4.9 OPERATION UPSHOT-KNOTHOLE.
Conducted at the NTS from 17 March to 4 June 1953, Operation UPSHOTKNOTHOLE consisted of 11 nuclear tests, a number exceeding that of any
previous nuclear test series.
The following table summarizes these shots:
Event
Date
ANNIE
17 March
Tower
16
NANCY
24 March
Tower
24
RUTH
31 March
Tower
DIXIE
Type
6 April
Airdrop
Yield
(Kilotons)
0.2
11
RAY
11 April
Tower
BADGER
18 April
Tower
23
SIMON
25 April
Tower
43
Airdrop
27
ENCORE
8 May
0.2
HARRY
19 May
Tower
32
GRABLE
25 May
Airburst
15
Airdrop
61
CLIMAX
4 June
ANNIE, the first device tested, was an "open shot," meaning that
reporters were allowed to view the detonation from News Nob, 11 kilometers
south of the shot-tower.
The Government wanted to show the American public
that nuclear weapons could be used defensively, without destroying large urban
centers and populations (11: 1,13,2,30,31).
The firing of GRABLE from a 280 mm cannon, shown in figure 11, marked the
first time an atomic artillery shell was fired and detonated (D).
The
Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Army, and the Army Chief of Staff,
along with 96 Congressional observers, viewed the detonation from an area 11
kilometers west of ground zero (12: 120).
98