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The Mark 15 nuclear bomb, or Mk-15, was a 1950s American thermonuclear bomb, the first relatively lightweight () thermonuclear bomb created by the United States.
A total of 1,200 Mark 15 bombs were produced from 1955 to 1957. There were three production variants: Mod 1, Mod 2, and Mod 3. The design was in service from 1955 to 1965.
Operation Redwing
a
nuclearweaponarchive.org
Accessed 2005-05-06 The Mod 3 also appears to have had a yield.
1966 Congressional testimony by Assistant Secretary of Defense W.J. Howard
the Tybee Island bomb was a "complete weapon, a bomb with a nuclear capsule" and one of two weapons lost that contained a plutonium trigger.
Allbombs.html
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nuclearweaponarchive.org
{{United States nuclear devices Cold War aerial bombs of the United States Nuclear bombs of the United States Military equipment introduced in the 1950s
The Mark 15 nuclear bomb, or Mk-15, was a 1950s American thermonuclear bomb, the first relatively lightweight () thermonuclear bomb created by the United States.
A total of 1,200 Mark 15 bombs were produced from 1955 to 1957. There were three production variants: Mod 1, Mod 2, and Mod 3. The design was in service from 1955 to 1965.
Specifications
All three models were generally physically similar; weight of around , diameter of , length of .Models
The Mod 1 corresponds to the Castle Nectar test of the Zombie weapon prototype. This test had a yield of . The Mod 2 corresponds to the Redwing Cherokee nuclear test of the TX-15-X1 test model, and had a yield of . Redwing Cherokee was the first US thermonuclear bomb airdrop test.a
nuclearweaponarchive.org
Accessed 2005-05-06 The Mod 3 also appears to have had a yield.
W15
A missile warhead variant of the Mark 15, the W15 Warhead, was an ongoing project in the mid 1950s. It was canceled in early 1957. Before cancellation, it had been intended for use on the SM-62 Snark missile. Instead, the Snark ended up using the W39 (see below).Derivatives
The W39 nuclear warhead and B39 nuclear bomb used a common nuclear '' physics package'' which was derived from the Mark 15. The experimental W39 devices were initially tested as the TX-15-X3 (which is identical to the W39 Mod 0 design).Dropped and lost
On February 5, 1958, during a training mission flown by a B-47, a Mk 15 nuclear bomb, was lost off the coast ofTybee Island, Georgia
Tybee Island ( ) is a city and a barrier island in Chatham County, Georgia, 18 miles (29 km) east of Savannah. The name is used for both the city and the island, but geographically the two are not identical: only part of the island's terri ...
near Savannah
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
.
Initially, experts disputed whether the bomb was nuclear or not. If it contains a plutonium core, it is a fully-functional nuclear weapon. If the core was replaced with a dummy, it would be non-nuclear but still capable of creating a conventional explosion. After the incident, the Air Force assured the public that the nuclear capsule was removed prior to the flight and fitted with a simulated 150-pound cap made of lead.
However, according t1966 Congressional testimony by Assistant Secretary of Defense W.J. Howard
the Tybee Island bomb was a "complete weapon, a bomb with a nuclear capsule" and one of two weapons lost that contained a plutonium trigger.
See also
* List of nuclear weapons *Operation Castle
Operation Castle was a United States series of high-yield (high-energy) nuclear tests by Joint Task Force 7 (JTF-7) at Bikini Atoll beginning in March 1954. It followed ''Operation Upshot–Knothole'' and preceded '' Operation Teapot''.
Con ...
* Operation Redwing
References
External links
Allbombs.html
list of all US nuclear warheads a
nuclearweaponarchive.org
{{United States nuclear devices Cold War aerial bombs of the United States Nuclear bombs of the United States Military equipment introduced in the 1950s