By Andy Bourelle

Former South Lake Tahoe resident Carter Hydrick recently returned to the lake for a vacation - the first vacation and first extended trip to Tahoe he's made in years.

Why so long?

Answer: the invention of the atomic bomb.

Hydrick has spent his vacation time the last three years, as well as significant amounts of his free time for eight years and about $20,000 of his own money, doing research for a book which Hydrick said questions the foundations of the traditional history of the atomic bomb and the Manhattan Project.

Now, with 10 of the book's 15 chapters complete, Hydrick said he feels confident enough in his evidence to come forward with the information.

The commonly accepted version of atomic bomb history states the bombs were created during the Manhattan Project. However, Hydrick said a "surprise opportunity" to obtain essential components and data from Germany allowed the United States to complete the uranium and plutonium bombs in time to drop them in August 1945.

In May, 1945, a huge Nazi U-boat was headed for Japan but surrendered to the U.S. Navy. The submarine, called U-234, was three times the size of a normal U-boat.

Hydrick said he believes, and has evidence to verify, that the contents of the submarine were transferred to the Manhattan Project to complete the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Additionally, Hydrick said the surrender of U-234 appears to have been prearranged between the U.S. military and Adolf Hitler's top lieutenant Martin Bormann in exchange for Bormann's post-war freedom.

The existence of U-234 and its cargo is not new information. However, Hydrick said he is the first to prove that uranium on board the submarine was enriched uranium, which is usable in the creation of the uranium atomic bomb. Additionally, Hydrick said he has evidence that indicates the captured enriched uranium was used in the uranium bomb which was used on Hiroshima Aug. 6, 1945.

The U-234 also held infrared fuses such as the type needed for detonation of the plutonium bomb used against Japan, according to Hydrick. Eight high-profile military and scientific passengers occupied the boat, including Germany's expert, Dr. Heinz Schlicke, in high-frequency and infrared technology.

Luis Alvarez was the Manhattan Project's scientist who was credited with coming up with, at the last minute, the solution to simultaneously detonating 32 fuses needed to explode the plutonium bomb. Before the solution was found, the Manhattan Project had struggled for 1 1/2 years to find a way to detonate the fuses.

Hydrick said he has evidence suggesting that the U-boat's technology as well as information from Schlicke were used by the Manhattan Project to complete the plutonium bomb which was dropped on Nagasaki Aug. 9, 1945.

"We couldn't have made either bomb, at least within the time we did," Hydrick said, "without U-234."

Hydrick said he has extensive evidence supporting his claims, enough that he needs a 15-chapter book to explain it all.

Hydrick now resides in Houston and works in marketing communications for the Compaq Computer Corporation.

Although not a historian, Hydrick said he loves history. Hydrick said he has spent time researching at the National Archives and Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., as well as the regional archives in Atlanta.

When he was 11 years old, Hydrick moved to Lake Tahoe. He graduated from high school and met and married his wife in Tahoe. He and his family moved in 1978.

In July, he was able to spend 10 days visiting family members still living in the Lake Tahoe area.

"This (was) the first real vacation I've had in three years," Hydrick said. "(Research for the book) has definitely taken a strong place in the activities of my life."

However, Hydrick said he has not let his research get in the way of the rest of his life.

"I'm a father and a husband, and I have to make a living," he said. "I don't think it's consumed me to the point where I've shut out the rest of my life, but it's always on my mind. It's always in the back of my head working."

Hydrick said he will be happy that his efforts have paid off if the new information finds its way into the accepted history of the atomic bomb.

"The traditional history (of the bomb) is so entrenched, I'm afraid that people might just gloss over (my information)," he said. "I want a chance to prove that I'm right. I'm confident I can prove it."

Carter Hydrick's research is extensively outlined on his web site at www.u234.com