Sixty years later, is Tybee bomb still lurking?

BY J.R. ROSEBERRY

TYBEE BOMB TIMELINE

"Feb. 5, 1958: An F-86 fighter jet collided with a B-47 bomber carrying a 7,600-pound Mark 15 nuclear bomb during a training exercise east of Tybee Island. The disabled bomber jettisoned the bomb in the Wassaw Sound area, where the Wilmington River meets the Atlantic, before making a successful emergency landing at Hunter Army Airfield. A 10-week search conducted by 100 Navy personnel immediately afterward found no trace of the weapon.

2001: A study led by the Air Force Nuclear Weapons and Counterproliferation Agency determined that the bomb was irretrievably lost and best left alone.

July 2004: A small private team led by retired Air Force Lt. Col. Derek Duke discovered high levels of radiation and unusual magnetometer readings at a point just off the southern tip of Little Tybee Island in Wassaw Sound. Using coordinates recorded by the pilot of the B-47, the team determined this was the most likely spot of the bomb's resting place.

Sept. 30, 2004: The U.S. Air Force, responding to media reports of the findings, decides to conduct its own search of the area in an attempt to discover the source of Duke's readings. It compiles a team made up of experts from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, National Nuclear Security Administration, and Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

June 17, 2005: The Air Force releases its findings from the search. It concludes that the radiation readings came from a natural mineral deposit. The bomb remains lost."

What if we still want more information?

"Lost it may be, but not necessarily as close to Tybee as most reports indicate. It could have been stolen years ago by the Soviets and may now be under Russian President Vladimir Putin's purview.

Retired U.S. Coast Guard Capt. C. W. Jenkins, who was in charge of the Port of Savannah and helped arrange for military divers to join the original search in 1958, said he suspects this occurred not long after the original search.

(In 2004) Jenkins told a Charleston, S.C. journalist in an email that he and a representative of the Office of Naval Intelligence interviewed two Thunderbolt teenagers who reported that they were lost in fog while fishing offshore when they saw a submarine. They said they paddled up to it and asked for directions from a man on its deck who was dressed in civilian clothes and spoke perfect English. He directed them back towards Tybee.

Jenkins said the boys drew a sketch of the sub they saw and it matched Russian submarines of that era, several of which had been spotted off the East Coast. The interview led him and the navy official 'to believe a Russian sub had recovered the bomb,' he said.

But Jenkins said officials in Washington claimed 'the water was not deep enough for this type of sub, and therefore dismissed the report and to this day we do not know the truth.'

Jenkins was never able to get back to the reporter. He died just 11 days after sending the email.

The journalist said his newspaper filed a Freedom of Information request to get a copy of Jenkins' report on the sub from both the Federal Bureau of Investigations and U.S. Navy..."

Evaluate whether this FOIA request was appropriate and if the F.B.I. and U.S. Navy would be obligated to provide report filed by Jenkins. Be sure to use the I.R.A.C. format in your answer.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Issue Was the FOIA request for Jenkins report on the submarine appropriate and are the FBI and US Na... View the full answer