i was expecting an earth-shattering kaboom
May 25, 2023 10:35 AM Subscribe
Seventy years ago today, the USA conducted its only nuclear artillery test. A contemporary propaganda video (ten minutes), which is much more about the cannon than about the Grable warhead.
A part of Operation Upshot Knothole (thirty-five minutes, declassified 1997).
A part of Operation Upshot Knothole (thirty-five minutes, declassified 1997).
That propaganda video was unbelievably chilling despite the desert setting and the sweat rolling down faces.
Most of the soldiers I got a good look at were lean as greyhounds, and many times more fearsome.
There was so much information about technical details of the system that it’s hard for me to believe it was meant to be seen by anybody other than top brass and politicians with high level security clearances.
posted by jamjam at 11:14 AM on May 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
Most of the soldiers I got a good look at were lean as greyhounds, and many times more fearsome.
There was so much information about technical details of the system that it’s hard for me to believe it was meant to be seen by anybody other than top brass and politicians with high level security clearances.
posted by jamjam at 11:14 AM on May 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yes, seriously. All of us did, starting with those nuked and continuing down each maternal line, without exceptions.
That seems like a stretch.
posted by groda at 12:18 PM on May 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
That seems like a stretch.
posted by groda at 12:18 PM on May 25, 2023 [4 favorites]
the burst timing on the NUCLEAR SHELL set with a manual screw and some sort of hammer was a "nice" touch (shudder)
posted by lalochezia at 12:58 PM on May 25, 2023
posted by lalochezia at 12:58 PM on May 25, 2023
The codename Grable was chosen because the letter Grable is phonetic for G, as in "gun", since the warhead was a gun-type fission weapon. As a shell, or artillery-fired atomic projectile (AFAP), the device was the first of its kind.
AFAP
*snicker snicker snicker*
posted by slogger at 1:09 PM on May 25, 2023
AFAP
*snicker snicker snicker*
posted by slogger at 1:09 PM on May 25, 2023
afapab.
yes, all of them. every last one.
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 1:59 PM on May 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
yes, all of them. every last one.
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 1:59 PM on May 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
What a ridiculous concept...
"That got them! Now go hold that ground!"
posted by Windopaene at 2:16 PM on May 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
"That got them! Now go hold that ground!"
posted by Windopaene at 2:16 PM on May 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
What a ridiculous concept...
That? Well, definitely, but the Davy Crockett probably wins on a "more ridiculous than that" basis. Not an artillery shell, but rather a warhead that could be fired with a recoilless gun. Much lower yield, but it would land way closer to the team firing it - 2 to 4 km away vs. around 30 km for the Grable warhead.
"Any volunteers?"
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 2:40 PM on May 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
That? Well, definitely, but the Davy Crockett probably wins on a "more ridiculous than that" basis. Not an artillery shell, but rather a warhead that could be fired with a recoilless gun. Much lower yield, but it would land way closer to the team firing it - 2 to 4 km away vs. around 30 km for the Grable warhead.
"Any volunteers?"
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 2:40 PM on May 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
I think the Davy Crockett was always intended as a hail mary, the Ruskies are absolutely storming the Fulda Gap and we're being overwhelmed and need to stop them now.
Not that it doesn't make the whole concept any less pants wettingly mad.
posted by drewbage1847 at 3:37 PM on May 25, 2023 [3 favorites]
Not that it doesn't make the whole concept any less pants wettingly mad.
posted by drewbage1847 at 3:37 PM on May 25, 2023 [3 favorites]
My favorite part of this design is that, in order to keep the diameter small, it was a gun-type bomb, where two subcritical masses are slapped together by an explosive charge inside a short barrel...which they launched toward the target by putting it inside a larger barrel and detonating an even larger explosive charge right next to it.
Never before has it felt more appropriate to ask: WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?
posted by The Tensor at 3:59 PM on May 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
Never before has it felt more appropriate to ask: WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?
posted by The Tensor at 3:59 PM on May 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
What a ridiculous concept...
"That got them! Now go hold that ground!"
Nothing ridiculous about it. There were/are bunkers that could survive that hit and hardened vehicles you could drive into ground zero.
It's radiation, not a disintegrator ray.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:29 PM on May 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
"That got them! Now go hold that ground!"
Nothing ridiculous about it. There were/are bunkers that could survive that hit and hardened vehicles you could drive into ground zero.
It's radiation, not a disintegrator ray.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:29 PM on May 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
Upshot Knothole Grable has been the lead candidate for the next album title for my surf band for years now.
(Just getting in there before someone else claims it as their new band name.)
posted by Dysk at 8:56 PM on May 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
(Just getting in there before someone else claims it as their new band name.)
posted by Dysk at 8:56 PM on May 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
It's radiation, not a disintegrator ray.
It kind of is, if you consider how radiation works over time from an intense exposure, from the immediately acute to the chronic.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:07 PM on May 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
It kind of is, if you consider how radiation works over time from an intense exposure, from the immediately acute to the chronic.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:07 PM on May 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
>It's radiation, not a disintegrator ray.
It kind of is, if you consider how radiation works over time from an intense exposure, from the immediately acute to the chronic.
Fair enough. If you’re having a very very long term battle it is in fact a disintegrator ray.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:42 PM on May 25, 2023
It kind of is, if you consider how radiation works over time from an intense exposure, from the immediately acute to the chronic.
Fair enough. If you’re having a very very long term battle it is in fact a disintegrator ray.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:42 PM on May 25, 2023
"That got them! Now go hold that ground!"
At the end of the Trinity and Beyond movie, there are some clips of China's nuclear test showing cavalry with guns and swords riding into the aftermath, both rider and mount wearing gas masks. Not sure if propaganda or military strategy, or both.
posted by credulous at 9:48 AM on May 26, 2023
At the end of the Trinity and Beyond movie, there are some clips of China's nuclear test showing cavalry with guns and swords riding into the aftermath, both rider and mount wearing gas masks. Not sure if propaganda or military strategy, or both.
posted by credulous at 9:48 AM on May 26, 2023
I’ve been reading Richard Rhodes’ The Making of The Atomic Bomb and watching atomic bomb test footage on Youtube. “Look how it scours/melts the paint off that school bus!”
I’ve been insufferable at home lately, is what I’m saying.
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 7:12 PM on May 26, 2023
I’ve been insufferable at home lately, is what I’m saying.
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 7:12 PM on May 26, 2023
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(Yes, seriously. All of us did, starting with those nuked and continuing down each maternal line, without exceptions.)
posted by Callisto Prime at 10:47 AM on May 25, 2023 [7 favorites]