The Day We Lost the H-Bomb: Cold War, Hot Nukes, and the Worst Nuclear Weapons Disaster in History

46 “This miracle is too big”: Quoted in “An H-bomb Is Missing and the Hunt Goes On,” Newsweek, March 7, 1966, p. 57.

46 Night had fallen by then: Additional details on the first night's fruitless search can be found in Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs, pp. 75–76.

46 A sergeant named Raymond Howe: The story of finding bomb number one comes from Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs, pp. 78–79, and Szulc, The Bombs of Palomares, pp. 74–75.

47 The bomb was torpedo-shaped: The description of the Mark 28 comes from Chuck Hansen, U.S. Nuclear Weapons: The Secret History (New York: Crown Publishers, 1988), pp. 149–154, and James A. Gibson, Nuclear Weapons of the United States: An Illustrated History (Atglen, Pa.: Schiffer Publishing, 1996), pp. 99–100. Additional information can be found in Chuck Hansen, Swords of Armageddon, vol. 6: Gravity Bomb Histories (Sunnyvale, Calif.: Chukelea Publications).

The Palomares weapons were Mark 28RI (Retarded Internal). There is disagreement as to whether the bomb was eleven or twelve feet long, perhaps because the bomb could be configured in different ways.

47 It had a nine-inch gash: The condition of bomb number one is from SAC Historical Study #109, pp. 32–33, and Cable, DASA to RUECW/CNO, January 21, 1966, #51711 (LBJ).

47 The “H” in “H-bomb”: The background on nuclear bombs comes from Richard Rhodes, Dark Sun, pp. 116–117 and pp. 247–248; Chuck Hansen, U.S. Nuclear Weapons, pp. 11–25; Jack Dennis, ed., The Nuclear Almanac: Confronting the Atom in War and Peace (Reading, Mass.: Addison Wesley Publishing Company, 1984), chap. 10. The author has converted metric weights and measures to English units.

49 “without splattering the beer”: Quoted in Rhodes, Dark Sun, p. 117.

50 “Fission bombs”: Ibid., p. 511.

50 The exact inner workings: The explanation of a fusion bomb comes from Chuck Hansen, U.S. Nuclear Weapons, pp. 21–25, and Howard Morland, “The H-Bomb Secret,” The Progressive, November 1979, pp. 3–12. Andy Karam provided additional comments in his e-mail to the author, September 9, 2007.

51 The charred remains:SAC Historical Study #109, pp. 18–19; Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs, pp. 81–82; Szulc, The Bombs of Palomares, p. 76.

52 General Wilson and his entourage: Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs, p. 82; author's interview with Joe Ramirez, January 27, 2007.

52 thirty-eight guardias civiles:SAC Historical Study #109, pp. 18, 71.

52 Wilson had sent a message: Ibid., pp. 76, 81; Szulc, The Bombs of Palomares, p. 75; Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs, p. 82.

53 When Wilson's message arrived in Torrejón:SAC Historical Study #109, p. 81; author's interviews with Robert Finkel, April 4, 2007, and Phil Durbin, March 15, 2007.

53 Ramirez and a handful of others: Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs, p. 83; Joe Ramirez interview, January 27, 2007.

53 By 7:30 a.m.:SAC Historical Study #109, p. 75.

53 The small teams moved out: Szulc, The Bombs of Palomares, p. 82.

54 helicopters arrived from Morón: Ibid., pp. 82, 84; SAC Historical Study #109, p. 22.

54 Ramirez and others went to look: Szulc, The Bombs of Palomares, p. 84; Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs, pp. 85–86; author's interview with Joe Ramirez, January 27, 2007.

54 Bomb number two was in bad shape: The condition of bomb number two is from SAC

Historical Study #109, pp. 33–34; Cable, DASA to RUECW/CNO, January 21, 1966, #51711; and a photograph of the bomb obtained from NNSA through FOIA.

55 If he had looked up: Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs, p. 89.

55. Bomb number three lay in a plowed field: The story of the discovery of bomb number three is in Lewis, One of Our H-Bombs, pp. 88–89; Szulc, The Bombs of Palomares, pp. 50–51, 84–85;