Today is the 49th anniversary of the Test Baker atomic explosion of Operation Crossroads, which took place on the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. Operation Crossroads consisted of two atomic blasts, one airborne and one undersea, and was designed to measure the effects of a nuclear blast on various targets.
The bombs were of the Fat Man design, the same as the one dropped over Nagasaki. Test Able, the airborne blast, took place 1 July 1946 and was a partial success, as the bomb was dropped in the wrong place. Test Baker, the undersea blast, took place 25 July 1946, obliterating several target ships nearby and rendering dozens more irradiated beyond salvage. Some of those ships were historically significant to the second world war.
Plenty of information’s on the web about Operation Crossroads. Watch the Internet Archive’s footage of Operation Crossroads.
Mark,
Watch the documentary “Radio Bikini” … all about it and the effects it had on the Sailors who were there … really good film.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093817/
Matt