- Operation Sailor Hat
-
"Sailor Hat" redirects here. For the piece of clothing, see sailor cap.
The blast; the shockwave is visible on the water and a condensation cloud is visible above the fireball.
Operation Sailor Hat was an explosives effects test conducted by the United States Navy on the island of Kahoʻolawe, Hawaii in 1965[1]. As they were not nuclear tests, they instead employed conventional explosives (i.e. TNT) to simulate the effects of a nuclear weapon blast. The purpose of these three tests was to study the effects of shock and blast of a nuclear explosion on naval vessels. In addition, seismological data, underwater acoustics, radio communications, cratering, air blast effects, cloud growth, fire ball generation, and electromagnetic data were gathered. The former light cruisers USS Atlanta (CL-104) and USS England (DLG-22), the guided-missile destroyers USS Cochrane (DDG-21), USS Benjamin Stoddert (DDG-22), USS Dale (DLG-19), USS Towers (DDG-9), and the Canadian Navy's escort destroyer HMCS Fraser (DDH 233) all participated in the trial.
Each "Sailor Hat" test consisted of a dome stacked 500-ton charge of TNT high explosive detonated on the shore of Kahoʻolawe close to the ships under test and each test saw the USS Atlanta move closer to the explosion. The first test, called Bravo, occurred on 6 February and the second test, called Charlie, occurred on 16 April 1965. The last was codenamed Delta and occurred on 19 June 1965.
References
External links
Categories:- Maui County, Hawaii
- Military history of the United States (1900–1999)
- Explosions in the United States
- United States Navy
- 20th-century explosions
- 1965 in the United States
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
