For 50 Years, Nuclear Bomb Lost in Watery Grave

[82Rigger]

On Feb. 5, 1958, a B-47 bomber dropped a 7,000-pound nuclear bomb into the waters off Tybee Island, Ga., after it collided with another Air Force jet. Tybee Island is about 15 miles from downtown Savannah.

Fifty years later, the Mark 15 bomb — which has unknown quantities of radioactive material — has never been found. And while the Air Force says the bomb, if left undisturbed, poses no threat to the area, determined bomb hunters and area residents aren't so sure.

The bomb found its hidden resting place when the B-47 pilot, Air Force Col. Howard Richardson, dropped it into the water after an F-86 fighter jet accidentally collided with him during a training mission. The fighter jet's pilot, Lt. Clarence Stewart, didn't see Richardson's plane on his radar; Stewart descended directly onto Richardson's aircraft. The impact ripped the left wing off the F-86 and heavily damaged the fuel tanks of the B-47.

Richardson, carrying a two-man crew, was afraid the bomb would break loose from his damaged plane when he landed, so he ditched the bomb in the water before landing the plane at Hunter Air Force Base outside Savannah. Stewart ejected and eventually landed safely in a swamp.

The Navy searched for the bomb for more than two months, but never found it, and today recommends it should remain in its resting place. In a 2001 report on the search and recovery of the bomb, the Air Force said that if the bomb is still intact, the risk associated with the spread of heavy metals is low. If it's left undisturbed, the explosive in the bomb poses no hazard, the report said. It went on to say that an "intact explosive would pose a serious explosion hazard to personnel and the environment if disturbed by a recovery attempt."

The bomb is one of fourteen nuclear weapons known to be missing from the U.S. arsenal.

The Mark 15 bomb was manufactured in three configurations:
Mod 1 - 1.69 Megatons
Mod 2 and Mod 3 - 3.8 Megatons

[Packo]

Just one more thing for Deb and I to worry about. Tybee ain't that far from here. If this thing would blow....we'd get it, good. Thanks Air Force!

Actually....I believe it won't be found nor explode but a good story nontheless!

Pack

[82Rigger]

Pack,

At 7,000 pounds and falling from altitude, that bomb is likely buried
under 50 feet of silt and mud...forever lost.

You're right...no sleep to be lost over it.

Steve