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US Archive
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Mike - |Ivy|
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Date: 19:14 UTC 31/10/1952 | Type: Groundburst | Yield: 10.4 Mt
Called the Sausage, Mike was the first H-Bomb ever tested, using the Teller-Ulam principles of staged radiation implosion. The device used two stages, with a fission bomb as the primary, and a secondary stage of liquid deuterium fuel in a cylindrical dewar. The dewar was surrounded by a uranium pusher/tamper weighing 5 tons. The steel housing was 2m wide and 6.1m long, with walls 30cm thick. The inside of the casing was lined with sheets of lead and polyethylene to form a conduit from the primary to the secondary. The entire device weighed 82 tons making it an experiment not a weapon. The test island of Eluelab was completely obliterated, the resulting crater was 1.9km wide and 50m deep. 77% (8mt) of the yield was due to fast fissioning of the natural uranium pusher/tamper making this an extremely "dirty" test showering radiation over the atoll. The cloud climbed to 17,000m in only 90 seconds, entering the stratosphere. Within 1 minute it had reached 33,000m, eventually stabilizing at 36,500m. Half an hour after the test the cloud was 96km across. AI colourized clip using high speed photography. The blotches and spots are the vaporized remains of the bomb casing and physics package splashing against the interior of the shockwave.
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King - |Ivy|
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Date: 23:30 14/11/1952 | Type: Airburst @173m | Yield: 500 Kt
While perhaps not the largest deliverable fission bomb possible at the time, it was certainly pushing close to the practical limit. With such a large amount of enriched uranium (over 4 critical masses) the bomb was skirting the edge of criticality safety. A 45cm chain made of aluminium and boron filled the center of the bomb to absorb neutrons and prevent accidental detonation, removed just before the bomb was dropped. The shot was delayed for 24 hours due to bad weather. The live shot was preceded on the 8th November by a dummy run with a mock Mk-18 (T-59) bomb. The target consisted of brightly painted oil drums arranged in a cross and fitted with radar reflectors to improve accuracy. This target was visible from 40km away.
Cloud development
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Annie - |Upshot-Knothole|
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Date: 13:20 UTC 17/03/1953 | Type: Tower @90m | Yield: 16 Kt
Two houses and 50 automobiles were exposed to the shot for the Federal Civil Defense Administration. Members of the media were allowed to observe shot Annie, which was designated as an open shot by the AEC. Most of the reports observed the shot from News Nob, some 12 kilometers south of the shot tower. 20 reporters were selected to accompany the troops in trenches 3.2 km from the blast. 1,700 troops conducted maneuvers around the blast as part of Desert Rock V. A weapons development shot, it tested an experimental device code named XR3. It used a Mk-5 HE assembly using a Type D pit. The total weight of the device was 1,225 Kg.
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Nancy - |Upshot-Knothole|
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Date: 13:10 UTC 24/03/1953 | Type: Tower @90m | Yield: 24 Kt
A test of the TX-15 'Zombie' thermonuclear design, code named Nevada Zombie. Both the RACER primary and the TX-15 radiation implosion system were tested in this device. The device was lighter and smaller then any other thermonuclear weapon being developed at that time. It weighed 4,900 kg, had a diameter of 90 cm, and a length of 310 cm. The RACER primary produced a yield below the predicted range of 35-40 kt, leading to a design modification for the Simon shot. A wind shift after detonation spread fallout over an area between Desert Rock V troops and their intended objective. Troops were stationed in trenches 3,660 meters from surface zero at shot time. Footage shown is ultra high-speed photography of the initial fireball.
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Ruth - |Upshot-Knothole|
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Date: 13:00 UTC 31/03/1953 | Type: Tower @90m | Yiel: 0.2 Kt
The first test of a UCRL device, code named Hydride I. It was a fission bomb based on an enriched uranium hydride fuel, similar to Ray 12 days later, and was intended to be used as a primary in a compact thermonuclear weapon. First conceived during the Manhattan Project, the idea was not developed as it was deemed impractical. In theory, a hydride device uses less fissile material being more efficient. However, it was very inefficient and only capable of small yields. The device fizzled, producing only a 200 ton yield, far below the predicted yield. The fact that only the top 30m of the 90m tower was vaporized was a great embarrassment to the URCL team. Much of the shot tower was scattered across the desert floor. A betatron was used for initiation.
