03 January 2013

U.S. and New Zealand tested a "tsunami bomb"

Not a bomb to stop tsunamis.  A bomb to create them.
The tests were carried out in waters around New Caledonia and Auckland during the Second World War and showed that the weapon was feasible and a series of 10 large offshore blasts could potentially create a 33-foot tsunami capable of inundating a small city.
The top secret operation, code-named "Project Seal", tested the doomsday device as a possible rival to the nuclear bomb. About 3,700 bombs were exploded during the tests, first in New Caledonia and later at Whangaparaoa Peninsula, near Auckland.
The plans came to light during research by a New Zealand author and film-maker, Ray Waru, who examined military files buried in the national archives
"Presumably if the atomic bomb had not worked as well as it did, we might have been tsunami-ing people," said Mr Waru. "It was absolutely astonishing. First that anyone would come up with the idea of developing a weapon of mass destruction based on a tsunami ... and also that New Zealand seems to have successfully developed it to the degree that it might have worked."

4 comments:

  1. ChrisJanuary 3, 2013 at 1:15 PM

    The Soviet Union embarked on a parallel project. It's hard to find details of any consequence, but Sakharov apparently designed an enormous nuclear powered torpedo that was designed to deliver a payload that did the same thing. The project was called the T-15, and ultimately proved unworkable.

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  2. Andy DJanuary 6, 2013 at 3:20 AM

    Wow! I lived in Whangaparaoa! :) Will have to look into it further....

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    1. MinnesotastanJanuary 6, 2013 at 9:04 AM

      And you can report back to the class what you find...

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  3. ZahharJanuary 6, 2013 at 6:53 AM

    Ah yes, large directional charges arranged and timed just so would probably do the trick. Picture massive claymore-like charges, arranged along a few miles of netting at a certain depth, then simultaneously detonated. A second wave of charges could be setup a mile or so away and timed to detonate as the wave passes in order to add force to the wave. Pretty interesting idea.

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