Operation Redwing

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Nuclear test
Operation Redwing
Redwing Apache
Redwing Apache
information
nation United StatesUnited States United States
Test location Marshall Islands
Period May – July 1956
Number of tests 17th
Test type Above-ground tests
Weapon type Fission / Fusion
Max. Explosive force 5 MT
navigation
Previous test Project 56
Next test Project 57

The operation Redwing was the thirteenth series of American nuclear tests between May 4 and 21 July 1956 on the Marshall Islands in the Pacific was conducted. A total of 17 nuclear weapons were tested above ground. The operation was conducted to test powerful thermonuclear nuclear weapons that could not be tested on the Nevada Test Site .

The individual tests of the Redwing series

The bombs were named after Indian tribes .

bomb Date / Time
( GMT )
place Explosion height Test type Explosive force (predicted) Remarks
lacrosse May 4, 1956
6:25 pm
Eniwetok Atoll Runit
Island
Surface test 40 kT
(25-50 kT)
Cherokee May 20, 1956
5:51 p.m.
Bikini Atoll
Namu Island
1300 meters Dropped from a B-52 bomber 3.8 MT The test was a reaction to the airdrop test of a Soviet atomic bomb in November 1955. The test was primarily intended as a show of force against the Soviet Union. Cherokee was a thermonuclear hydrogen bomb based on the Teller-Ulam design . In contrast to the normal version of this type, the coating of the lithium deuteride in this case consisted of highly enriched uranium.
Zuni May 27, 1956
5:56 p.m.
Bikini Atoll
Eninman Island
Surface test 3.5 MT
(2-3 MT)
Redwing Zuni was the first test of an American thermonuclear bomb in a three-stage design (FFF: "Fission-Fusion-Fission"). The explosion created a 30 meter deep crater with a diameter of 800 meters
Yuma May 27, 1956
7:56 p.m.
Eniwetok Atoll
Aomon Island
tower 0.19 kT
Erie May 30, 1956
6:15 p.m.
Eniwetok Atoll
Runit Island
90 meters tower 14.9 kT Testing a prototype for the Mark-28 fusion bomb
Seminole June 6, 1956
12:55 AM
Eniwetok Atoll
Bogon Island
Surface test 13.7 kT
(10 kT)
Test of the first firing stage of the Mark-28 fusion bomb. The aim of Seminole was to test the formation of a crater under controlled conditions, the test created a 14-meter-deep crater with a diameter of 200 meters. The bomb was detonated in a water tank to simulate an underground explosion.
Flathead June 11, 1956
6:26 pm
Bikini Atoll in
front of the island of Iroij
4 meters Barge 365 kT
Blackfoot June 11, 1956
6:26 pm
Eniwetok Atoll
Runit Island
60 meters tower 8 kT
Kickapoo June 13, 1956
11:26 PM
Eniwetok Atoll
Aomon Island
90 meters tower 1.49 kT
Osage June 16, 1956
1:14 am
Eniwetok Atoll
Runit Island
approx. 200 meters Dropped from a B-36 bomber 1.7 kT
Inca June 21, 1956
9:26 pm
Eniwetok Atoll
Rujoru Island
60 meters tower 15.2 kT
(10-15 kT)
Dakota June 25, 1956
6:06 p.m.
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Lagoon
4 meters Barge 1.1 MT (800 kT) Test of a prototype for the W-28 warhead. The explosive force of the 814 kilogram bomb was about 25% higher than previously calculated
Mohawk Jul 2, 1956
6:06 p.m. (GMT)
Eniwetok Atoll
Eberiru Island
90 m tower 360 kT The test of a two-stage fusion bomb created a crater 2.5 meters deep and 400 meters in diameter.
Apache July 8, 1956
6:06 p.m.
Eniwetok Atoll
crater from Ivy Mike
4.50 meters Barge 1.85 MT The radioactive cloud created by testing a prototype for the W-27 thermonuclear warhead rose to a height of 26 kilometers.
Navajo July 10, 1956
5:56 p.m.
Bikini Atoll
reef between the islands of Namu and Yurochi
Barge 5 MT
Tewa July 20, 1956
5:46 p.m.
Bikini Atoll
reef between the islands of Namu and Yurochi
Barge 5 MT (6-8 MT) After Zuni and Ivy Mike, Tewa was the third American hydrogen bomb with a three-stage design (Fission-Fusion-Fission).
Huron July 21, 1956
6:12 p.m.
Eniwetok Atoll
Near Flora Island
5 meters Barge 270 kT Test of a two-stage fusion bomb

gallery

Web links

Commons : Operation Redwing  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b c Michael Light: 100 Suns , 2003
  2. ^ Nuclear Test Personnel Review (NTPR) Program, DNA 6037F