One of the tests at Operation Crossroads in 1946 at Bikini. I was on the opposite side of the globe at the time, though later served aboad ships which took part in the operation.
My late father was at two of the Bikini Island nuclear tests as a member of the US Navy. He told me they placed animals on target ships, both on deck and below. The bombs were detonated a distance away. Once the cloud lifted enough for them to navigate, they went right out to the ships to check the results. My Dad used to tell me he and his shipmates tingled for weeks even though they were ordered to scrub when they got back. I’m pretty sure this was done in 1946/47. Unbelievable but true!
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq76-1.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Crossroads
“”Operation Crossroads was a series of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. Its purpose was to investigate the effect of nuclear weapons on naval ships. The series consisted of two detonations, each with a yield of 23 kilotons:
Able was detonated at an altitude of 520 feet (158 m) on July 1, 1946; Baker was detonated 90 feet (27 m) underwater on July 25, 1946. A third burst, Charlie, planned for 1947, was canceled primarily because of the Navy’s inability to decontaminate the target ships after the Baker test...
The Crossroads tests were the fourth and fifth nuclear explosions conducted by the United States (following the Trinity test and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki)...
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One of the tests at Operation Crossroads in 1946 at Bikini. I was on the opposite side of the globe at the time, though later served aboad ships which took part in the operation.