# nuclear bomb in the middle of the ocean **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 27, 2004, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean/271364 "2004-10-27T02:26:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![saluki\_fan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@saluki\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saluki_fan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean/271364/1 "2004-10-27T02:26:58Z")
What would happen if terrorist dropped a dirty bomb in the middle of the ocean? Also, from what I understand about the ocean and her depths, she can produce incredible pressure. With this being said, would it even need to be detinated, or would it react under the pressure of the ocean? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean/271364/2 "2004-10-27T02:39:57Z")
If it was sufficiently far from land, the radioactive particles would just fall into the ocean. IANAPhysicist, but I would think that particles of uranium or plutonium would be heavy enough that they would sink fairly quickly. Also, they’ve detonated nuclear bombs over remote islands before. Bikini Atoll got H-bombed by the US Navy as a test to see how destructive a hydrogen bomb would be. The French have also tested nukes on small islands. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean/271364/3 "2004-10-27T02:52:15Z")
In the good old days of nuclear testing, bombs were tested in a number of different ways: in the atmosphere, on the ground, underground, on islands, in space, and yes, under the ocean. They could make a pretty impressive tsunami. ---
**Author:** ![Electronerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Electronerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronerd)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean/271364/4 "2004-10-27T02:55:05Z")
> [@saluki\_fan](#): > > What would happen if terrorist dropped a dirty bomb in the middle of the ocean? Also, from what I understand about the ocean and her depths, she can produce incredible pressure. With this being said, would it even need to be detinated, or would it react under the pressure of the ocean? Thanks I don’t understand the question. Do you mean a conventional bomb with radioactive material (a dirty bomb as stated in the OP) or do you mean an actual nuclear bomb as suggested in the title? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean/271364/5 "2004-10-27T03:43:00Z")
If I understand the OP, the question is whether mere pressure alone would trigger a nuclear bomb. Well, we’ve had plenty of opportunities to find out. See [U. S. NUCLEAR WEAPONS ACCIDENTS](http://www.cdi.org/Issues/NukeAccidents/accidents.htm) for more details. > [@](#): > > December 5, 1965, Aboard the USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) in the Pacific Ocean > > An A-4E Skyhawk strike aircraft carrying a nuclear weapon rolled off an elevator on the U.S. aircraft carrier Ticonderoga and fell into the sea. Because the bomb was lost at a depth of approximately 16,000 feet, Pentagon officials feared that intense water pressure could have caused the B-43 hydrogen bomb to explode. It is still unknown whether an explosion did occur. The pilot, aircraft, and weapon were lost. > > Spring 1968, Aboard the USS Scorpion (SSN-589) in the Atlantic Ocean > > Although the Pentagon has not publicly released details of the accident, it probably refers to the nuclear powered attack submarine USS Scorpion that was lost at sea. The sub, carrying unidentified nuclear weapons, was last heard from on May 21, 1968, while returning to Norfolk, Virginia, after a three month training exercise in the Mediterranean Sea. The USS Scorpion sank 400-500 miles southwest of the Azores. > > The U.S. initially suspected that the Soviet Union was somehow involved. The suspicions were allayed when the research ship Mizar (T-AK-272) photographed the wreckage lying on the sea floor at 10,000 feet. A Navy court of inquiry found “no evidence of any kind to suggest foul play or sabotage,” and found that the “certain cause of the loss of the Scorpion cannot be ascertained from evidence now available.” ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean/271364/6 "2004-10-27T03:59:58Z")
[slight hijack] If you detonated a nuke in the ocean somewhere; couldn’t that cause a tidal wave off the coasts of somewhere esle miles away? THat is to say wouldn’t the wave from the bomb pick up enough momentum (if traveled far enough) to cause the tidal wave? ---
**Author:** ![Electronerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Electronerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronerd)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean/271364/7 "2004-10-27T04:10:56Z")
> [@SHAKES](#): > > [slight hijack] > > If you detonated a nuke in the ocean somewhere; couldn’t that cause a tidal wave off the coasts of somewhere esle miles away? > > THat is to say wouldn’t the wave from the bomb pick up enough momentum (if traveled far enough) to cause the tidal wave? If a large enough nuke were detonated, yes this could happen. I don’t know if you could expect a tsunami hundreds of feet high, but depending on bomb power and location of detonation, a reasonably sized wave would reach land. Oh, and I don’t know if you meant the second sentence literally or if you were just using the phrase “pick up enough momentum” as a figure of speech, but the wave’s momentum would be more or less constant the entire time. Continuity of mass would be violated otherwise. When the waves out to sea, it might raise the surface of the ocean by a relatively small amount, but imagine the column of water that is being lived, stretching down to the bottom of the ocean (unless we’re talking Marina Trench territory; I don’t think the wave would quite reach there). Once the wave reaches shallower waters, the wave still has comparable momentum, but much less mass to move. The wave increases in size to maintain this balance. ---
**Author:** ![Electronerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Electronerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronerd)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean/271364/8 "2004-10-27T04:12:13Z")
And of course I meant _lifted_, not lived. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean/271364/9 "2004-10-27T04:36:43Z")
A “dirty” bomb and a nuclear bomb are two quite different things. Which did you want to ask about, **saluki?** ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean/271364/10 "2004-10-27T09:57:06Z")
> [@SHAKES](#): > > [slight hijack] > > If you detonated a nuke in the ocean somewhere; couldn’t that cause a tidal wave off the coasts of somewhere esle miles away? > > THat is to say wouldn’t the wave from the bomb pick up enough momentum (if traveled far enough) to cause the tidal wave? This is the plot of a rather cheesy book by the name of _Icefire_, IIRC by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens. Terrorists use nukes in Antarctica to collapse a huge chunk of ice shelf; resulting splash threatens the entire Pacific Rim. An implausible but entertaining read. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean/271364/11 "2004-10-27T12:33:38Z")
As an aside, I’m going to Kwajalein for three weeks, so if I can get some aerial pictures of Bikini and Eniewetok I’ll post them here. No promises, though. Word is that on really clear days you can see the Bravo Crater and the ships in the lagoon at Bikini from the Crossroads tests. If I didn’t have to fly I could even dive on the ships, but alas I can’t do that. It would be cool to explore the Saratoga, Arkansas, and Nagato, among others.