Decommissioned: After the War 1946-1969 - Revision history

Ccarlsson at 00:39, 15 August 2025

2025-08-15T00:39:14Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:39, 14 August 2025
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	[[Decommissioned: After the War 1946-1969\|Decommissioned: After the War 1946-1969]]		[[Decommissioned: After the War 1946-1969\|Decommissioned: After the War 1946-1969]]

	[[Decommissioned: Naval Defense ~~Radiological~~ Laboratory 1946-1969\|Decommissioned: Naval Defense ~~Radiological~~ Laboratory 1946-1969]]		[[Decommissioned: Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory 1946-1969\|Decommissioned: Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory 1946-1969]]

Ccarlsson at 00:02, 14 August 2025

2025-08-14T00:02:57Z

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	[[Decommissioned: After the War 1946-1969\|Decommissioned: After the War 1946-1969]]		[[Decommissioned: After the War 1946-1969\|Decommissioned: After the War 1946-1969]]

	[[Decommissioned: ~~A Mighty Shipyard 1941~~-~~1947~~\|Decommissioned: ~~A Mighty Shipyard 1941~~-~~1947~~]]		[[Decommissioned: Naval Defense Radiological Laboratory 1946-1969\|Decommissioned: Naval Defense Radiological Laboratory 1946-1969]]

	~~[[Decommissioned: Naval Defense Radiological Laboratory 1946-1969\|Decommissioned: Naval Defense Radiological Laboratory 1946-1969]]~~



	[[category:Bayview/Hunter's Point]] [[category:military]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:1950s]] [[category:1960s]]		[[category:Bayview/Hunter's Point]] [[category:military]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:1950s]] [[category:1960s]]

Ccarlsson at 23:52, 13 August 2025

2025-08-13T23:52:44Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:52, 13 August 2025
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	[[Image:2025 ShipY035 exhibition-promo Decommissioned.jpg]] [https://www.shipyardartists.com/decommissioned/ '''DECOMMISSIONED: The History of Hunters Point Shipyard'''] ''was curated by Stacey Carter at Building 101 at the HP shipyard, June 5 - August 2, 2025''		[[Image:2025 ShipY035 exhibition-promo Decommissioned.jpg]] [https://www.shipyardartists.com/decommissioned/ '''DECOMMISSIONED: The History of Hunters Point Shipyard'''] ''was curated by Stacey Carter at Building 101 at the HP shipyard, June 5 - August 2, 2025''


	[[Image:W11 VCU NARA HPS 03 29 24 200 NavyDay Independence.jpg]]		[[Image:W11 VCU NARA HPS 03 29 24 200 NavyDay Independence.jpg]]
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	[[Image:W11 Navy Ltr RadLab 1947 4pg.jpg]]		[[Image:W11 Navy Ltr RadLab 1947 4pg.jpg]]

			<hr>

			[[Decommissioned: Navy Takes Notice 1908\|Decommissioned: Navy Takes Notice 1908]]

			[[Decommissioned: A Mighty Shipyard 1941-1947\|Decommissioned: A Mighty Shipyard 1941-1947]]

			[[Decommissioned: Hunters Point and the Atomic Turning Point\|Decommissioned: Hunters Point and the Atomic Turning Point]]

			[[Decommissioned: The Giant Crane 1947\|Decommissioned: The Giant Crane 1947]]

			[[Decommissioned: After the War 1946-1969\|Decommissioned: After the War 1946-1969]]

			[[Decommissioned: A Mighty Shipyard 1941-1947\|Decommissioned: A Mighty Shipyard 1941-1947]]

			[[Decommissioned: Naval Defense Radiological Laboratory 1946-1969\|Decommissioned: Naval Defense Radiological Laboratory 1946-1969]]



	[[category:Bayview/Hunter's Point]] [[category:military]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:1950s]] [[category:1960s]]		[[category:Bayview/Hunter's Point]] [[category:military]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:1950s]] [[category:1960s]]

Ccarlsson at 23:09, 13 August 2025

2025-08-13T23:09:34Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:09, 13 August 2025
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	[[Image:W11 VCU NARA HPS 03 29 24 200 NavyDay Independence.jpg]]		[[Image:W11 VCU NARA HPS 03 29 24 200 NavyDay Independence.jpg]]

	[[Image:W11 NARA HPS 03 29 24 200 NavyDay Independence.jpg]		[[Image:W11 NARA HPS 03 29 24 200 NavyDay Independence.jpg]]

	'''Former ''USS Independence'': Used in the 1946 atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll (Operation Crossroads), the ''Independence'' became radioactive and was later studied at Hunters Point. Shown here on public display for Navy Day, 1947.'''		'''Former ''USS Independence'': Used in the 1946 atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll (Operation Crossroads), the ''Independence'' became radioactive and was later studied at Hunters Point. Shown here on public display for Navy Day, 1947.'''

