Operation Castle
Wigwam, Redwing, and Hardtack
US Atomic Veterans
Leroy Peffer
Update: November 27, 1999. LeRoy sent
his Certificates of Participation for Operations Castle, Wigwam,
Redwing and Hardtack. Click on the pictures for a larger view. Leroy
Peffer sent the following email about his participation during the
atomic tests. Our telephone conversation follows. My comments and
questions are in italics.
From: peffer@tscnet.com
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998
To: pdxavets@aracnet.com
Subject: atomic tests.
Dear Sir. I was on the U.S.S.Curtiss A.V.4 for Operations
Castle 1954, Wigwam 1955, Redwing 1956 . After Operation Redwing the
Curtiss was put out of commission at Long Beach shipyard. I was
transfered to the 7.3 Boat pool and was on Operation Hardtack.
I was wondering how I could get my name on the rolls of the
atomic veterans? Hope you can help.
LeRoy D. Peffer U.S.N. Ret.
Bermerton, Wa.
Thank you
LeRoy
Telephone conversation begins:
Hi Keith,
I was looking up different things on the computer and got
your website and email. I knew there was a group of atomic veterans
someplace but I couldn't ever get in touch with them. So at any rate I
wanted to get on the records as being there for the family's sake as
the years go on, they can look back and say there is great great
grandpa, you know what I'm saying?
You seem to have a lot more experience than most atomic
veterans.
The way it happened, the way I got in on all the
operations... I was on an aircraft carrier and my enlistment was about
up and I refused to enlist on the carrier. So they had to transfer me,
of course, and they transfered me to the Curtiss. That was around 1953,
I don't remember exactly. But the USS Curtiss was going to be put out
of commission by the US Navy, this was before I went aboard. The Atomic
Energy Commission the (AEC) bought the Curtiss from the Navy. They
refurbished it and the Curtiss was a seaplane tender and it had those
big cranes on it so they could lift the seaplanes aboard and they had a
big hanger deck. And below decks they had all the spaces the airdales
had for the aircraft parts.
The AEC refurbished it and they air-conditioned all the
spaces below the hanger deck. We had an elevator in
there so we could hoist the bombs on deck and they could run them in
the hanger and take them down and store them below.
What port did they load the bombs onto the Curtiss?
We operated out of San Diego and to my knowledge that was
the point of origin of taking on the bombs.
Was
the air-conditioning for the scientists or the bombs?
For the
bombs, you don't air condition the ship for the crew. You air
condition it for the equipment. I was an Electricians Mate and I was
cleared for what they called a Queen Clearence, it's above top secret.
It was established by the Atomic Energy Commission. They then lowered
all the clearences to top secret. And for Operation Redwing I was
cleared for top secret but for Castle and Wigwam I had a Queen
clearence. That
permitted me to go into the compartments where the bombs were at.
You see, they needed ship's crew to be able to go in and work on
anything that pertained to the ship in that compartment, electrical,
the hull, so they had one man in each division on the ship that was
cleared to go in there, and I happened to be in the electrical gang. I
was First Class Electrical Mate at that time.
Did
you actually see the bombs themselves?
I was in
one compartment with one. They had a lighting problem, the ships
lighting wasn't adequate so, I went in and did some electrical work,
but I paid no attention to it. They had it covered. They had a Marine
on the outside of the compartment hatch and one on the inside of the
compartment hatch and when you went in, you showed your clearence and
signed the ledger that you were going in and what you were going to do
when you went in there. Then the Marine on the inside checked your
clearence pass and then he permitted you to go ahead and work. When
your work was done, you showed him your pass and then when you went
outside you showed that Marine your pass, and signed the ledger showing
you had completed your job.
