{{Short description|US Air Force incident involving a nuclear bomb}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2018}} {{Infobox aircraft occurrence | occurrence_type = Accident | image = Mk15.jpg | image_size = 220px | caption = A Mk 15 nuclear bomb of the type lost<br>when jettisoned after the collision | date = February 5, 1958 | summary= Mid-air collision | site = Tybee Island, Georgia, U.S. | coordinates = {{coord|32|0|N|80|51|W|type:event_region:US-GA|display=inline,title}} | mapframe-zoom = 5 | total_survivors = | plane1_type = Boeing B-47B Stratojet | plane1_operator = United States Air Force<br>(Strategic Air Command) | plane1_crew = 3 | plane1_origin = | plane1_destination = | plane1_fatalities = 0 | plane1_survivors = | plane1_tailnum = 51-2349 | plane2_type = North American F-86L Sabre | plane2_operator = United States Air Force<br>(Tactical Air Command) | plane2_origin = | plane2_destination = | plane2_crew = 1 | plane2_fatalities = 0 | plane2_tailnum = 52-10108<ref>{{cite web | url=https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/183817 | title=Incident North American F-86L Sabre 52-10108 }}</ref> }} The '''Tybee Island mid-air collision''' was an incident on February 5, 1958, in which the United States Air Force lost a {{convert|7600|lb|kg|adj=on}} Mark 15 nuclear bomb in the waters of Tybee Island near Savannah, Georgia, United States. During a night practice exercise, an F-86 fighter plane collided with the B-47 bomber carrying the large weapon.
The bomb was jettisoned to help prevent a crash and explosion. After several unsuccessful searches, the weapon was declared lost in Wassaw Sound off the shores of Tybee Island.
== Collision == {{Location map+|USA Georgia|width=180|caption=Georgia|relief=yes|float=|places= {{Location map~|USA Georgia|lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=32|lat_min=0|lon_deg=80|lon_min=51|label=Crash site |position=left}} {{Location map~|USA Georgia|lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=33|lat_min=45|lon_deg=84|lon_min=23|label=Atlanta|position=right |mark = Blue pog.svg}} }} The B-47 bomber was on a simulated combat mission from Homestead Air Force Base in Florida,<ref name=Natola>{{Cite book |editor=Mark Natola |title=Boeing B-47 Stratojet |publisher=Schiffer Publishing Ltd. |year=2002 |isbn=0764316702 |pages=77–80}}</ref> carrying a single {{convert|7600|lb|adj=on}} bomb. At about 2:00 a.m. EST ''(UTC−5)'', an F-86 fighter collided with the six-engine B-47. The F-86 pilot, Lt. Clarence Stewart, ejected and parachuted to safety near Estill, South Carolina, {{convert|10|mi|spell=in}} north of the fighter's crash site east of Sylvania, Georgia.<ref name="pacunhr">{{Cite news |date=5 February 1958 |title=2 planes collide in midair; pilots and crew unhurt |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3NlYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-_YDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3396%2C746518 |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=Washington |page=1 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref name="jbcoll">{{Cite news |date=5 February 1958 |title=Jet, bomber collide today |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=r-UtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MzEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1551%2C3357623 |work=Rome News-Tribune |location=Georgia |page=1 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> The damaged B-47 remained airborne, plummeting from {{convert|38000|ft|m|adj=off}} until the pilot, Col. Howard Richardson, regained control at {{convert|20000|ft|m|adj=off}}.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Swopes |first=Brian R. |title=5 February 1958 |url=http://www.thisdayinaviation.com/5-february-1958/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225152007/https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/5-february-1958/ |archive-date=February 25, 2023 |website=This Day in Aviation}}</ref><ref name="bbc">{{Cite news |last=Northam |first=Gerry |date=June 22, 2009 |title=Missing for 50 years – US nuclear bomb |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8107908.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017060349/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8107908.stm |archive-date=October 17, 2023 |access-date=February 5, 2024 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>
The crew requested permission to jettison the bomb, in order to reduce weight and prevent the weapon from exploding during an emergency landing. Permission was granted, and the bomb was jettisoned at {{convert|7200|ft|m}}, while the plane was traveling at about {{convert|200|knot|mi/h km/h}}. The crew did not see an explosion when the weapon struck the sea. They managed to land the B-47 successfully at nearby Hunter Air Force Base, just south of Savannah.<ref name="ppgsflg">{{Cite news |date=6 February 1958 |title=Damaged bomber makes safe landing |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YX1IAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1WsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7370%2C643640 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |page=2 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> Richardson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for safely landing the bomber.<ref name="bbc" />
== The bomb ==
thumb|"Temporary Custodian Receipt" for what would be the nuclear weapon lost in the 1958 Tybee Island mid-air collision. It indicates that the core (part "C") was "simulated," and not an actual fissile core of nuclear material.
