Barbara Moran: The Day We Lost the H-Bomb

157 “One U.S. official insisted”:“Swimming Party,” Newsweek , March 14, 1966, p. 59.

157 Together, Ambassador Duke and Manuel Fraga Iribarne:Sources differ over who actually came up with the idea for the swim. In an oral history, Duke said the idea was his and Fraga agreed to the plan reluctantly, thinking it undignified for a government official to splash around in bathing trunks. General Spanish opinion holds that the idea was Fraga’s and Duke finally agreed only to avoid being shown up. In recent interviews, Fraga and Robin Duke say the idea was mutual. They also said that it was mutually agreed that Robin Duke not swim, to avoid the spectacle of an ambassador’s wife in a bikini. Interestingly, a famous Spanish newsreel of the event shows only Fraga, with a brief appearance by Ambassador Duke at the very end. (This newsreel forms most Spaniards’ collective memory of the entire Palomares saga.) American papers discussed mainly Duke, with only rare mentions of Fraga. Sources: Angier Biddle Duke, Living History interview, October 24, 1990 (Duke), pp. 18–20; author’s interviews with Manuel Fraga Iribarne, February 15, 2007, and Robin Duke, June 7, 2007; and Noticias NO-DO 1210 B , (Filmoteca Española), undated.

157 “If I could take my children”:Angier Biddle Duke, Living History interview, October 24, 1990, p. 18.

157 “aquatic diplomacy”:The Kalb quotes come from “US Envoy Swims in Mediterranean,” CBS News, March 9, 1966.

157 Something went awry:The story of the second swim comes primarily from author’s interview with Timothy Towell, January 8, 2007, and Szulc, The Bombs of Palomares , p. 204. Fraga denies this version of events, though without much vigor (interview, February 15, 2007). He says that everything went off as planned and that the two men swam together. However, Towell’s story is corroborated by Red Moody as well as footage of the second swim, which shows Duke entering the water after Fraga.

158 “The humble of Palomares”:Signs quoted in “Officials Take Cold Dip to Deny H-Bomb Hazard,” The Washington Post , March 9, 1966.

158 “It was with confidence and pleasure”:Angier Biddle Duke, radio interview with Jay Rutherfurd (Duke).

159 An Associated Press photo:Tad Szulc, “U.S. Envoy Swims Where H-Bomb Fell,” The New York Times , March 9, 1966, p. 1.

159 “We think of our diplomats”:The Dallas Morning News , March 12, 1966 (Angier Biddle Duke Papers, Palomares Scrapbook, Duke).

159 “Duke’s ‘Swim-in’”:Jay Rutherfurd, “Duke’s ‘Swim-in’ for Spanish Tourism Best Water Show since Aquacade,” Variety , March 16, 1966, p. 2.

159 “I’m glad your bathing suit”:Letter, Jack Valenti to Angier Biddle Duke, March 9, 1966 (LBJ).

160 “How happy I was”:Letter, Jacqueline Kennedy to Angier Biddle Duke, March 12, 1966 (Duke).

160 “I trust that excessive swimming”:Letter, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., to Angier Biddle Duke, March 15, 1966 (Duke).

160 “I can understand our Government’s desire”:Letter, Nathan Arrow to Angier Biddle Duke, March 11, 1966 (Duke).

161 “Feel safer already?”:“Swimming Party,” p. 59.

161 “Supposing a bomb is reported missing”:Quoted in Szulc, The Bombs of Palomares , p. 212.

161 The Moscow publicationIzvestia:SAC Historical Study #109 , p. 361.

161 “For many years”:“The Missing H-Bomb,” The Boston Globe , March 4, 1966, p. 14.

161 Curtis LeMay added his two cents:“Air Force Gen. Curtis LeMay on Missing Bomb,” CBS News, March 12, 1966.

162 The Navy requested:SAC Historical Study #109 , pp. 184–185. 162 “in line with the spirit”:Ibid., p. 185.

162 Wilson apologized:Delmar E. Wilson, speech to residents of Palomares and Villaricos, March 20, 1966 (USAF, FOIA).

163 On March 24, men moved:SAC Historical Study #109 , p. 188. 163 A second team of ballistics experts:Ibid., p. 50.

163 “By 1 March”:Ibid.

163 With regard to the water search:“Addendum to SAT Study of 7 February 1966,” March 4, 1966 (NNSA); SAC Historical Study #109 , pp. 51–53.

163 The Sandia engineer Bill Barton:Memo, Maydew and Barton to Fowler, “Chronological Summary,” March 29, 1966, p. 3.

163 the secretary of defense authorized:Aircraft Salvops Med , Final Report, vol. 1, part I, chap. 2, p. 55.

163 Cyrus Vance created a “Search Evaluation Board”:The background on the Search Evaluation Board is from ibid., pp. 55–56, and author’s interview with Robert Sproull, May 11, 2007. The Sproull quotes are from this interview.

164 In anticipation of the next meeting:Aircraft Salvops Med , Final Report, vol. 1, part I, chap. 2, p. 56.

165 On the morning of March 1:The story of Alvin’s move to search area C4 is from Marvin J.McCamis, “‘Captain Hook’s’ Hunt for the H-Bomb,” Oceanus 31, no. 4 (Winter 1988–89), p. 24.

There is some dispute about whether McCamis sneaked Alvin into C4, as he contends, or was assigned to dive there. Navy Captain Lewis Melson said that he and others met with Guest on February 28 and proposed sending Alvin into C4, and Guest agreed to the plan (see memo from Lewis Melson, “WHOI’s OCEANUS WINTER 1988/1989 issue extract for 1 March 1966” [author’s collection]). However, the deck logs of the Fort Snelling for March 1 say that Alvin was launched to search area B29, lending credence to McCamis’s version of events. Also, such an antiauthoritarian scheme seems in character for McCamis. Long time Alvin pilot Barrie Walden said, “McCamis, in my opinion, would be more likely to try something that was a little more outrageous than another pilot, in order to get the job done during the dive.” (Author’s interview with Barrie Walden, July 25, 2006.)

165 Bill Rainnie and Val Wilson:Alvin dive log, Dive 119, March 1, 1966. Alvin’s dive logs are available at www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=11039.

165 Andrews had asked Earl Hays:Frank Andrews interview, November 10, 2006.

166 Rainnie and Wilson ventedAlvin’sballast:The description of Alvin diving comes from the author’s visit to Alvin and interviews with Robert Brown and Bruce Strickrott, July 2, 2007.

166 the visibility near the bottom:Victoria Kaharl, Water Baby: The Story of Alvin (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), p. 66; William O. Rainnie, “How We Found the Missing H-Bomb,” Popular Mechanics , August 1966, pp. 75–76.

166 In order to steer a straight line:Marvin McCamis intervew, January 31, 2003.

166 “a straight line in a snowstorm”:Ibid.

166 the bottom stretched before them:Rainnie, “How We Found the Missing H-Bomb,” p. 76.

166Alvinwas “flying a contour”:Frank Andrews interview, November 10, 2006.

167 Mac McCamis, however, had lost patience:McCamis, “‘Captain Hook’s’ Hunt,” p. 24.