

Newly uncovered research reveals the United States and New Zealand tested a "tsunami bomb" during World War II, the Telegraph reports. The bomb reportedly uses underwater blasts to trigger massive tidal waves designed to destroy coastal cities.

'Presumably if the atomic bomb had not worked as well as it did, we might have been tsunami-ing people.'

- New Zealand author and filmmaker Ray Waru

New Zealand author and filmmaker Ray Waru uncovered the top secret operation, dubbed "Project Seal," while researching military files buried in the national archives, according to the Telegraph.
"Presumably if the atomic bomb had not worked as well as it did, we might have been tsunami-ing people," said Waru.
Tests revealed that a series of 10 large offshore blasts could potentially create a 33-foot tsunami wave capable of flooding a small city, the Telegraph reports.
The project reportedly was launched in 1944 after a U.S. naval officer noticed the large waves often produced by blasting operations to clear coral reefs in the Pacific.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/01/...ntcmp=features

As a matter of interest, during the Cold wAr America considered plans for nuclear-generated tsunamis, under such names as Project Sunflower. The concept called for encasing the bombs(s) in concrete inside an old freighter and sinking it at the desired spot, to be remotely detonated when needed.

[Dashy]

Tests were conducted by Professor Thomas Leech, of the University of Auckland, in Whangaparaoa off the coast of Auckland and off New Caledonia between 1944 and 1945.

Seems to be something wrong with yer thread title lad!!

it's an interesting concept, it would be great for coastal assaults, a tsunami would (theoretically) clear beach defenses and smooth out the landing areas.

too bad there's little need for such capability nowdays

[GCoyote]

Originally Posted by Dashy

Seems to be something wrong with yer thread title lad!!

...

fixed - And it is a strange concept but interesting nonetheless.

[Mountain Man]

Originally Posted by GCoyote

fixed - And it is a strange concept but interesting nonetheless.

Not so strange at all. The eggheads worked out that a tenb megaton weapon detonated at a specific place and depth could send a wall of radioactive water two to three hundred feet high against an enemy coastline.

The basis for the planning was fear that the Soviets planned to do it to us by detonating a s similar weapon on the continental shelf just offshore of a major port city like New York. The theory is perfectly sound.

[MonsterZero]

I heard there was a raw sewage tsunami in Gaza, but I doubt a bomb had something to do with it...

[Galland]

Dude...thats on the nose...!!!!!

[Pirate-Drakk]

Originally Posted by Mountain Man

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/01/...ntcmp=features

As a matter of interest, during the Cold wAr America considered plans for nuclear-generated tsunamis, under such names as Project Sunflower. The concept called for encasing the bombs(s) in concrete inside an old freighter and sinking it at the desired spot, to be remotely detonated when needed.

This technology may have been developed specifcaly for Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan.

The invading ships at sea would not be affected by the blast as long as they were beyond an easily (by testing) determined radius. However, the land defenses and supporting infrastructure would be subjected to a crippling Tsunami assault that would not be repairable in the time frame of the following invading forces. (Recall Japans recent Tsunami which was relatively isolated to specific pieces of coastline and the massive recovery efforts required).

Nuking these same beaches from the air would just create a radioactive mess that would make the blast area an unacceptable landing zone. The underwater nuke would be a much more viable use of the existing nuclear technology.

Consider that military planning in WWII was extensive in time/space and consider all the worst case scenarios leading to a final victory. Every possible advantage would be taken into consideration.

[Mountain Man]

Originally Posted by Pirate-Drakk

This technology may have been developed specifcaly for Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan.

The invading ships at sea would not be affected by the blast as long as they were beyond an easily (by testing) determined radius. However, the land defenses and supporting infrastructure would be subjected to a crippling Tsunami assault that would not be repairable in the time frame of the following invading forces. (Recall Japans recent Tsunami which was relatively isolated to specific pieces of coastline and the massive recovery efforts required).

Nuking these same beaches from the air would just create a radioactive mess that would make the blast area an unacceptable landing zone. The underwater nuke would be a much more viable use of the existing nuclear technology.

Consider that military planning in WWII was extensive in time/space and consider all the worst case scenarios leading to a final victory. Every possible advantage would be taken into consideration.

Nope - developed during the Cold War. We didn't have the technology to plant nukes in the ocean in 1945, or to remotely detonate them later when the need arose, nor did we understand tsunamis the way we do now. We had two bombs and we dropped them because that was the only viable delivery system we could come up with.

And if you will recall from the Bikini tests, we did not even understand what radioactivity was all about, either. We used radioactive seawater to "decontaminate" test ships after blasts, through hoses held by seamen dressed in ordinary dungarees without any protection. So no one knew or cared about the effects of fallout versus a tsunami in the first place. We were that ignorant.

[Mountain Man]

There's a better thread elsewhere on this, but basically, no - we did not test tsunami bombs "during WWII. We did not even have a nuclear weapon that worked until August of 1945 - the end of the war, and we used up the two weapons we had.

The actual research on tsunami bombs took place during the Cold WAr and involved waves in the two to three hundred foot range directed against coastal targets in the Soviet Union.

[skiplc]

I heard the same off the coast of California from my chemistry/physics teacher in the mid-late '60s. Something like enough of a tidal wave to make it past the coast range and into the San Joaquin Valley?

[Dashy]

Originally Posted by Mountain Man

There's a better thread elsewhere on this, but basically, no - we did not test tsunami bombs "during WWII. We did not even have a nuclear weapon that worked until August of 1945 - the end of the war, and we used up the two weapons we had.

The actual research on tsunami bombs took place during the Cold WAr and involved waves in the two to three hundred foot range directed against coastal targets in the Soviet Union.

Tests were conducted by Professor Thomas Leech, of the University of Auckland, in Whangaparaoa off the coast of Auckland and off New Caledonia between 1944 and 1945.

AHEM

[Chukka]

Originally Posted by Dashy

AHEM

I have seen a few articles on this topic and it states that conventional explosives were used.

[Dashy]

they were, it was calculated that roughly 2 million tonnes would be required to get the effect desired.

[Fareasterner]

Originally Posted by Mountain Man

There's a better thread elsewhere on this, but basically, no - we did not test tsunami bombs "during WWII. We did not even have a nuclear weapon that worked until August of 1945 - the end of the war, and we used up the two weapons we had.

The actual research on tsunami bombs took place during the Cold WAr and involved waves in the two to three hundred foot range directed against coastal targets in the Soviet Union.

USSR had few towns situated on the sea coast and them were not big. I have seen info somewhere that Sakharov proposed placing of 100 Mton nukes near US coast to cause tsunami. Not sure if it was true for there were no real tests of such weapon.