The Day We Lost the H-Bomb

CHAPTER 16: HOOKED

193 a diver named Herman Kunz: Malcolm MacKinnon interview, December 4, 2006.

193 MacKinnon and Kunz had visited: Ibid.

194 The engineers and technicians at NOTS: The background on CURV comes mainly from author’s interviews with Robert Pace, February 6, 2007, and Larry Brady, January 18 and 31, 2007; and e-mail, Larry Brady to author, September 18, 2008. See also Aircraft Salvops Med, Final Report, vol. 4, appendix B, pp. 45–52; and Aircraft Salvops Med, Final Report, vol. 1, part I, chap. 2, p. 86.

195 “It looked like a python”: Larry Brady interview, January 31, 2007.

196 The CURV team set up shop: The background on the Petrel and Max Harrell is from Sanchez Goode, “Postscript to Palomares,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings 94, no. 12 (December 1968), pp. 49–53.

196 The Navy dropped a dummy bomb: Aircraft Salvops Med, Final Report, vol. 1, part I, chap. 2, p. 86; Aircraft Salvops Med, Final Report, vol. 1, annex I, part I, chap. 2, p. 7.

196 The CURV team operated the device: Details on the CURV operations come mainly from author’s interviews with Robert Pace, February 6, 2007, and Larry Brady, January 18 and 31, 2007, and e-mail, Larry Brady to author, September 18, 2008.

196 CURV dove to 2,400 feet: Naval Ordnance Test Station, Pasadena Annex [NOTS Pasadena], AirsalopsMed/CURV Notes, 1966 (author’s collection).

197 Sketching a grapnel: Robert Pace interview, February 6, 2007; Larry Brady interview, January 31, 2007.

197 Alvin, left alone with the bomb: Aircraft Salvops Med, Interim Report, pp. C14–C15; deck logs of the USS Fort Snelling, April 3, 1966.

197 now code-named “Robert”: Tony Richardson, diary, April 4, 1966; author’s interview with Doug Kingsbery, July 27, 2007. Brad Mooney says that additional code words were used for underwater communications. Mooney recalls using codes based on the characters from “Peanuts” and the colors of the rainbow, so that “Lucy Red” might mean that a pilot had spotted something. (Brad Mooney interview, March 30, 2007.)

197 To give CURV as much freedom: Goode, “Postscript to Palomares,” p. 52; Malcolm MacKinnon interview, December 4, 2006.

198 The machine shop had finished: Robert Pace interview, February 6, 2007.

198 The grapnel was attached: Larry Brady interview, January 31, 2007; Aircraft Salvops Med, Interim Report, p. 40.

198 On April 4, just before 9 a.m.: Deck logs of the USS Petrel, April 4, 1966.

198 Air Force experts had told: Larry Brady interview, January 18, 2007.

198 Around noon, CURV reached the bomb: Deck logs of the USS Petrel, April 4, 1966; NOTS Pasadena, AirsalopsMed/CURV Notes.

198 dug three tines of the grapnel: Brady says four tines; the final Navy report says three. The photographs are unclear. Larry Brady interview, January 18, 2007; Aircraft Salvops Med, Interim Report, p. 40.

198 Sure that the grapnel: Larry Brady interview, January 31, 2007; Aircraft Salvops Med, Interim Report, p. 40.

198 two guys flipped their car: Larry Brady interview, January 31, 2007.

198 “you got that parachute”: Robert Pace interview, February 6, 2007.

199 On April 5, Mac McCamis: Marvin J. McCamis, “‘Captain Hook’s’ Hunt for the H- Bomb,” Oceanus, 31, no. 4 (Winter 1988–89), p. 27; Aircraft Salvops Med, Interim Report, p. C15.

199 “This sixty-four-foot cargo chute”: Marvin McCamis, interview, January 31, 2003.

199 “Scared him dead”: Ibid.

199 If Alvin got trapped or tangled: The description of the Alvin emergency measures comes from the author’s visit to Alvin and interviews with Bob Brown and Bruce Strickrott on July 2, 2007.

199 Just before midnight on April 5: Deck logs of the USS Petrel, April 5, 1966; NOTS Pasadena, AirsalopsMed/CURV Notes.

199 Larry Brady twisted CURV’s second grapnel: Aircraft Salvops Med, Interim Report, pp. 40, C15.

200 the weather turned sour: “William S. Guest Press Conference,” April 8, 1966.

200 Admiral Guest looked: Ibid.

200 Just before 9 p.m.: Deck logs of the USS Petrel, April 6, 1966.

200 Bad weather grounded CURV: Aircraft Salvops Med, Final Report, vol. 1, part I, chap. 2, p. 94.

200 Around 1 a.m., CURV dove: Deck logs of the USS Petrel, April 7, 1966.

200 The control shack was crowded: The main source for this scene is Larry Brady interview, January 31, 2007. Other sources disagree on several points in this scene. Some say that Guest and his staff were in the wardroom, watching the underwater drama on closed-circuit TV, when CURV became fouled; Brady, however, remembers the scene in the CURV control shack in detail. In addition, some accounts say that the CURV team drove the vehicle into the parachute on purpose, but Brady and Robert Pace say it was an accident.

200 Guest thanked his lucky stars: “William S. Guest Press Conference,” April 8, 1966.

200 The CURV crew waited: Larry Brady interview, January 31, 2007, and Robert Pace interview, February 6, 2007.

201 The same argument flew: Sources differ slightly on how Mooney and Guest ended up in the wardroom together, but all agree that it was Mooney who convinced Guest to raise the bomb.

Author’s interviews with Brad Mooney, March 30, 2007, and Red Moody, November 7, 2006; Kaharl, Water Baby, p. 79; George Martin, e-mail to author, September 18, 2008.

201 fainted from the stress: D. H. Moody, “40th Anniversary of Palomares,” Faceplate 10, no. 2 (September 2006), p. 19; e-mail, Red Moody to author, September 19, 2008.

201 “the snake charmer”: George Martin interview, May 9, 2007.

201 “I tried to be”: Brad Mooney interview, March 30, 2007.

201 Guest sent a message: Aircraft Salvops Med, Final Report, vol. 1, part I, chap. 2, p. 95.

201 The two men went over: Red Moody interview, November 7, 2006; Goode, “Postscript to Palomares,” pp. 51–52.

201 Harrell designed a system: Goode, “Postscript to Palomares,” p. 51. This article also contains a diagram of Harrell’s novel rigging and control system.

201 Both lines were wound: Ibid. Also, Red Moody, e-mails to author, September 19 and 21, 2008.

201 Looking at the weather, he knew: Goode, “Postscript to Palomares,” p. 53.

202 Guest and his staff gathered: Red Moody interview, November 7, 2006.