if the atomic bomb had not worked, we might have been tsunami-ing people

[brainhulk]

http://gizmodo.com/5973039/the-us-military-tested-a-tsunami-bomb-that-could-rival-the-nuclear-bomb

http://www.livescience.com/25949-tsunami-bomb.html

The tsunami bomb, developed in cooperation with authorities in New Zealand, was designed to inundate an enemy city under a 33-foot (10-meter) tsunami wave. Code-named "Project Seal," the top-secret military operation was created in 1944 after E. A. Gibson, a U.S. naval officer, noticed how using explosives to destroy coral reefs around Pacific islands would often generate large waves, reports the Daily Telegraph.

A series of tests were conducted around New Zealand during the war to evaluate the feasibility of the tsunami bomb — and when done correctly, it worked, according to Ray Waru, a New Zealand author whose book, "Secrets and Treasures" (Random House, 2012), outlines some of the military's lesser-known follies, including extensive UFO investigations.

Apparently, the correct way to create a large tsunami wave is through not one, but several bombs using some 2,200 tons (2 million kilograms) of explosives arrayed in a line about 5 miles (8 kilometers) offshore, according to the Daily Telegraph.

"If you put it in a James Bond movie it would be viewed as fantasy, but it was a real thing," Waru told the Daily Telegraph. "It was absolutely astonishing. First, that anyone would come up with the idea of developing a weapon of mass destruction based on a tsunami ... and also that New Zealand seems to have successfully developed it to the degree that it might have worked."

Concern over the effectiveness of an atomic bomb was the impetus behind Project Seal's tsunami bomb. "Presumably, if the atomic bomb had not worked as well as it did, we might have been tsunami-ing people," Waru told the Daily Telegraph.

wow, interdasting

http://youtu.be/WPIgs-90vuc

 

[Crono]

"2 million kilograms of explosive arrayed in a line about five miles from shore"

Sounds like it would have been hard to set up. I'm guessing the U.S. would have just gone for mass bombing runs if atomic weapons hadn't been available at the time of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Good luck laying 2.2 million kilograms of explosive just 5 miles off the enemy shore. They would just sip lemonade and watch you lay them well within their artillery range.

 

[randomrogue]

Interesting. However they could have just continued firebombing. Firebombing was more deadly anyways.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

meh, this goes in the file cabinet with the jetpacks, riflemen on sky chariots, flying saucers, LSD bombs and other hair-brained schemes that would have never worked. in an age where it seemed anything was possible, it was pretty easy to get taxpayer dollars once you claim it will win a war. i guess that will always be the case.