series ended with six events,
Chart: Operation CASTLE Schedule at Bikini Atoll
Shot
Date
BRAVO
1 March 195)
ROMEO
:
27 March 195)
KOON
OO
UNION
YANKEE
NECTAR
~~
7 April 195h
Type
Surface
Barge
Surface
2h April 195%
Barge
§ May 195k
Barge
ls May 1954
Barge
During the first shot of CASTLE, operations personnel expected the
the device had produced an unexpected yield .f aodunt if ne gatons 2 Following detonation, the sampler aircraft took eff and flew toward the cloud,
under the guidance of the USS ESTES which vectored the samplers to the.
RB-36 control aircraft, flying near the cloud.
‘The RB-36 had an
experienced and highly skilled crew of controllers aboard. Dr. Plank,
Colonel Fackler, and Colonel Houghton were on hand to direct the samplers,
In addition, Major Billy Burke, on temporary duty from the 925th Test
Group (Atomic), and Major Finis A, Mitchell, the 926th Test Squadron
(Sampling) munitions officer, were on the control aircraft,
The experience
of these people comprised more than 35 atomic detonations before Operation
CASTLE,
They studied the growth and formation of the cloud and gave the
sampler pilots specific directions on what portion of the cloud to
2
penetrate and how long to stay around, 5
104
SWEH-2-003);
\ nh
AAPOR 100;
ae:
om
highest yield would be 17 megatons, “However, early results indicated that