was an atmospheric nuclear weapon test series conducted in the summer of 1946, at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The series consisted of two detonations of 23-kiloton atomic bombs -- ABLE, detonated at an altitude of 520 feet on July 1; and BAKER, detonated 90 feet underwater on July 25. The tests were conducted in order to study the effects of nuclear weapons on ships, equipment, and material. Technical experiments were also conducted to study nuclear weapon explosion phenomena.

Test Set-Up

A fleet of more than 90 vessels was assembled in Bikini Lagoon. This fleet consisted of surplus U.S. cruisers, destroyers and submarines, three captured German and Japanese ships, and several auxiliary and amphibious vessels.

In addition to the target fleet, a support fleet of more than 150 ships provided crew quarters, experimental stations, and workshops for most of the 42,000 men involved in the tests.

ABLE Detonation

In the ABLE test, the bomb was dropped from a B-29 and exploded over the target fleet. Five ships were sunk as a result of this test. The radioactivity created by the explosion had only a transient effect, and within a day nearly all the surviving ships had been safely reboarded.

BAKER Detonation

In the BAKER test, the bomb was suspended beneath an auxiliary craft anchored in the midst of the target fleet. This explosion sank eight ships and damaged considerably more than the ABLE test had. The detonation caused most of the target fleet to be bathed in radioactive water spray and radioactive debris from the lagoon bottom, and most of the fleet remained too contaminated to be reboarded for several weeks.

Questions or comments about this page?

"Operation Crossroads: Fact Sheet." Naval Historical Center. Department of the Navy, 2002. www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq76-1.htm

The Robinson Library
Military Science.--Military Science (General).--Atomic Warfare. Atomic Weapons.

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