Imperial Domain of the Golden Dragon, 24 May 1946 - Operation Crossroads 75 Years Ago

Bill McGee’s membership card in the Imperial Domain of the Golden Dragon, 24 May 1946. (Author Collection)

Aboard the USS Fall River (CA-131), International Date Line, 24 May 1946 – On 21 May, the USS Fall River (CA-131) weighed anchor in Pearl Harbor and set sail for its final destination some 2,100 miles southwest of Hawaii: Operation Crossroads at the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

When the Fall River crossed the International Date Line on 24 May, clocks were set ahead 24 hours to minus 12 zone time. The skipper and Executive Officer awarded all hands membership in the Imperial Domain of the Golden Dragon – an unofficial but highly coveted award of the U.S Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard given to crew members of ships that cross the International Date Line. On Bill McGee’s membership card above (actual size), note the references to Operation Crossroads on the left side of the card and in the last line of the main paragraph.