USS Nevada (BB-36), the third United States Navy ship to be named after the 36th state, was the lead ship of the two Nevada-class battleships. Launched in 1914, Nevada was a leap forward in dreadnought technology; four of her new features would be included on almost every subsequent US battleship: triple gun turrets, oil in place of coal for fuel, geared steam turbines for greater range, and the "all or nothing" armor principle. These features made Nevada, alongside her sister ship Oklahoma, the first US Navy "standard-type" battleships.
Operation Crossroads was a pair of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. They were the first nuclear weapon tests since Trinity in July 1945, and the first detonations of nuclear devices since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The purpose of the tests was to investigate the effect of nuclear weapons on warships.
The St Nazaire Raid or Operation Chariot was a British amphibious attack on the heavily defended Normandie dry dock at St Nazaire in German-occupied France during the Second World War. The operation was undertaken by the Royal Navy (RN) and British Commandos under the auspices of Combined Operations Headquarters on 28 March 1942. St Nazaire was targeted because the loss of its dry dock would force any large German warship in need of repairs, such as Tirpitz, sister ship of Bismarck, to return to home waters by running the gauntlet of the Home Fleet of the Royal Navy and other British forces, via the English Channel or the North Sea.
USS Apogon (SS-308), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the apogons, a genus of cardinalfishes found in tropical and subtropical waters. The original name planned for the ship was Abadejo, but the name was changed on 24 September 1942 before the keel was laid down.
USS Pilotfish (SS-386), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named after the pilot fish, a carangoid fish, often seen in warm latitudes in company with sharks.
The second USS Mayrant (DD-402) was a Benham-class destroyer in the United States Navy, the second ship named for John Mayrant. Commissioned shortly before World War II, she was primarily active in the Atlantic theater of the war, and was decommissioned after being used as a target in the Operation Crossroads atomic weapons tests.
USS Ottawa (AKA-101) was a Tolland-class attack cargo ship of the United States Navy named after counties in the states of Kansas, Michigan, Ohio and Oklahoma. She served as a commissioned ship for 23 months.
Sakawa (酒匂) was the last of four Agano-class light cruisers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. Fuel shortages crippled the IJN's operations by the time the ship was completed in late 1944 and she never left Japanese waters. After the war, Sakawa was used to ferry Japanese troops home until she was selected in early 1946 to be expended for nuclear weapon tests during Operation Crossroads. The ship was used as a target during the first bomb test on 1 July and sank the following day.
USS Cree (AT/ATF-84), a Cherokee-class fleet tug, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the Cree, an indigenous people of North America whose people range from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean.
USS LSM-60 was a World War II era landing ship, medium (LSM) amphibious assault ship of the United States Navy. It was notable for being used as the float to suspend a fission bomb underwater during the Operation Crossroads BAKER test, becoming the first naval vessel to deploy a nuclear weapon.
The Gilliam-class attack transport was a class of attack transport built for service with the US Navy in World War II.
The Valentin submarine factory is a protective shelter on the Weser River at the Bremen suburb of Rekum, built to protect German U-boats during World War II. The factory was under construction from 1943 to March 1945 using forced labour, but was damaged by air-raids and unfinished by the end of the war. The Valentin factory was the largest fortified U-boat facility in Germany, and was second only to those built at Brest in France.
USS Carib (AT-82) was a Cherokee-class fleet tug constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. Her purpose was to aid ships, usually by towing, on the high seas or in combat or post-combat areas, plus "other duties as assigned." She served in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
The attack on USNS Card was a Viet Cong (VC) operation during the Vietnam War. It took place in the port of Saigon in the early hours of 2 May 1964, and was mounted by commandos from the 65th Special Operations Group.
Nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll consisted of the detonation of 23 nuclear weapons by the United States between 1946 and 1958 on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Tests occurred at 7 test sites on the reef itself, on the sea, in the air, and underwater. The test weapons produced a combined fission yield of 42.2 Mt of TNT in explosive power.
The Type B ship is a United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) designation for World War II barges. Barges are very low cost to build, operate and move. Barges were needed to move large bulky cargo. A tug boat, some classed as Type V ships, could move a barge, then depart and move on to the next task. That meant the barge did not have to be rushed to be unloaded or loaded. Toward the end of World War 2, some ships that had not been completed in time for the war were converted to barges. US Navy barges are given the prefix: YWN or YW. Due to shortage of steel during World War II, concrete ship constructors were given contracts to build concrete barges with the prefix YO, YOG, YOGN. Built in 1944 and 1945, some were named after elements.
The YOG-83 was a gasoline barge built in January 1944 by the Concrete Ship Constructors of National City California for the Maritime Commission. It was in service as a gasoline barge in the Pacific before being moved and used during nuclear weapon testing. The testing was part of Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll. It was 375 feet (114 m) long with a displacement rated at 10,960 tons. It was noted that the barge had incurred slight damage from general use during its service as a gasoline barge, but the damage was not significant and would not effect how the bomb testings would be rated.
The YO-160 was built in 1943 by the Concrete Ship Constructors of National City, California for the Maritime Commission. It was in active service as a fuel oil barge in the Pacific before being used as a part of the Nuclear weapon testing of Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll. It was 375 feet long with a displacement of 10,960 tons.
An auxiliary floating drydock is a type of US Navy floating dry dock. Floating dry docks are able to submerge underwater and to be placed under a ship in need of repair below the water line. Water is then pumped out of the floating dry dock, raising the ship out of the water. The ship becomes blocked on the deck of the floating dry dock for repair. Most floating dry docks have no engine and are towed by tugboats to their destinations. Floating dry docks come in different sizes to accommodate varying ship sizes, while large floating dry docks come in sections and can be combined to increase their size and lift power. Ballast pontoon tanks are flooded with water to submerge or pumped dry to raise the ship.
Hurley Marine Shipyard of Hurley Marine Works also site of Naval Reserve Armory, Oakland and the Naval Industrial Reserve Repair Facility, Oakland was a shipyard in Oakland, California. The Hurley Marine Shipyard opened in 1940, in 1951 the yard was operated by Crowley Maritime Corporation. In 1964 the site was operated by Pacific Dry Dock and Repair Company. The shipyard closed in 1992, today most of the shipyard is vacant land with part of the land now Leal Seal Boat Works owned by Leal Charonnat, of Leal Charonnat - Architect & Engineering. A small boatyard operated at the site from 1935 to 1940. The shipyard was located at 321 Embarcadero Oakland on the San Francisco bay, Inner Oakland Harbor. Crowley Maritime Corporation was the parent corporation of Pacific Dry Dock, which used the shipyard to repair its fleet of tugboats and other ships. Pacific Dry Dock also operated a shipyard across from Coast Guard Island till 1991 at 1414 Embarcadero Oakland.
