Operation Sailor Hat

"Sailor Hat" redirects here. For the piece of clothing, see sailor hat.
Operation Sailor Hat
500 short tons (454 t) of TNT (5 x 10 meter, 17 × 34 feet) awaiting detonation at Operation Sailor Hat. The USS Atlanta is visible in the background.
Information
CountryUnited States
Test site
  • Kahoʻolawe, Hawaii
  • San Clemente Island, California
Coordinates20°30′15″N 156°40′44″W / 20.50417°N 156.67889°W / 20.50417; -156.67889
DateNovember 12, 1964 – June 19, 1965
Number of tests5
AgencyBureau of Ships, DASA
ExplosiveTNT, HBX
Configuration
  • Stacked Hemisphere
  • Underwater Charge
Max. yield0.5 kilotons of TNT (2.1 TJ)
Test chronology

Operation Sailor Hat was a series of explosives effects tests, conducted by the United States Navy Bureau of Ships under the sponsorship of the Defense Atomic Support Agency.[1] The tests consisted of two underwater explosions at San Clemente Island, California in 1964[2] and three surface explosions at Kahoʻolawe, Hawaii in 1965. They were non-nuclear tests employing large quantities of conventional explosives (TNT and HBX) to determine the effects of a nuclear weapon blast on naval vessels, and the first major test of this kind since Operation Crossroads in July 1946.

Each "Sailor Hat" test at Kahoʻolawe consisted of a dome-stacked 500-short-ton (454 t) charge of TNT high explosive detonated on the shore close to the ships under test. Since a TNT detonation releases energy more slowly than a nuclear explosion, the blast effect at close range was designed to be equivalent to a 1 kiloton of TNT (4.2 TJ) nuclear weapon at greater distance.[3] The main ship used for testing was the former Cleveland-class light cruiser USS Atlanta. In addition, the guided-missile frigates USS England and USS Dale, the guided-missile destroyers USS Cochrane, USS Benjamin Stoddert, and USS Towers, and the Royal Canadian Navy's escort destroyer HMCS Fraser all participated in the trial.[4] These were a mixture of the obsolete, Atlanta having been built during WWII, and the recently constructed Cochrane. The highly complex operation yielded data useful for determining and improving blast resistance of naval ships.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference OSH_10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference OSH_09 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference OSH_13 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference OSH_02 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).