What U.S. Naval ships received "fallout" from the Bravo Hydrogen Bomb Test on March 1, 1954?

Question

Dad says he was there and that his ship received fallout from the test. We need to establish proof that he was but don't know where to start. We do know his two ship assignments; 1) USS Pine Island AV-12 and 2) USS Oriskany CVA-34. Service dates were; 05/16/1952 - 10/18/1955. Reason for this question; Dad has health issues and finding this information would be of great help.

Answer 1

USS Pine Island was on a WESTPAC deployment from Jan to Aug in 1954. the Castle Bravo test took place on March 1st, 1954.

Nothing I have found shows the Pine Island to have participated in the test however...
From what I know of WESTPAC deployments and sailing times (Having been on 3 deployments myself) USS Pine Island could have been in the vicinity of the Marshal Islands at that time.
Castle Bravo is famous for being the largest Nuclear device detonated by the USA, it was accidental as well and was what is described as a "Runaway" explosion of much higher yield than anticipated. as such there was greater fallout over a much larger area than expected. If Pine Island was anywhere near the Marshalls and your Father was aboard at that time. it is possible. Im not saying it did or didn't happen but the possibility is there.

as for USS Oriskany I found this entry: After providing air support for Marine amphibious assault exercises at Iwo Jima, the carrier returned to San Diego 22 April 1954

Given sailing times and a brief 2-3 day stop at Pearl as most Navy ships do. (for fuel if nothing else). Oriskany could not have been near the Marshalls for the March 1st Test.

You give your fathers service dates but not what dates he was on what ship. Both Ships were deployed in the Pacific at that time. Oriskany was not near the Marshals, Pine Island was somewhere in the Pacific at that time but could have been nearby. You need to find out WHICH of the two ships he was on in March of 1954. More research into Pine Islands whereabouts may turn up more info for you.

Hope this helps.

UPDATE:
I found this on a .pdf file
4.10.3 Dose Summary for Operation CASTLE.
Among the CASTLE detonations, only BRAVO produced significant, unexpected personnel
radiation exposures. This first shot of the series, which significantly exceeded its expected yield,
released large quantities of radioactive materials into the atmosphere. These materials were
caught up in winds that spread the particles over a much larger area than had been anticipated.
This resulted in contamination and exposure of Marshall Island residents, Japanese fishermen,
and U.S. personnel on distant atolls or aboard various vessels. Acute radiation effects were
observed among some of these people (13: 3).
Some DOD personnel exceeded the maximum permissible limit of 3.9 rem of gamma radiation
within any 13-week period of the operation. BRAVO fallout on some Navy ships resulted in
personnel who had doses approaching or exceeding this limit. To allow for completion of the
CASTLE tests, it became necessary to issue a number of waiver authorizations permitting doses
of as much as 7.8 rem. In a limited number of shipboard cases, even this level was exceeded.
Substantial overdoses from BRAVO, the highest for any test series, were accrued by the 28 Air
Force and Army personnel on Rongerik Atoll (13: 3-4) and the 92 crew members of USS
Patapsco, a Navy gasoline tanker that was overtaken by the nuclear cloud on the day following
the shot while en route from Enewetak Atoll to Pearl Harbor (14). Film badge readings suggest
that three members of the U.S. Navy Bikini Boat Pool also may have received substantial
overdoses. Thorough investigation at the time failed, however, to indicate reasons for these
readings (13: 243-244). As a result of BRAVO, 21 individuals on the USS Philip and 16 on the
USS Bairoko sustained lesions that were classified as beta burns, all of which healed without
complications (13: 3-4).

So as you see here, several ships received fallout radiation and this report mentions at least one ship that got fallout which was not part of the test (The Tanker Patapsco). Still there is no mention of USS Pine Island or of Oriskany.
here is a link to the whole document:
http://www.cddc.vt.edu/host/atomic/pdf/ustests.pdf

Answer 2

USS Bairoko (CVE-115)

Answer 3

heres a page of declassified documents to operation castle, in which bravo was one of the tests. hope it helps