The thing that tickled me was, we were sworn to secrecy but
the scientists, the atomic physicists, they just blabbed and talked
about it. If we had done that we would have been court-martialed. I was
sworn to secrecy at the time I was retired even.
| When you're assigned to a
ship you go where the ship goes and we went out to Operation Castle. We
were out there for I don't remember how many shots, it was several,
they were just magnificent. |
Castle Certificate 1954. Photo from Leroy Peffer
Click on photo for a larger view.
|
The cloud itself was gorgeous, it was just pure white,
whiter than snow, it would go up and then mushroom out at the top and
it would roll, just a slow roll. It would open up, sections of it and
there would be vivid colors like red and blues and purples and orange.
It was just fantastic: the colors.
They detonated some big shots at Castle, what were your
impressions? Did you have goggles on and were you up on the deck?
Yes, they issued goggles and we were to stand behind the gun
shields, the 40mm gun shields, so we had some protection.
At Operation Castle, what stands out in your mind about
that?
The massive damage that was done there. They would detonate
a bomb on a barge. These barges were good size and there would be
absolutely nothing there. It wouldn't just melt the steel, it would
burn it to an ash and there would be big cavities in the ocean floor.
Divers would go down and inspect the floor.
I remember this Dr. Ogle, he was one of the scientists we
took over, he was the one who seemed most friendly and chatty, you
would ask him and he would tell you anything you wanted to know. We all
perceived him to be a heck of a fine fellow.
What was his job?
He was the head scientist of the operation.
I asked if he knew about the fallout from Castle Bravo.
I don't remember about that one, they kept quiet amongst the
crew. They installed washdown systems on the ships that were out there.
After the shots we would energize the washdown systems. They were like
one huge dishwashing system and would wash all the particles off the
ship. However we did find one coil of mooring line and it had 50 r of
contamination and we were walking around that thing, not knowing it,
until the monitors got up to it with Geiger counters and discovered it.
They just picked up the line and threw it over the side.
One shot, I forgot which one, we took Life magazine
photographers over to the area, and we had these big semi trailers that
Life magazine had their equipment in and they took
pictures and all that. Then they would have critiques in the wardroom
of what went on and the scientists would stand up there in front of all
those people and give them a big line of malarky. They snowed them
people like you wouldn't believe. The guys in the crew didn't know all
the details but we figured real quick the things they were telling the
reporters wasn't all true.
At the Operation Wigwam, we were close enough, I think it
was Wigwam, I had my hat blown off by the concussion. We were out of
formation, now that might have been Hardtack, too.
I bet they're kind of hard to keep separate.
I feel we were used as guinea pigs cause they said we were
out of formation. We weren't out of formation because of an accident. I
believe it was because the skipper had orders to be in that position.
That was at Operation Wigwam. I had to tear down to the generator
flaps, to keep the generators on line. With out any steam, we were
going round and round. I think that was the most spooky because, we
were in a convoy with a bunch of other ships and if we lost steering we
would have no control. We had a tough time with that one.
| We were so close to one
of the shots out there, it broke the deck plates loose in the engine
room, it broke the bolts and it poped the safetys on the boilers, we
were losing steam. |
Wigwam Certificate 1955. Photo from Leroy Peffer
Click on photo for a larger view.
|
After Operation Wigwam in 1955 which we talked about
before. You went to Operation Redwing. You remember that one real well
I bet.
For Redwing we carried some of the bombs, I don't remember
how many. There were several shots. I don't remember how many shots
there were in Redwing. It was fascinating and eerie, knowing all the
destruction and power.
There were 17 detonations, some at Bikini and some at
Eniwetok. I mentioned Bob Swart here in Oregon who was on the Curtiss
and told Leroy to find his page in the Redwing section and he could
email him. Bob remembered Shot Cherokee and saw the light right through
his arms.
Thats true, all the shots I was on, I wore the glasses, I
was cautious of my eyes. When they gave us glasses we maintained the
glasses through the whole series. Even with those glasses which were
stronger and darker than the glasses that the welders use. It seemed
like daylight, everything was so plain and visible.
