Townsend Brown, at the Philadelphia Naval Yard
Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 6:55 pm
TLDR: Bill Moore had it wrong.
In 1939, Atomic pioneer, Enrico Fermi delivered a lecture for the NRL.
Townsend was subsequently assigned to the Philadelphia Naval Yard, working in the hydraulic power plant there. He did such an excellent job that the Director of the Yard wrote to the Navy, asking that his assignment continue on. However, once the US entered the war, he was sent to Norfolk to establish the Radar school there.
Meanwhile, back at the shipyard, the Navy continued its pursuit of the thermal diffusion method of uranium refinement. Once the Army's Oak Ridge Tennessee facility was up and running, General Groves arranged for a group of volunteers to go and get some hands on experience with such a system. They were told it was a dangerous assignment, and it was. One of the steam pipes exploded with irradiated steam. There were several injured. 3 died.
Their internal organs were removed for autopsy before their bodies were returned home for burial.
But, though Townsend may have been there in the very early days of the project, he was long gone by the time this accident happened.
And, needless to say, the report of this true Philadelphia Experiment was kept classified for many years.
In 1939, Atomic pioneer, Enrico Fermi delivered a lecture for the NRL.
Townsend was subsequently assigned to the Philadelphia Naval Yard, working in the hydraulic power plant there. He did such an excellent job that the Director of the Yard wrote to the Navy, asking that his assignment continue on. However, once the US entered the war, he was sent to Norfolk to establish the Radar school there.
Meanwhile, back at the shipyard, the Navy continued its pursuit of the thermal diffusion method of uranium refinement. Once the Army's Oak Ridge Tennessee facility was up and running, General Groves arranged for a group of volunteers to go and get some hands on experience with such a system. They were told it was a dangerous assignment, and it was. One of the steam pipes exploded with irradiated steam. There were several injured. 3 died.
Their internal organs were removed for autopsy before their bodies were returned home for burial.
But, though Townsend may have been there in the very early days of the project, he was long gone by the time this accident happened.
And, needless to say, the report of this true Philadelphia Experiment was kept classified for many years.