News: "Operation Crossroads" atomic test ABLE at Bikini Atoll (world's 4th atomic explosion)

July 1, 1946

2:33

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"Operation Crossroads," the first post-war nuclear tests. They were atmospheric tests conducted by the United States in July 1946, at the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. The series consisted of two detonations, each with a yield of 23 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. 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 in the Marshall Islands and the first to be publicly announced beforehand, creating a media circus. As much a public relations stunt as scientific endeavor, 242 ships; 156 planes; 25,000 monitoring devices; and 42,000 men (not to mention 5,400 rats, pigs, and goats) took part in the joint military exercise that was heard around the world in one of the most demanding radio broadcasts in the history of the medium. But radio was only part of the story, and Operation Crossroads was also reported through newsreels, print journalism, essays, documentaries, and the new kid on the media block, television.