Operation Redwing
Encyclopedia
Operation Redwing was a United States series of 17 nuclear test detonations from May to July 1956. They were conducted at Bikini
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....

 and Enewetak atolls. The entire operation followed Operation Wigwam
Operation Wigwam
Operation Wigwam involved a single test of the Mark 90 Betty nuclear bomb. It was conducted between Operation Teapot and Operation Redwing on May 14, 1955, about 500 miles southwest of San Diego, California. 6,800 personnel aboard 30 ships were involved in Wigwam...

 and preceded Operation Plumbbob
Operation Plumbbob
Operation Plumbbob was a series of nuclear tests conducted between May 28 and October 7, 1957, at the Nevada Test Site, following Operation Redwing, and preceding Operation Hardtack I...

. The primary intention was to test new, second-generation thermonuclear devices
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...

. Also tested were fission
Nuclear fission
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts , often producing free neutrons and photons , and releasing a tremendous amount of energy...

 devices intended to be used as primaries for thermonuclear weapons, and small tactical weapons for air defense. Redwing demonstrated the first US airdrop of a deliverable hydrogen bomb - test "Cherokee". Because the yields
Nuclear weapon yield
The explosive yield of a nuclear weapon is the amount of energy discharged when a nuclear weapon is detonated, expressed usually in the equivalent mass of trinitrotoluene , either in kilotons or megatons , but sometimes also in terajoules...

 for many tests at Operation Castle in 1954 were dramatically higher than predictions, Redwing was conducted using an "energy budget" - there were limits to the total amount of energy released, and the amount of fission yield was also strictly controlled. Fission, primarily "fast" fission of the natural uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...

 tamper surrounding the fusion capsule, greatly increases the yield of thermonuclear devices, and contributes the vast majority of the fallout
Nuclear fallout
Fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and shock wave have passed. It commonly refers to the radioactive dust and ash created when a nuclear weapon explodes...

 - fusion
Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...

 being a relatively clean reaction.

All shots were named after various US Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 tribe
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...

s.

Michael Harris, a former public relations executive at CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

, served in the U.S. Army on Enewetak Atoll during most of Operation Redwing. He wrote about his experiences in The Atomic Times: My H-Bomb Year at the Pacific Proving Ground (Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...

, 2005). To protect privacy, he changed most of the names of his fellow soldiers.

According to Harris in The Atomic Times, soldiers on Enewetak experienced fallout from eight blasts: 1) Zuni (3.5 megatons, Bikini) and Yuma (0.19 kilotons, Enewetak), both detonated on May 28, 1956; 2) Seminole, a 13.7 kiloton surface burst exploded inside a water tank on June 6, 1956; 3) Blackfoot (8 kilotons, Enewetak) and Flathead (365 kilotons, Bikini), another double shot day on June 12, 1956; 4) Inca (15.2 kilotons, Enewetak) on June 22, 1956; 5) Apache (1.85 megatons, Enewetak) on July 9, 1956; and 6) and Tewa (5 megatons, Bikini) on July 21, 1956, the “dirtiest shot ever,” according to Harris, with Enewetak being hit with “very heavy” fallout that lasted for days.

Harris personally experienced the Redwing Lacrosse through Redwing Dakota detonations, noting that the much smaller-yield explosions at Enewetak appeared to be the same size as the much larger explosions more than 150 miles away at Bikini. He left the atoll and was honorably discharged before the final five test shots, and therefore missed the most powerful detonations at Enewetak.

Tests

The following tests all took place in 1956. The dates are in local time, followed by the yield.
Redwing Tests
Test name Date Location Yield Note Image
Lacrosse 4 May 1956 Enewetak Atoll 40 kilotons 11°33′14"N 162°20′53"E 
Cherokee 20 May 1956 Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....

3.8 megatons first US airdrop of a thermonuclear bomb, a Mark 15 nuclear bomb
Mark 15 nuclear bomb
The Mark 15 nuclear bomb, or Mk-15, was a 1950s American thermonuclear bomb, the first relatively lightweight thermonuclear bomb created by the United States....

Zuni 27 May 1956 Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....

3.5 megatons First test of a three-stage thermonuclear design (Bassoon device).
Yuma 27 May 1956 Enewetak Atoll 190 tons a fizzle, but the device weighed only 96 pounds
Erie 30 May 1956 Enewetak Atoll 14.9 kilotons Test of a prototype Mark 28 nuclear bomb
Seminole June 6, 1956 Enewetak Atoll 13.7 kilotons Exploded in a tank of water to simulate an underwater explosion
Flathead June 11, 1956 Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....

365 kilotons intended to be particularly "dirty" - a high-fallout weapon
Blackfoot June 11, 1956 Enewetak Atoll 8 kilotons  
Kickapoo June 13, 1956 Enewetak Atoll 1.49 kilotons  
Osage June 16, 1956 Enewetak Atoll 1.7 kilotons  
Inca June 21, 1956 Enewetak Atoll 15.2 kilotons Test of the swan
Swan (nuclear explosive)
Swan was a U.S. test nuclear explosive.It was tested standalone as a test nuclear device on June 26, 1956 in shot Redwing Inca. It was tested again as the primary of a test thermonuclear device on July 2, 1956 in shot Redwing Mohawk. Both tests were successful in all respects. It subsequently...

primary.
Dakota June 25, 1956 Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....

1.1 megatons  
Mohawk July 2, 1956 Enewetak Atoll 360 kilotons Test of the swan
Swan (nuclear explosive)
Swan was a U.S. test nuclear explosive.It was tested standalone as a test nuclear device on June 26, 1956 in shot Redwing Inca. It was tested again as the primary of a test thermonuclear device on July 2, 1956 in shot Redwing Mohawk. Both tests were successful in all respects. It subsequently...

primary and flute secondary.
Apache July 8, 1956 Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....

1.85 megatons  
Navajo July 10, 1956 Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....

4.5 megatons 95% fusion, the cleanest US shot until the 1958 Hardtack Poplar shot, a 9.3 Mt shot of which 95.2% of the yield was from fusion.
Tewa July 20, 1956 Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....

5 megatons Test of a dirty three stage thermonuclear design (Bassoon Prime device). 87% of the yield came from fission, the highest percentage in any known US thermonuclear test.
Huron July 21, 1956 Enewetak Atoll 250 kilotons  

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