Here is another eerie photograph that my pap believes was taken at Kwajalein Atoll. I wish there was a way to identify which Operations Crossroads ships appear in these photographs.
Pap told me he distinctly remembers seeing a target ship that was painted orange, obviously intended to be a more visible target. While reading about the Operation Crossroads nuclear weapons tests, I discovered that one of the battleships assigned as a target ship, the USS Nevada, was indeed painted orange-red. The USS Nevada was intended to be the main target for the Able air detonation. The battleship survived the Able test, which was actually off target, but was damaged and highly radioactive after the underwater Baker test. The USS Nevada was towed to Kwajalein Atoll and later moved to Pearl Harbor, where it was sunk in 1948 after serving as a gun target.
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