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Dixie - |Upshot-Knothole|
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Date: 15:29 UTC 06/04/1953 | Type: Airburst @1830m | Yield: 11 Kt
B-50 bomber air dropped detonation was 199m east, and 21m north of the designated ground zero. Dixie was a Mk-5D bomb proof test. This test experimented with lithium deuteride as a means of fusion boosting, hence the mnemonic test name Dixie. Radioactive rain would later fall on Boston following the Dixie shot.
Cloud
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Ray - |Upshot-Knothole|
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Date: 12:45 UTC 11/04/1953 | Type: Tower @30m | Yield: 0.2 Kt
The second test of a uranium hydride device, first tested in Ruth. This time deuterium was used, a heavy isotope of hydrogen. The device was called Hydride II and was essentially identical to the Hydride I device. The predicted yield was 0.5-1 kiloton, smaller then the Ruth shot despite the similarity in device design. Despite having the same yield as Ruth, which was a fizzle, Ray was not considered a failure because of the lower predicted yield. The shot tower was apparently built to a height of 30 meters instead of 90 meters to ensure it would be fully destroyed.
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Badger - |Upshot-Knothole|
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Date: 12:35 UTC 18/04/1953 | Type: Tower @90m | Yield: 23 Kt
A test of the TX-16 thermonuclear weapon design, the reduced size cryogenic weapon descended from the Sausage device tested in Ivy Mike. The device was named Buzzard and used a deuterium gas boosted RACER primary. The full scale thermonuclear version of this design was actually deployed on a limited scale for a short time as an Emergency Capability weapon in late 1953 and early 1954. The full scale version was never tested though due to the success of solid fueled weapon designs. Observers were stationed in trenches 3,660 meters southwest of ground zero. Troops began a mock attack on a position 1.8km southwest of ground zero after the shockwave had passed. Wind blew a portion of the cloud over several observer trenches, resulting in contamination.
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Simon - |Upshot-Knothole|
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Date: 12:30 UTC 25/04/1953 | Type:Tower @90m | Yield: 43 Kt
A developmental test of the TX-17/24 thermonuclear weapon design, one of the largest and most powerful nuclear weapons ever built by the US. Code named Simultaneity it had a diameter of 90 cm, length of 569 cm and a weight of 4,990 kg. It used a redesigned RACER primary with 2kg of enriched uranium, which almost doubled the yield. For the first time in nuclear testing history, roadblocks were established outside the test site. Over 3,000 personnel participated in Desert Rock V exercises.
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Encore - |Upshot-Knothole|
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Date: 15:29 08/05/1953 | Type: Airburst @740m | Yield: 27 Kt
Encore was rescheduled due to inclement weather. The test name was mnemonic code for 'Effects'. One of 11 tests in a series at the NTS (Camp Desert Rock) in 1953. The bomb was a Mk-6 device dropped from a B-50 at a tower target at ground zero. The shot was off target by 33 meters. Troops were entrenched 10km from ground zero, after the detonation were ordered to advance. Upshot-Knothole tested the radiation implosion systems for the world's first deployable thermonuclear weapons to be proof-tested in Operation Castle the following year. A shift in wind direction blew the stem of the cloud over the over some of the observer trenches, resulting in significant contamination. Main clip used by gracious permission of Atomcentral.com
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| Ground zero effects
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Harry - |Upshot-Knothole|
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Date: 12:05 19/05/1953 | Type: Tower @90m | Yield: 32 Kt
A test of the Hamlet device which used a TX-13D heavy weight strategic bomb design. It was 142cms in diameter, 168cm long and weighed 3,628kg. It was the second most efficient pure fission design ever tested, the most efficient design being Ivy King. It used a new hollow core design, which very effective compression. A betatron was used for initiation. The cloud, which rose to an altitude of 11,500 meters, passed directly over St. George, Utah, 161km to the east. The following summer "The Conqueror" starring John Wayne, was shot in a canyon near St. George. Legend has it that John Wayne developed cancer due to this test. 91 of the 220 cast developed cancer. The test came to be known as 'Dirty Harry'.