Ccarlsson: Created page with "''' Historical Exhibit ''' ''by Stacey Carter'' Image:2025 ShipY035 exhibition-promo Decommissioned.jpg [https://www.shipyardartists.com/decommissioned/ '''DECOMMISSIONED: The History of Hunters Point Shipyard'''] ''was curated by Stacey Carter at Building 101 at the HP shipyard, June 5 - August 2, 2025'' Image:W11 VCU NARA HPS 03 29 24 200 NavyDay Independence.jpg Image:W11 NARA..."

2025-08-13T23:09:08Z

Created page with "''' Historical Exhibit ''' ''by Stacey Carter'' Image:2025 ShipY035 exhibition-promo Decommissioned.jpg [https://www.shipyardartists.com/decommissioned/ '''DECOMMISSIONED: The History of Hunters Point Shipyard'''] ''was curated by Stacey Carter at Building 101 at the HP shipyard, June 5 - August 2, 2025'' Image:W11 VCU NARA HPS 03 29 24 200 NavyDay Independence.jpg Image:W11 NARA..."

New page

''' Historical Exhibit '''

''by Stacey Carter''

[[Image:2025 ShipY035 exhibition-promo Decommissioned.jpg]] [https://www.shipyardartists.com/decommissioned/ '''DECOMMISSIONED: The History of Hunters Point Shipyard'''] ''was curated by Stacey Carter at Building 101 at the HP shipyard, June 5 - August 2, 2025''

[[Image:W11 VCU NARA HPS 03 29 24 200 NavyDay Independence.jpg]]

[[Image:W11 NARA HPS 03 29 24 200 NavyDay Independence.jpg]

'''Former ''USS Independence'': Used in the 1946 atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll (Operation Crossroads), the ''Independence'' became radioactive and was later studied at Hunters Point. Shown here on public display for Navy Day, 1947.'''

''Photo: courtesy: NARA – SF, Pacific Region''

<big>Hunters Point at the Crossroads</big>

As radioactive ships from Pacific nuclear tests returned to San Francisco, Hunters Point became a hidden front of the atomic age. Behind guarded gates and layers of secrecy, the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory (NRDL) conducted classified research on nuclear decontamination, weapons effects, and radiological safety—leaving a legacy still unfolding today.

[[Image:W11 Operation-Crossroads-detonation File-Door Excavate DD2 1916 L.jpg]]

'''Operation Crossroads detonation at Bikini Atoll, 1946.'''

<big>Radioactive fleet at Hunters Point</big>

After Crossroads, six vessels that were too damaged to travel under their own power, ''Independence, Gasconade, Crittendon, Skate, Skipjack'', and ''Hughes'', were towed back to Hunters Point where they became experimental objects for testing decontamination methods. Through trial and error, the radiation safety personnel settled on using a combination of wet sandblasting and acid solutions to decontaminate the remaining ships.

The shipyard personnel also examined other radiological problems that the ships presented including burning 610,000 gallons of fuel oil that became contaminated during Crossroads.

Because of the expertise developed at the shipyard, Hunters Point became the Navy’s primary facility for monitoring ships from Crossroads, decontaminating 12 additional vessels and 61 support vessels by 1948. In all 79 contaminated ships from Operation Crossroads came to Hunters Point Shipyard for decontamination.

[[Image:W11 SandblastingShipHull.jpg]]

'''Sandlasting a ship's hull at Hunters Point.'''

<big>Decontaminating the Radioactive Fleet</big>

In 1946, the U.S. Navy conducted Operation Crossroads—a pair of atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands—to study the effects of nuclear explosions on warships. The first test was an airburst (Shot Able); the second, an underwater blast (Shot Baker), caused severe radioactive contamination to a fleet of target and support vessels.

In the aftermath, Hunters Point Shipyard was chosen as the Navy’s primary West Coast decontamination facility. The Navy towed six of the most contaminated ships—including the aircraft carrier ''USS Independence'' and two submarines—to Hunters Point for experimentation and cleaning. Some carried radioactively contaminated fuel oil, which was burned in boiler facilities at Hunters Point.

The work at Hunters Point revealed the Navy’s lack of preparedness to manage large-scale nuclear contamination. In response, the Navy established the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory (NRDL) on site in 1948. HPS became a national center for decontamination research, radiation safety testing, and Cold War-era nuclear studies—shaping its long, complex, and often hidden radiological legacy.

[[Image:W11 Secret two-guys-next-to-ship-in-dock.jpg]]

'''USS Gasconade undergoing decontamination at Hunters Point. Workers on lunch break.'''

[[Image:W11 test-ship-Gasconnade-from-Operation-Crossroads-at-HP-1947 .jpg]]

'''Test ship Gasconade at Hunters Point, 1947.'''

[[Image:W11 test-ship-Gasconnade-at-HP-1947.jpg]]

'''Deck on Gasconade with damaged plane and melted components, 1947.'''

[[Image:W11 Independence-tryptich.jpg]]

[[Image:W11 one-year-later.jpg]]

[[Image:W11 RadLab-1947-letter p1.jpg]]

[[Image:W11 Navy Ltr RadLab 1947 4pg.jpg]]

[[category:Bayview/Hunter's Point]] [[category:military]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:1950s]] [[category:1960s]]