How the Americans lost four thermonuclear bombs over Spain, and what came of it

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

On a clear, cloudless day, January 17, 1966, in the skies of the Western Mediterranean over the very edge of the Spanish coast, a planned rendezvous of two giant American aircraft took place, as a result of which four thermonuclear bombs accidentally fell on Spanish territory. The story could have ended in the largest catastrophe in the history of the state.

One of them was the eight-engine B-52G bomber, on 24-hour air duty, with four hydrogen bombs on board. Each of them in destructive power exceeded the atomic charge dropped on Hiroshima by about 80.5 times. At a strictly agreed time at the designated meeting point, an "air cow", as it was customary to call the KS-135 tanker aircraft in US Air Force slang, was waiting for him. The planes approached and flew at an altitude of about 9,500 meters at a speed of 600 km / h. The distance between them did not exceed 50 m.

The pumping of fuel from the tanker to the bomber's tanks began. The operation, which had long become routine, proceeded normally until one of the engines of the B-52G suddenly flashed. As it turned out later, the accident happened due to the fact that the planes were too close. As a result, the fuel rod hit the bomber in the upper fuselage. The blow was so strong that it broke the spar and caused a fire. Before the fire engulfed the huge machine, the crew, in accordance with the instructions, managed to carry out an emergency drop on parachutes of their terrible deadly burden. Crew members who were not directly involved in this procedure also managed to leave the dying plane. Then a terrible explosion followed, and both planes crashed down, killing seven pilots.

Fire in the sky

What happened to the bombs? Three of them landed on the outskirts of the small fishing village of Palomares with a population of 1,200 souls, happily causing no casualties or destruction. However, in two of them, when hitting the ground, the primary TNT fuse still worked. Only an accident saved the entire district from a thermonuclear hell. TNT only destroyed the shells of the bombs, scattering radioactive fragments around the crash site. An international scandal was brewing. The morning after the disaster, Palomares was filled with various kinds of specialists. By the evening there were more than three hundred of them. I had to set up a tent camp. Aliens with dosimeters in their hands wandered around the village, causing bewilderment among local residents who did not know anything about the incident. Only three days after the incident, the US government made an official announcement of the mid-air accident, admitting that one of the aircraft carried nuclear weapons. At the same time, the Americans assured that a nuclear explosion had been ruled out, and there was absolutely no danger of radioactive contamination.

An unauthorized explosion really could not have happened - too many blockages were provided to avoid it. Experts have calculated that if even one of the bombs detonated, all living things within a radius of at least 15 kilometers would be killed. And the fires would rage up to 100 kilometers from the epicenter. The size of the possible zone of radioactive contamination was unpredictable. Around the two collapsed bombs, about 650 acres of land were already contaminated. After thorough decontamination, this land was declared suitable for use and habitation.

The fourth bomb landed in the sea. By chance, about 100 meters from the place of its fall, it turned out to be a fisherman's boat, who witnessed the disaster. Noticing the approximate place of splashdown of an incomprehensible object, he rushed to the aid of the three pilots who survived and descended on parachutes, whom he managed to lift aboard. As soon as the Americans learned that one of the bombs was buried in the depths of the sea, the most expensive operation in history began to retrieve lost property from the sea. It lasted over 80 days. It was attended by many ships, aircraft and helicopters, several deep-sea vehicles, divers and scuba divers. In total, about 3800 people were involved. This entire armada, called Task Force 65, was commanded by Admiral William Guest. The operation cost the US budget $ 84 million. Truly - dear loss!

Underwater searches

At first, the fisherman's story was not taken too seriously. To limit the search area, computer modeling and a full-scale experiment were carried out - an exact model of a bomb was dropped from the same B-52. But for a long time the searches were unsuccessful. Finally, the whole flotilla moved to the place indicated by the fisherman. And here luck smiled at them almost instantly.

On March 15, the Alvin deep-sea vehicle went under water here. The seabed relief in this area is cut by numerous deep canyons. Descending one of them, "Alvin", one and a half hours after the dive, found itself at a depth of 770 meters. The bottom was covered with a layer of silt. When the turbidity lifted by the apparatus settled, the crew saw through the porthole a parachute, probably covering the bomb itself. It was a huge success. Alvin took some photos and contacted the base ship on the surface. Then he remained to wait for the approach of another manned underwater vehicle - "Aluminaut". The latter, with the help of his manipulators, fixed the responder beacon on the parachute. The analysis of the photos taken by Alvin left no doubt that the object of the search had been found. However, it was still far from the successful completion of the operation.

Until March 19, the vehicles tried in vain to secure the rope to the parachute lines. Then the work was suspended for several days by a storm. When the sea calmed down, Alvin and Aluminaut made several attempts to hook the lines with an anchor lowered on a cable from the surface support ship. The poor visibility caused by silt rising from the bottom at the slightest movement of the propellers and manipulators was very disturbing. Finally the anchor hooked on the lines. The rise began. When it was already a little to the surface, the cable snapped, and the bomb crashed back into the sea! It took eight troubling and difficult days to find the bomb again, now at a depth of 870 m. Again, the Aluminaut and Alvin distinguished themselves. And again a stop due to a storm.

Only on April 5, an underwater robot, a KURV apparatus, controlled from the surface via a cable, was able to descend to the bomb. He firmly grabbed the parachute with his manipulator, which he then undocked from himself and left on the parachute. It remained for "Alvin" to fix the lifting cable on the manipulator, which he did.

Finally, on April 7, 81 days after the plane crash, a 3.5-meter cylinder with a diameter of more than half a meter emerged from the water. This was the ill-fated fourth bomb. The ascent was carried out with extreme caution and, fortunately, there were no excesses. The bomb was solemnly installed on the deck of the Petrel rescue ship. To confirm the fact that the thermonuclear charge has indeed been found and that the inhabitants of the surrounding lands are no longer in danger, the US military took an unprecedented step - the press was allowed on the deck of the Petre-la. More than a hundred journalists and photographers were able to see the bomb. The New York Times later noted in a report on the event that this was the first ever public demonstration of nuclear weapons on alert in world history.

Diplomatic scandal

In commemoration of its success, all of the "Compound 65" with the included sidelights in wake formation along the Spanish coast, in sight of Palomares. However, it is unlikely that such a parade was able to restore the thoroughly tarnished reputation of the US Army in the eyes of the townspeople.

All the actions taken could not save the Americans from a significant cooling of relations with Spain. President Lyndon Johnson had to hastily announce that the United States would cease flights of bombers carrying nuclear and thermonuclear weapons over that country's territory. And soon the Spanish government issued an official ban that closed the skies over the Pyrenees to American B-52s forever and ever. However, by that time, the need to constantly keep bombers with nuclear weapons in the air began to gradually fade away. The era of intercontinental ballistic missiles was dawning.

In addition, the Americans had to satisfy 536 claims for compensation, having paid 711 thousand dollars. They had to compensate for the damage caused to property, loss of income due to the inability to engage in agriculture or fishing due to prospecting work. Including 14, 5 thousand were received by the same fisherman who watched the fall of the bomb into the sea.