Operation Crossroads
There were only seven nuclear bombs in existence in July 1946. The two bombs used in the test were Fat Man plutonium implosion-type nuclear weapons of the kind dropped on Nagasaki. The "Able" bomb was stenciled with the name "Gilda" and decorated with an "Esquire" magazine photograph of Rita Hayworth, star of the 1946 movie, "Gilda". The "Baker" bomb was "Helen of Bikini." This femme-fatale theme for nuclear weapons, combining seduction and destruction, is epitomized by the use in all languages, starting in 1946, of "bikini" as the name for a woman's two-piece bathing suit.
Nagato-class battleship
Operation Crossroads began with the first blast (Test Able), an air burst on 1 July 1946; "Nagato" was not close to ground zero and was only lightly damaged. For Test Baker, an underwater explosion, the ship was positioned closer to ground zero. "Nagato" rode out the tsunami of water from the explosion with little apparent damage; she had a slight starboard list of two degrees after the tsunami dissipated. A more thorough assessment could not be made because she was dangerously radioactive. Her list gradually increased over the next five days and she capsized during the night of 29/30 July. Opened to divers in 1996, "Nagato" was named by "The Times" as one of the top 10 wreck diving sites in the world.