Mark 90 nuclear bomb

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File:The 1955 Wigwam test.jpg
Operation Wigwam test of a Mark 90 "Betty"
File:2020 Betty Bomb.jpg
Mark 90 casing in U.S. Navy Museum

The Mark 90 nuclear bomb, given the nickname "Betty", was a Cold War nuclear depth charge, developed by the United States in 1952.

It had a length of Script error: No such module "convert".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"., a diameter of Script error: No such module "convert".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"., and a weight of Script error: No such module "convert"., and it carried a Mark 7 nuclear warhead with a yield of 32 kilotons. Its purpose was to serve as an anti-submarine weapon for the United States Navy.

A test of the Mark 90 was conducted in 1955, as Operation Wigwam.

A total of about 225 such bombs were produced.[1]

All units were withdrawn from service by 1960.

Accident

On September 25, 1959, a United States Navy Martin P5M-2 Marlin (BuNo 135540, SG tailcode, '6', of VP-50) was patrolling out of NAS Whidbey Island when it was forced to ditch in the Pacific Ocean, about Script error: No such module "convert". west of the Washington-Oregon border.

A Mark 90 depth charge casing was lost and never recovered, but it was not fitted with an active warhead.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". The ten crew members were rescued by the US Coast Guard, after ten hours in a raft. The press was not notified at the time.[2]

See also

References

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  1. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. Gibson, James N. Nuclear Weapons of the United States – An Illustrated History. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1996, Template:LCCN, Template:ISBN, Chapter 12, "Nuclear Anti-Submarine Weapons", p. 214.

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External links

Template:United States nuclear devices