This color educational film is about the Operation Crossroads nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. These were the first nuclear weapon tests since Trinity in July 1945, and the first detonations of nuclear devices since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The film was made in 1949.

Opening titles: opening disclaimer about the tests of the atomic bomb, credits, OPERATION CROSSROADS (Able and Baker Day Tests) (:13-2:26). Aerial shots of Bikini, where tests will take place. Battleships at sea. Target ship USS Nevada. Animal test subjects. Towers that house cameras to record the blast. Still cameras are placed as well. Men put camera in vaults. Vaults are sealed. Sign that reads: Ebeye Bikini Air Line. Grounded airplanes. Navy men on the USS Mount McKinley. Crews abandon the ships. Battleship USS New York. Ships sail away (2:27-6:01). Dawn. July 1, 1946. Planes fly so they can photograph the blast from all possible angles. Dawn sun shines behind military men and an airplane in the distance. An atomic bomb, Able Test, is be dropped in Bikini lagoon. The plane carrying the bomb takes off while having an escort by another plane that can photograph it all. Planes fly. Another plane is loaded with cameras. Military planes fly. Drone B-17s are readied for takeoff. Drone planes take off. Other planes take off to photograph the action. Planes and men on a navy ship. Men get ready for the blast. A man puts special goggles on. Blast gauges are parachuted into the target area (6:02-10:06). Bomber is over the target and lets the bomb go. Bright blast occurs. Atomic blast is shown from high above. Slow motion footage of bomb blasting. Men hold binoculars and watch. In the distance the bright explosion can be seen. Different angles of the same blast. Mushroom cloud in the sky. The plane that dropped the bomb returns to base. The camera planes return as well (10:07-13:12). Planes land. Radioactive dustbags, covered, are dropped off to be studied. Drone planes prepare to land. The drone lands. Crews remove radioactive boxes. Inspection parties look at the target area where the ships are studied. Bombed out ships hull, still afloat. Another ship appears relatively undamaged. Moderate damage to another ship (13:13-16:33). Military men talk onboard a ship. Aerial shots of Bikini. Military men in rafts. They come ashore. Crewmen take a photo together. Planes take off of a battleship. Other boats float near Bikini (16:34-18:18). Military men. Hands unlock a lock. Men work on navy computers. Military men use communications equipment. Instruments move. Men watch outside as the Baker Test atomic bomb goes off underwater in the distance. The explosion creates a giant mushroom cloud. The cloud is shown in slow motion. An officer uses binoculars (18:18-21:10). The explosion is seen at regular speed. The cloud falls in slow motion. Aerial shots of the atomic blast (21:11-23:11). A plane lands on a battleship. Cameras are removed from some of the just landed planes. The ships that were part of the test are hosed down with water and foam (23:12-24:57). A capsized ship. One of the ships in the test sank 7 hours after the blast, that ship is seen sinking. Another shot of the atomic blast (24:58-26:38). End credits (26:39-26:46).

The Crossroads tests were conducted by Joint Army/Navy Task Force One, headed by Vice Admiral William H. P. Blandy. A fleet of 95 target ships was assembled in Bikini Lagoon and hit with two detonations of Fat Man plutonium implosion-type nuclear weapons of the kind dropped on Nagasaki, each with a yield of 23 kilotons of TNT (96 TJ). The first test was Able. The bomb was dropped from the B-29 Superfortress Dave’s Dream of the 509th Bombardment Group on July 1, 1946. It detonated 520 feet (158 m) above the target fleet and caused less than the expected amount of ship damage because it missed its aim point by 2,130 feet (649 m). The second test was Baker. The bomb was known as Helen of Bikini and was detonated 90 feet (27 m) underwater on July 25, 1946. Radioactive sea spray caused extensive contamination. A third deep-water test named Charlie was planned for 1947 but was canceled primarily because of the United States Navy’s inability to decontaminate the target ships after the Baker test. Ultimately, only nine target ships were able to be scrapped rather than scuttled. Charlie was rescheduled as Operation Wigwam, a deep-water shot conducted in 1955 off the coast of Mexico (Baja California).

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com