Some sources describe the bomb as a functional nuclear weapon, but others refer to it as disabled. If it had a plutonium nuclear core installed, it was a fully functional weapon. If it had a dummy core installed, it was incapable of generating a nuclear blast but could still produce a conventional explosion. {{convert|12|ft|spell=In}} in length, the Mark 15 bomb that was lost weighs {{convert|7600|lb|kg}}, bears the serial number 47782, and contains {{convert|400|lb|kg}} of conventional high explosives and highly enriched uranium.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Weapons/Allbombs.html |title=Complete List of All U.S. Nuclear Weapons |access-date=November 11, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216093542/http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Weapons/Allbombs.html |archive-date=December 16, 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref>
The Air Force maintains that its "nuclear capsule" (physics package), used to initiate the nuclear reaction, was removed before its flight aboard the B-47.<ref name=study>{{cite web | publisher = Air Force Nuclear Weapons and Counterproliferation Agency (PDF)| date = April 12, 2001 | url = http://www.buckley.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-060726-022.pdf | title = Air Force Search & Recovery Assessment of the 1958 Savannah, B-47 Accident| access-date= February 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408222930/http://www.buckley.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-060726-022.pdf |archive-date=April 8, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> As noted in the Atomic Energy Commission "Form AL-569 Temporary Custodian Receipt (for maneuvers)", signed by the aircraft commander, the bomb contained a simulated {{convert|150|lb|adj=on}} cap made of lead.<ref>[http://www.nukestrat.com/us/afn/01-027H_USAF_020458.pdf The Nuclear Information Project] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051103004458/http://www.nukestrat.com/us/afn/01-027H_USAF_020458.pdf |date=November 3, 2005 }}, Form AL-569, "Temporary Custodian Receipt (for maneuvers)," to U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Albuquerque Operations, from James W. Twitty, Col., U.S. Air Force, February 4, 1958. Released under FOIA. (PDF)</ref>
However, according to 1966 congressional testimony by Assistant Secretary of Defense W.J. Howard, the Tybee Island bomb was a "complete weapon, a bomb with a nuclear capsule" and one of two weapons lost that contained a plutonium trigger.<ref>[http://media.npr.org/documents/2008/feb/1966bombdoc.pdf NPR Media], Letter of W.J. Howard, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Atomic Energy), to the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, Congress of the United States (April 22, 1966). (PDF) [http://media.npr.org/documents/2008/feb/1966bombdoc.pdf Page 1], [http://media.npr.org/documents/2008/feb/1966bombdoc2.pdf Page2].</ref> Nevertheless, a study of the Strategic Air Command documents indicates that Alert Force test flights in February 1958 with the older Mark 15 payloads were not authorized to fly with nuclear capsules on board. Such approval would not come until safer "sealed-pit nuclear capsule" weapons began to be deployed in June 1958.<ref>[http://www.nukestrat.com/us/afn/SAC01-0658.pdf The Nuclear Information Project], History of the Strategic Air Command January 1, 1958 – June 30, 1958. Released under FOIA. (PDF) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709185926/http://www.nukestrat.com/us/afn/SAC01-0658.pdf |date=July 9, 2015 }}</ref>
== Recovery efforts == Starting on February 6, 1958, the Air Force 2700th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron and 100 Navy personnel equipped with hand-held sonar and galvanic drag and cable sweeps mounted a search. On April 16, the military announced the search had been unsuccessful. Based on a hydrographic survey in 2001, the bomb was thought by the Department of Energy to lie buried under {{convert|5|to|15|ft}} of silt at the bottom of Wassaw Sound.<ref name=study/>
In 2004, retired Air Force Lt. Colonel Derek Duke claimed to have narrowed the possible resting spot of the bomb down to a small area approximately the size of a football field.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} He and his partner located the area by trawling in their boat with a Geiger counter in tow. Secondary radioactive particles four times naturally occurring levels were detected and mapped, and the site of radiation origination triangulated. An Air Force nuclear weapons adviser speculated that the source of the radiation was natural, originating from deposits of monazite, a locally occurring mineral that emits radiation.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 22, 2005 |title='Lost" H-bomb: RIP |url=http://savannahnow.com/stories/062205/3115736.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180205185312/http://savannahnow.com/stories/062205/3115736.shtml |archive-date=February 5, 2018 |work=Savannah Morning News}}</ref>