Timelapse Cloud
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Grable - |Upshot-Knothole|
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Date: 15:30 UTC 25/05/1953 | Type: Airburst @159m | Yield: 15 Kt
Grable was an artillery delivered airburst, mnemonic code for 'Gun'. The shell travelled 10,000m before detonation 26m west, 41m south, and 7m above the designated burst point. The 280mm shell used a 'gun-type' fission weapon assembly method like Little Boy. The Mk-9 280 mm shell was 130cm long, weighed 365 kilos, and used oralloy as the fissile material. Air burst detonation was by a time fuse. Fired by an enormous 85 ton artillery piece which had a muzzle velocity of 629m/sec, and a range of up to 32km. More information about the test. Footage used by gracious permission of Atomcentral.com.
Loading & Firing
| Fireball G-Zero
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| Fireball
| Cloud formation
| Ground View
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Climax - |Upshot-Knothole|
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Date: 11:14 UTC 04/06/1953 | Type: Airburst @406m | Yield: 61 Kt
Air dropped by a B-36, the shot was 52m west, and 70m north of the
designated ground zero. Proof test of the Mk-7 high yield, light weight fission bomb. It had a small diameter making it suitable for external carriage by high speed fighter-bombers. The yield of 61kt was the highest of any U.S. continental test up to this time. The Mk-7 was the lightest and most compact implosion bomb design yet developed. The test name was mnemonic code for 'Cobra'. Used later in several thermonuclear devices in the Castle test series, namely the Shrimp, Runt 1/2 and Alarm Clock devices.The smoke trails visible in this and other tests are actually left by small rockets just before the detonation to help analyse the blastwave.
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Bravo - |Castle|
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Date: 18:45 UTC 28/02/1954 | Type: Groundburst @2m | Yield: 15 Mt
Bravo (Shrimp) was a 2-stage thermonuclear device, which used solid lithium deuteride fuel. It was accidentally the largest ever test. The yield was 2.5x greater than expected due to the lithium isotope producing extra tritium ('tritium bonus') which greatly increased the yield. The resulting crater was 1.98km wide and 76m deep. The cloud reached 16.5km, was 100km wide with a 7km wide stem. It created the greatest radiological disaster in US history with a large number of civilians heavily irradiated by the fallout. Subsequently, the exclusion zone around the tests was increased to 917,326 square km, a circle 1367km across. The Japanese fishing vessel Daigo Fukuryu Maru was heavily contaminated with one crew member later dying.
The main objective of the Castle series was to validate one or more of the EC 'emergency capability' weapons that had already entered the stockpile, and produce a deliverable H-bomb. Shrimp was used as the basis for the Mk-21 bomb. Main clip used by gracious permission of Atomcentral.com.
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Romeo - |Castle|
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Date: 16:30 UTC 26/03/1954 | Type:Barge shot @4.2m | Yield: 11 Mt
Like Bravo, Romeo's explosive power exceeded projections almost tripling the best guess yield. At 11 megatons Romeo was the third largest test ever detonated by the US. The original yield estimate for this test device, known as Runt was only 4 megatons. It used inexpensive and abundant unenriched natural lithium, as opposed to the 40%-enriched lithium used in Bravo. If Bravo had fizzled, then the Romeo shot would have been cancelled. In fact as late as October 1953, Los Alamos was considering not even testing this device. It was significant in that that it brought far greater affordability to subsequent solid-fuel TN weapons. Runt was later deployed as the MK-17, the heaviest and second highest yield of any US test. it was the first nuclear test conducted on a barge as they were rapidly running out of islands to vapourise. Used by kind permission of the BBC and Atomcentral.com.
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| Cinemascope
| Cloud ionization
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Union - |Castle|
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Date: 18:10 UTC 25/04/1954 | Type: Barge | Yield: 6.9 Mt
A prototype of an untested dry fuel thermonuclear weapon that had already been stockpiled by the U.S. as the EC-14. Also known as the Alarm Clock, not to be confused with the Soviet Layer cake. It's secondary consisted of expensive and rare 95% enriched lithium-6 deuteride fuel. The TX/EC-14 had been part of the emergency capability program to provide a deliverable TN weapon to cover the period between Ivy Mike in 1952, and the successful testing of both solid and liquid fueled designs in 1954 during Castle. The test left a crater 91m wide, 27m deep in the bottom of the lagoon.
