Knowra Operation Crossroads Operation Crossroads Operation Crossroads was a 1946 U.S. series of nuclear weapon tests at Bikini Atoll. Its two detonations examined nuclear weapons’ effects on naval ships and exposed the difficulty of managing radioactive fallout.
Able (nuclear test) : Able was the first Operation Crossroads detonation, an airburst over Bikini Atoll on July 1, 1946. Its miss placed the explosion away from the target fleet, limiting the damage the test could measure.
Manhattan Project : The Manhattan Project was the U.S.-led wartime program that developed the first atomic bombs. Its newly built weapons supplied the technology and postwar questions behind Crossroads.
USS Nevada (BB-36) : USS Nevada was a U.S. Navy battleship that survived both world wars and served as an Operation Crossroads target. Painted orange as the aiming point for Able, it was not sunk by the blast.
Bikini Islanders : Bikini Islanders are the Indigenous Marshallese people whose homeland is Bikini Atoll. Their relocation made the atoll available for tests and disrupted their lives and return.
Baker (nuclear test) : Baker was an underwater nuclear detonation at Bikini Atoll on July 25, 1946. Its underwater blast produced a towering water column and intensely contaminated nearby ships.
William H. P. Blandy : William H. P. Blandy was a U.S. Navy admiral who directed Operation Crossroads. As task-force commander, he oversaw the tests and defended their military rationale.
USS Saratoga (CV-3) : USS Saratoga was a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier sunk by the underwater Baker test at Bikini Atoll. Its loss showed how Baker’s underwater blast could destroy a large, nearby warship.
Nuclear testing : Nuclear testing is the detonation of nuclear devices to assess weapons, effects, or scientific properties. Crossroads was an early postwar example of tests conducted for military-effects research.
Crossroads King : Crossroads King was a 1946 U.S. nuclear test planned as the third Operation Crossroads shot, then conducted at Enewetak in 1946. Its cancellation at Bikini followed concerns about contamination and the hazards of another test.
Lewis Strauss : Lewis Strauss was a U.S. Navy reserve officer and later Atomic Energy Commission chairman. He pressed for nuclear tests that would assess atomic weapons’ effects on naval forces.
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