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Bashstash01 t1_izqcycs wrote

Reply to comment by Alpcake in Simple/Short/Silly History Questions Saturday! by AutoModerator

They were dropped in places with not many people, such as deserts and small atolls in the middle of the Pacific.

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Bretty_boy t1_izqrfpu wrote

Why did they need to use atolls? Why wouldn’t they just put the bomb on a boat and detonate it where there is no land at all

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drmonkeysee t1_izr3iqd wrote

They did do this every once in a while but you could only get limited data from such a test. Look up online some of the thermonuclear test sites; they were large buildings wired up with bulky sensors and support structures. Can’t fit that on a boat.

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RiceAlicorn t1_j00091w wrote

Also, the land itself was often a point of interest for the nukes. Evidently, if nukes were to be practically used, they would certainly be used against land areas. They tested nukes on different types of terrain (desert, hard rock, etc.) to see terrain interactions, or built fake buildings/towns to test bomb effects on residential areas.

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