Operation Crossroads was a series of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States in the summer of 1946. The series consisted of two detonations, each with a yield of 21 kilotons: ABLE detonated at an altitude of 520 feet (158 m) on 1 July 1946; BAKER detonated 90 feet (27 m) underwater on 25 July 1946. A third planned burst, CHARLIE, was scrubbed after BAKER presented more radiological contamination than had been expected. The Crossroads tests were the fourth and fifth nuclear explosions (following the Trinity test and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki). It was the first nuclear test held on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands and the first to be publicly announced beforehand.
Baker underwater blast, note unmanned ships to be tested for damage.
Operation Crossroads ships at Pearl Harbour in 1946.
