Operation Dominic SWORDFISH, 1962
Dominic Swordfish spray dome fired from the Destroyer USS Agerholm (foreground). Swordfish was the fifth and last rocket launched depth bomb fired May 11, 1962. It was a DOD sponsored full scale test of the ASROC anti-submarine rocket weapon system. Operation Dominic was a series of 31 nuclear test explosions conducted in 1962 by the United States in the Pacific. This test series was scheduled quickly, in order to respond in kind to the Soviet resumption of testing after the tacit 1958-1961 test moratorium. Most of these shots were conducted with free-fall bombs dropped from B-52 bomber aircraft. Operation Dominic occurred during a period of high Cold War tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, since the Cuban Bay of Pigs Invasion had occurred not long before. Nikita Khrushchev announced the end of a three year moratorium on nuclear testing on August 30, 1961. President John F. Kennedy responded by authorizing Operation Dominic. It was the largest nuclear weapons testing program ever conducted by the United States, and the last atmospheric test series conducted by the , as the Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed in Moscow the following year.
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Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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