← All films · Operation Crossroads
Nuclear Test Film - Operation Crossroads
23 kt · Jul 1, 1946 · Bikini Atoll · 2 Hiroshimas
Operation Crossroads put a fleet of 95 surplus and captured warships in Bikini lagoon and detonated atomic bombs against them to study effects on naval vessels. Able was an airburst on 1 July 1946; Baker, on 25 July, was detonated 90 feet underwater — the first underwater nuclear explosion. Baker threw a hollow column of two million tons of water a mile into the sky and dropped a radioactive mist back onto the fleet.
Baker contaminated all 95 target ships so thoroughly that decontamination failed; most were scuttled, including the carrier USS Saratoga and the battleship USS Arkansas. It was, in the words of the cleanup commander, 'the world's first nuclear disaster.' The 167 Bikini Islanders, told their evacuation would be temporary and 'for the good of mankind,' have never been able to return permanently.