The Mark 13 nuclear bomb and its variant, the W-13 nuclear warhead for Redstone BM and Snark CM, were experimental

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either nuclear fission, fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and nuclear fusion, fusion reactions (thermonuclear weap ...

developed by the United States from 1951 to 1954. The Mark 13 design was based on the earlier Mark 6 nuclear bomb design, which was in turn based on the

Mark 4 nuclear bomb The Mark 4 nuclear bomb was an American implosion-type nuclear bomb based on the earlier Mark 3 Fat Man design, used in the Trinity test and the bombing of Nagasaki. With the Mark 3 needing each individual component to be hand-assembled by only ...

and the Mark 3 nuclear bomb used at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Description

The Mark 13 bomb was nearly the same size as the Mark 6 nuclear bomb it was developed from; 61 inches in diameter and 128 inches long (150 cm by 320 cm), weighing 7,400 lb (3,300 kg). The W-13 warhead was somewhat smaller, being roughly 58 inches in diameter and 100 inches long, with a 6,000 to 6,500 lb weight (145 cm by 250 cm, 2,700 kg to 2,900 kg).Complete list of all US nuclear weapons
Carey Sublette, at th
nuclearweaponarchive.org
website. Accessed April 17, 2007. The Mark 13 design used a 92-point nuclear implosion system (see

Nuclear weapon design Nuclear weapons design are physical, chemical, and engineering arrangements that cause the physics package of a nuclear weapon to detonate. There are three existing basic design types: # Pure fission weapons are the simplest, least technically de ...

). A similar 92-point system was used in later variants of the Mark 6 weapon.

Testing

The Mark 13 nuclear bomb design was tested at least once, in the

Operation Upshot–Knothole Operation Upshot–Knothole was a series of eleven nuclear test shots conducted in 1953 at the Nevada Test Site. It followed ''Operation Ivy'' and preceded ''Operation Castle''. Over 21,000 soldiers took part in the ground exercise Desert Roc ...

Harry test shot conducted on May 19, 1953. The estimated yield of this test was 32

kilotons TNT equivalent is a convention for expressing energy, typically used to describe the energy released in an explosion. A ton of TNT equivalent is a unit of energy defined by convention to be (). It is the approximate energy released in the det ...

Deployment

As the Mark 13 neared production, advances in thermonuclear weapon design, particularly the

Ivy Mike Ivy Mike was the code name, codename given to the first full-scale test of a Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear device, in which a significant fraction of the explosive nuclear weapon yield, yield comes from nuclear fusion. Ivy Mike was detona ...

thermonuclear test in November 1952, made the Mark 13 obsolete. Development continued for research purposes (the Upshot-Knothole Harry test shot came months after the first thermonuclear test in Ivy Mike), and in two variant designs, but the Mark 13 proper was never deployed. The Mark 13 bomb version was canceled in August 1953, and the W-13

warhead A warhead is the section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket (weapon), rocket, torpedo, or bomb. Classification Types of warheads include: *E ...

version was cancelled in September 1953.

Variants

Mark 18

The Mark 18 nuclear bomb also known as the Super Oralloy Bomb (or its initials SOB) utilized the 92-point Mark 13 implosion system, but a different fissile core with around 60 kilograms of

highly enriched uranium Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (238 ...

( Oralloy). This was the largest pure fission nuclear bomb ever tested, with a yield of more than 500 kilotons. The Mark 18 was produced in moderate quantities (90 units) and in service from 1953 to 1956.

Mark 20

The Mark 20 nuclear bomb was a planned successor to the Mark 13 incorporating some improvements in its design. Research was halted at the same time as the Mark 13. The Mark 20 was the same size as the Mark 13, but weighed only .

References

{{United States nuclear devices Cold War aerial bombs of the United States Nuclear bombs of the United States