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Yankee - |Castle|
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Date: 18:10 UTC 04/05/1954 | Type: Barge | Yield: 13.5 Mt
Proof test of the TX/EC-24, the sister of the Romeo device. Both weapons had virtually identical characteristics, but differed in the choice of thermonuclear fuel. While Romeo used natural lithium, Yankee used partially enriched lithium, the same as the Shrimp device tested in Bravo. Due to the use of tritium rich lithium, the yield exceeded it's predicted yield of 9.5 Mt, producing 13.5 Mt the second highest of any U.S. test ever. This yield increase of 2.5 Mt was entirely due to fusion. |
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Nectar - |Castle|
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Date: 18:20 UTC 13/05/1954 | Type: Barge | Yield: 1.69 Mt
A prototype of the TX-15 lightweight thermonuclear weapon, a transitional design between fission and hydrogen bombs. In essence a radiation imploded fusion-boosted fission bomb. Although most of yield was due to fission, it was fast fission of ordinary uranium driven by the fusion-produced neutrons. The cloud reached 21,640m. The success of the Castle solid fueled weapons meant the cancellation of shot Echo, a test of stockpiled liquid fueled TX/EC-16 Jughead weapon. Liquid fueled 'wet' weapons are logistically complex compared to 'dry' ones. If stored unarmed, they require filling before deployment meaning delay and vulnerability. This heavy cryogenicz were still required aboad the delivery aircraft, affecting range and bombload. The TX-16 vented explosive hydrogen gas at a rate of 50 liters an hour, in effect making the bomber a mini Hindenburg. The island of Bogon was vaporized by the test, the mile long arrow shaped Island of Engebi can be seen at the lower right corner. Main clip used by kind permission of Atomcentral.com.
Aerial view
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Tesla - |Teapot|
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Date: 13:30 UTC 01/03/1955 | Type: Tower @90m | Yield: 7 Kt
A UCRL linear implosion device named Cleo I. This was also the first successful UCRL test. It used a ZIPPER external neutron initiator. Predicted yield was 3.5-7 kt. The explosive used was Cyclotol 75/25. The nuclear system was a small diameter system only 25 cm wide and 100 cm long and weighed 356 kg.
High speed
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Turk - |Teapot|
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Date: 13:20 UTC 07/03/1955 | Type: Tower @150m | Yield: 43 Kt
A primary for the XW-27 Class 'D' (light weight) thermonuclear weapon. Named LINDA, was a mockup of the XW-27 radiation case, was 195cm by 155cm and weighed 1,054kg. Trenches were constructed for troop observers at a distance of 3.2km south of ground zero. Troops occupied the Tesla trenches located about 5km southeast of ground zero. All three clips are captured using ultra high-speed photography. The tower support wires being vaporized by the thermal pulse can be seen as spikes protruding from the fireball, an effect dubbed 'rope tricks'.
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Hornet - |Teapot|
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Date: 13:19 UTC 12/03/1955 | Type: Tower @90m | Yield: 4 Kt
The 5th shot of Teapot the device consisted of a boosted XW-30, with a sealed pit using D-T gas boost design with a ZIPPER external initiator. Originally planned for 08/03/1955 it was detonated four days later. The cloud reached an altitude of 11,300 meters.
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Bee - |Teapot|
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Date: 13:05 UTC 22/03/1955 | Type: Tower @150m | Yield: 8 Kt
This was a LASL test of a sealed-pit D-T gas boosted XW-25 air defense warhead. The maximum expected yield was 20 kt. The nuclear system weighed 59kg and was a sphere 43cm in diameter, the smallest and lightest device yet fired. An augmented test unit from the United States Marine Corps participated in test.
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Ess - |Teapot|
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Date: 20:30 UTC 23/03/1955 | Type: Subsurface @-20m | Yield: 1 Kt
The 6th test to use the Ranger Able U-235 core, this time in a Mk-6 HE assembly. Ess ('Effects Sub-Surface') was a test of atomic demolition munition (ADM) cratering. The device was placed in a shaft lined with corrugated steel, 3m wide and 6.5m deep, then back-filled prior to firing. Material was thrown out to an altitude of 200 meters, with the radioactive base surge reaching out 1,600m. The he cloud reached 3,200 meters. The crater was 91m wide and 39m deep. One hour after test, the dose inside the crater lip and out to 45 meters was 6000 roentgens, 20 roentgens 6.4km downwind. Doses in excess of 5,000 roentgens are immediately incapacitating, and 100% lethal within a week. Main clip used by kind permission of Atomcentral.com.
