Operation Crossroads
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Nuclear tests
A pair of nuclear tests (ABLE and BAKER) were completed to test the effects of radioactive material on naval ships. It was done also to explore the effects of radioactive material on the animals that were aboard another ship about a mile away.
ABLE
Able was the first of the two nuclear tests. ABLE was completed on July, 6 1946. For the ABLE experiment the atomic bomb was dropped from a B-29 plane with the goal altitude of 520 feet. The ABLE experiment went smoothly even though the bomb was dropped about a half a mile away from the target. Only a few ships sunk do to the bomb experiment ABLE. During the investigation it was learned, that the nuclear radiation from the explosion caused significant effect on the animals aboard the ships and they died.
BAKER
Baker was the second nuclear test of the pair. BAKER was deployed on july, 25 1946. The BAKER experiment bomb was suspended 90 feet underwater. BAKER was the first underwater test of an atomic device. It created a gas bubble effect which reached the sea floor and the sea surface simultaneously. On the bottom of the sea floor it made a crater almost 2,000 feet wide. At the top of the sea it created a massive sea dome made of 2 million tons of water. Once the water collapsed into the space where the gas bubble had been, it created a tsunami effect with a wave 94 feet high. This large wave created other large waves that reached Bikini Island. All of the pigs and most of the rats were killed shortly or after the blast that had been on the near by ships.
CHARLIE
There was suppose to be another atomic bomb called Charlie but they canceled it because they saw how dangerous the first two bombs were and how dangerous it was to clean up radioactive material.