The Journey to Bikini Atoll

After three weeks in the pacific ocean, nearly 6000 images and even more memories Andreas is heading back home.

Now starts the second part in creating his next underwater art project “THE NUCLEAR FLEET”

The USS Lamson was a Mahan-class destroyer of the United States Navy. She served in the Pacific during World War II. Lamson participated in the Battle of Tassafaronga, and remained undamaged until hit by a Japanese kamikaze during the recapture of the Philippines. Lamson was sunk during the Operation Crossroads atomic weapons tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946.

USS Apogon, a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the apogon, a group of large-headed salt water fishes with oblong compressed bodies found in tropical or subtropical waters.
In January 1946, the submarine sailed for Pearl Harbor where she was to undergo preliminary work and tests in preparation to be used as a target in atomic bomb testing. Following completion of this refitting, Apogon arrived at Bikini Atoll on 31 May. She was sunk at Bikini during atomic bomb test “Baker” on 25 July 1946.

Anderson was the first of the Sims class to be delivered in early 1939 and took part in several Battles in the North an dSouth Pacific.
Arriving at Pearl Harbor on 3 January 1946, Anderson was assigned to Joint Task Force 1 on 15 May, and was slated to be utilized in the tests of the atomic bomb at Bikini Atoll. She reached her ultimate destination on 30 May 1946.

Nagato was a super-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1910s. The ship was modernized in 1934–36 with improvements to her armor and machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. Nagato was the flagship during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

For Test Baker, an underwater explosion, the ship was positioned 870 meters from ground zero. Nagato rode out the tsunami of water from the explosion with little apparent damage. A more thorough assessment could not be made because she was dangerously radioactive. Her list gradually increased over the next five days and she capsized and sank during the night of 29/30 July.

The wreck is upside down and her most prominent features are her four propellers, at a depth of 33.5 meters below the surface.

Setting foot on a cursed paradise island, the bombed shore of Bikini Atoll.                                                                                     .

The first dive at Bikini Atoll brought Andreas to the remains of the USS Saratoga, a Lexington-class aircraftcarrier built for the United States Navy during the 1920s. Originally designed as a battlecruiser, she was converted into one of the Navy’s first aircraft carriers. The ship was sunk by Test Baker, an underwater blast which was detonated 370 m from the carrier. The force of the explosion lifted the vessel out of the water and knocked everything off her flight deck.

After loosing three more days, finally, Bikini Atoll                                                                                                                                                .

On July 4th the generator onboard the windward broke. Unthinkable to to continue the journey. So the ship headed back to Beran Island for repair.

The Prinz Eugen was one of only two major German naval vessels to survive the WWII.In July 1946 it was moored at Bikini Atoll during Operation Crossroads to test the effect of a nuclear Bomb on a modern, welded Ship. After only minor damage the heavily radiating Ship was hauled to Kwajalein Atoll where it sunk on the 22nd of December 1946.