== Later effects == By 2007, no undue levels of unnatural radioactive contamination have been detected in the regional Upper Floridan aquifer by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (over and above the already high levels thought to be due to monazite).<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=http://www.americaslosthbomb.com/ |title=America's Lost H Bomb |type=Television production |publisher=Marabella Productions |year=2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101030000700/http://www.americaslosthbomb.com/ |archive-date=October 30, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{Page needed|time=yes|date=February 2024}}<ref>[http://www.chathamcounty.org/department_freeform_T7_R264.html Chatham County Public Works and Park Services], Drinking Water Quality Consumer Confidence Report (2007) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090809010532/http://www.chathamcounty.org/department_freeform_T7_R264.html |date=August 9, 2009 }}</ref>
==In popular culture== In February 2015, an article appeared on a fake news web site which claimed that the bomb had been found by vacationing Canadian divers and had been removed from the bay. The spurious story spread widely via social media.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 27, 2015 |title=Georgia Warhead |url=http://www.snopes.com/media/notnews/warhead.asp |access-date=May 6, 2015 |website=Snopes |ref=A disclaimer on the site states that all of the information contained therein is for "entertainment purposes only."}}</ref>
In the MonsterVerse graphic novel ''Godzilla Dominion'', the Titan named Scylla finds the sunken warhead off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, having sensed its radiation as a potential food source. Godzilla and the Coast Guard force Scylla to retreat, and they safely recover the bomb.{{Needs citation|reason=These statements need by a citation of a reliable source.|date=February 2024}}
==See also== * Broken Arrow * List of military nuclear accidents
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
== References == {{Refbegin}} * {{cite web | publisher = Air Force Nuclear Weapons and Counterproliferation Agency (PDF) | date = April 12, 2001 | url = http://www.buckley.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-060726-022.pdf | title = Air Force Search & Recovery Assessment of the 1958 Savannah, GA B-47 Accident| access-date= February 6, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408222930/http://www.buckley.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-060726-022.pdf |archive-date=April 8, 2016 }} * {{Cite web |last=Shaughnessy |first=Larry |date=September 13, 2004 |title=Lost Bomb Possibly Found |url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/09/13/lost.bomb/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070401015613/http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/09/13/lost.bomb/ |archive-date=April 1, 2007 |access-date=November 5, 2018 |website=CNN}} * {{Cite web |last=Bell |first=Brett |date=September 14, 2004 |title=Return of the Tybee Bomb |url=http://savannahnow.com/stories/091404/2441929.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204182816/http://savannahnow.com/stories/091404/2441929.shtml |archive-date=February 4, 2018 |access-date=February 6, 2015 |website=Savannah Morning News}} * {{Cite web |last=Carter |first=Chelsea |date=May 3, 2004 |title=Cold War hydrogen bomb off Georgia stirs worries |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001918347_hbomb03.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040606092554/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001918347_hbomb03.html |archive-date=June 6, 2004 |access-date=September 14, 2004 |website=The Seattle Times}} * {{Cite web |last=Welsh |first=Edward |date=August 21, 2001 |title=There's an H-bomb in Our Swamp |url=http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0821-05.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041013161922/http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0821-05.htm |archive-date=October 13, 2004 |access-date=September 16, 2004 |website=Common Dreams NewsCenter |df=mdy-all}} * Michael H. Maggelet and James C. Oskins (2008). "Broken Arrow: The Declassified History of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Accidents". Lulu. {{ISBN|978-1-4357-0361-2}}. {{Refend}}
==External links== {{Spoken Wikipedia|En-1958 Tybee Island mid-air collision-article.oga|date=2012-04-25}} * "[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18587608 For 50 Years, Nuclear Bomb Lost in Watery Grave]", NPR (February 3, 2008) * "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8107908.stm Missing for 50 years – US nuclear bomb]", BBC News (June 22, 2009) * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080724025632/http://www.nukestrat.com/us/afn/savannah.htm Nuclear Bomb Dropped in Georgia; No Nuclear Capsule Inserted, Documents Show], The Nuclear Information Project (2004) * [http://www.strategic-air-command.com/weapons/nuclear_bomb_chart.htm Chart of Strategic Nuclear Bombs], Strategic-Air-Command.com * ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20201108093506/http://www.fdungan.com/duke.htm Chasing Loose Nukes]'' by Col. Derek Duke (as told to Fred Dungan)
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1958}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tybee Island B-47 Crash}} Category:1958 in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:1958 in military history Category:February 1958 in the United States Category:Chatham County, Georgia Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving nuclear weapons Category:Mid-air collisions involving military aircraft Category:Mid-air collisions in the United States Category:History of Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1958 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Accidents and incidents involving United States Air Force aircraft Category:Nuclear accidents and incidents in the United States