What do you remember about Redwing?
| Well those shots were
getting sort of passe with me. I expected a big explosion and stuff
like that. We had no incidents that I recall that would warrent
anything other than the awesomeness of the blasts in itself and the
display of colors. |
Redwing Certificate 1956. Photo from Leroy Peffer
Click on photo for a larger view.
|
| After Operation Redwing,
the Curtiss came back and the AEC decided they didn't want her any more
so we put the Curtiss out of commission in Long Beach, Washington. |
Redwing Certificate 1956. Photo from Leroy Peffer
Click on photo for a larger view.
|
Then I was transfered to the 7.3 Boat Pool, which was part
of the operations all along too. I had three tug boats, four LCM's and
twelve Mike boats, that I had the electrical repairs on. After the
operation we came back to the states on the USS Montecello. That was an
LSD, it one of those drydock ships, they sink the stern of it and fill
it full of water you can run the small boats like the small tug boats
and Mike boats up into it and then they close the stern and pump the
water out of it and it raises it up high and dry like a drydock. She
was fairly new too. By this time I'd made Chief.
There were a lot of shots fired at Hardtack. Do you
remember there being a lot of them?
| It got to the point by
this time, Keith, some of us never even bothered to go topside to watch
them. We had a choice, we could stay below or do whatever we wanted to
do. After a while it got to be Old Hat, something we just got to expect. |
Hardtack Certificate 1958. Photo from Leroy Peffer
Click on photo for a larger view.
|
That's just amazing, I've heard that before but it's
amazing that you could get used to it.
After that I put in for shore duty and got it in Kingston,
Washington. I got my shore duty in and retired from the Navy in 61.
Then I went to work in the ship yard and worked there 17 years. I've
been retired from the ship yard for 20 years.
How's your health?
Well I've had cancer of the colon. I went in for the
pre-operation physical and heard the doctor say they aren't going to do
anything to you till I get done with you. I asked him what was the
matter with me? He said I had a 100% blockage, a 90% blockage and a 70%
blockage.
Were you feeling pretty bad then?
I had no symtoms, absolutely no symtoms whatever. I didn't
even know I had cancer. We talked a bit about the operations and his
care at Madigan Hospital in Ft. Lewis. They're a fantastic group.
That's only been a couple of years ago.
My wife passed away two years ago this May. It was after her
death that all this took place. Outside of that I'm in outstanding
health. I feel good, I'm bald as a cucumber and I'm the only bald
headed one in the family. I don't know if I can lay that on the atomic
tests or not.
So, Leroy, what do your friends think when you tell them
all this?
I don't know what they think. They don't have too much to
say about it. They seem to be more interested in my war survivals. I'm
a survivor of Pearl Harbor.
Oh are you?
I was on a ship tied alongside the Arizona when she blew. I
watched her blow. I've got Pearl Harbor plates on my motor home. After
surviving Pearl Harbor, I survived World War II and Korea.
Where were you in WW II?
We were in the Pacific, we chased the Japanese all over the
place there. Then after the Korean War, I survived 4 years of the
atomic tests out there in the Pacific. Then I figured, by golly them
people are trying to kill me, I better get out of here.
What kind of ship were you on in WW II?
I was on 5 ships during my navy career. The first ship I was
on, the one at Pearl Harbor was a repair ship the USS Vestal AR 4. We
were outside the continental limits of the United States for 33 months.
That was in 44 and I was sent home on 10 days leave, and I had to
report in to Tacoma after my leave was up. Then I caught an APA and we
made the invasion of Iwo Jima. I watched those Marines raise the flag
on Mt. Sarabatche.
We finished up our conversation and made a deal for him
to have all the videos on Castle, Wigwam, Redwing and Hardtack.
Keith Whittle
May 1, 1998
Email: peffer@tscnet.com
Keith Whittle
May 1, 1998
[ Operation
Castle ]
[ Operation
Wigwam ]
[ Operation
Redwing ]
[ Operation
Hardtack ]
