Lucky Dragon 5

Daigo Fukuryū Maru was a Japanese tuna fishing boat, with a crew of 23 men, which was exposed to and contaminated by nuclear fallout from the United States Castle Bravo thermonuclear weapon test at Bikini Atoll on March 1, 1954.The crew suffered acute radiation syndrome (ARS) for a number of weeks after the Bravo test in March but all later recovered except for Aikichi Kuboyama, the boat's chief radioman, who died some seven months later on September 23, 1954, from an underlying liver cirrhosis compounded by a secondary hepatitis C infection. During their ARS treatment, the crew of 23 were inadvertently infected with hepatitis C through blood transfusions. Kuboyama is considered to be the first victim of the hydrogen bomb and of test shot Castle Bravo.Early days and final voyageBuilt in March 1947, and launched from Koza, Wakayama, the boat's name was originally Dainana Kotoshiro Maru/Kotoyo Maru No. 7. Under this title it was a bonito boat and moored in Misaki Fishing Harbor, Kanagawa Prefecture.