Operation Castle
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Operation Castle was a series of nuclear tests that the USA conducted in 1954 in the Bikini and Eniwetok atolls in the Marshall Islands of the Pacific. The purpose of this series of tests was to validate the designs of a number of different thermonuclear weapons intended to be the first deployed U.S. thermonuclear bombs, and was the highest-yielding test series of all U.S. tests (48.2 Mt total).
Most notably, this series of tests in the Pacific Ocean included the accidental largest nuclear weapon ever exploded by the USA, in the test codenamed Bravo. This device released energy equivalent to 15 megatons of TNT, when the predicted yield was 6 megatons. It blasted a crater about 2 km diameter in Namu Island of the Bikini atoll where it was tested. The resulting EMP from this explosion caused street lights in Hawaii to fail (along with other electrical disruptions).
When the wind shifted unexpectedly, this explosion turned into the worst radiological disaster the USA had seen. Many people were irradiated by nuclear fallout, among them inhabitants of the nearby Marshall Islands, and some Japanese fishermen, one of whom died later. An area of about 1% of the surface of Earth had to be regarded as a security zone.
| Test Name | Date | Location | Yield | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bravo | 1 March, 1954 | Namu Island, Bikini | 15 megatons | Had 250% of predicted yield |
| Romeo | 27 March, 1954 | Barge moored in Bravo crater, Bikini | 11 megatons | Had 275% of predicted yield |
| Koon | 7 April, 1954 | Eninman Island, Bikini | 110 kilotons | Had 11% of predicted yield |
| Union | 26 April, 1954 | Barge moored off Yurochi Island, Bikini | 6.9 megatons | Had 230% of predicted yield |
| Yankee(I) | -- | -- | -- | Canceled |
| Yankee(II) | 5 May, 1954 | Barge moored in Union crater, Bikini | 13.5 megatons | Had 142% of predicted yield |
| Echo | -- | -- | -- | Canceled |
| Nectar | 14 May, 1954 | Barge moored in Ivy Mike crater, Eniwetok | 1.6 megatons | Had 94% of predicted yield |
See also
References
- Chuck Hansen, U. S. Nuclear Weapons: The Secret History (Arlington: AeroFax, 1988)