LSM-60
1946
(Hydra HY-60)
- Class: LSM -- specially modified landing ship medium
- Displacement: 520 tons light / 1,095 tons full load
- Dimensions: 203'6" x 34'6" x 7'3"
- Machinery: geared Diesels, twin shafts, 2,800 shp = 12.5 knots
- Complement: 50
- Builder: Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, Texas
- Keel Laid: 7 Jul 1944
- Launched: 29 Jul 1944
- Commissioned: 25 Aug 1944
- Notes: Participated in the assault landings at Iwo Jima and received one battle star for her WW2 service. Postwar, she was specially modified to be the float from which an A-bomb was suspended during test BAKER of Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll. Modifications included a well through the cargo deck, a derrick to lower the Mk.3A "Fat Man" type atomic bomb (encased in a watertight housing) 90 feet below the surface (halfway to the bottom at 180 feet), and a special antenna to receive the detonation signal. She was anchored at the center of a fleet of 95 assorted target vessels. At 0835 local time, 25 July 1946, the bomb was detonated, obliterating LSM-60 and sinking eight target ships including USS Arkansas, USS Saratoga,
Nagato,
and Prinz Eugen.
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