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Apple-1 - |Teapot|
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Date: 12:55 UTC 29/03/1955 | Type: Tower @150m | Yield: 14 Kt
LASL test of a Class 'D'light weight) thermonuclear weapon primary and radiation implosion system, using small quantities of fusion fuel. The primary failed, yielding much less than the predicted 40 kt. No reaction was detected in the secondary stage. The nuclear system was 75cm wide and 190cm long and weighed 1,043kg.
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Wasp Prime - |Teapot|
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Date: 17:59 UTC 29/03/1955 | Type: Airburst @230m | Yield: 3.2 Kt
An air defense effects test using the tried and trusted Ranger Able uranium core. Dropped by a B-36 in a Mk-12 ballistic case, this was the 5th time this core design had been tested. The Able light-weight implosion system was only 55cm wide and weighed only 55 kg, the bomb weight was 680 kg. The results were primarily used in direct comparison with the high altitude HA shot that followed it using an identical physics package but using a Mk-5 bomb case. The shot was fired 5 hours after Apple-1, the first time in US history that two nuclear etests had been detonated in one day.
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HA - |Teapot|
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Date: 18:00 UTC 06/04/1955 | Type: Airburst @11160m | Yield: 3.2Kt
HA (high-altitude) was a test of a proposed air-to-air missile warhead. However for the purposes of the test it was dropped by a B-36 in a 500 kilo Mk-5 ballistic case. Due to the extreme high altitude of this test (for an air dropped device) it was parachute retarded to permit the release aircraft to escape to a safe distance, the only parachute weapon drop ever conducted at the NTS.
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Post - |Teapot|
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Date: 12:30 09/04/1955 | Type: Tower @90m | Yield: 2 Kt
This was a test of Cleo II, the second UCRL linear implosion device. 87 cm long, and weighed 146 kg. Used Cyclotol 75/25 HE. ENS initiated.
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MET - |Teapot|
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Date: 19:15 UTC 15/04/1955 | Type: Towershot @121m | Yield: 22Kt
MET ('Military Effects Test') was a test of a composite 76cm diameter, U-233/plutonium bomb core in a Mk 7 HE assembly. The purpose was to evaluate the effects of nuclear explosions on military vehicles and materiel. The primary objective was to confirm the phenomenon of the 'precursor wave' and 'dust loading' in increasing damage to drag sensitive targets, discovered accidentally during shots 9 and 10 of Operation Upshot-Knothole. The secondary objective was to measure damage to aircraft, by flying three radio-controlled QF-80K drones directly above the blast. The inclusion of these drones required daylight, making MET the first US daytime tower shot. The towers supporting wires can be seen being vaporized in the high-speed clip. Widescreen clip used by kind permission of
Atomcentral.com. The smoke trails seen were produced by rockets, and were used to measure the blast and yield.
Widescreen
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Apple-2 |Teapot|
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Date: 12:10 UTC 05/05/1955 | Type: Towershot @150m | Yield: 29Kt
A repeat of the LASL Apple-1 shot that had had an inadequate yield. This shot used a modified device (presumably with more fissile material). Although this device still had a yield below predictions, at twice the yield of Apple-1 it was deemed adequate. This Civil Defense shot included residential houses and electrical substations, at a site nicknamed 'Survival Town'. Buildings were filled with mannequins, and stocked with different types of canned foods. A short film referred to as 'Operation Cue' was distributed by the Federal Civil Defense Administration.
High-speed
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Wigwam - |Wigwam|
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Date: 20:00 UTC 14/05/1955 | Type: Subsurface @600m | Yield: 30 Kt
Wigwam consisted of a single nuclear detonation 800km south west of San Diego, California. A deep water test to investigate the vulnerability of submarines to deep nuclear weapons. The test device was a W-7 variable-yield fission weapon, using a levitated pit and a 92 high-explosive lens implosion assembly. The caisson containing the weapon was suspended by a 610m cable from a towed unmanned barge. Suspended from a line at varying distances from the barge, were three "Squaws" - sub-scale submarine-like instrumented pressure hulls. The ships conducting the test were 8km upwind, with the exception of the USS George Eastman and USS Granville S. Hall which were heavily shielded and stationed 8km downwind. Both ships were contaminated by the base surge. The test device was later deployed as the Mark 90 nuclear depth charge nicknamed 'Betty'.
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