The Ghost Fleet of “Operations Crossroads” included 95 vessels. Prominent among them were U.S. carriers Saratoga and Independence.
The Saratoga, commissioned in 1927, was a battle scarred veteran of World War II.
Other targets included the U.S. battleship Arkansas, a veteran of two World Wars. This historic battleship participated in the Normandy invasion, as well as the Pacific campaigns at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Captured vessels used as atomic targets included the Japanese battleship Nagato, commissioned in 1920.
In 1941 the Nagato served as flagship for Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who staged the attack on Pearl Harbour. By the end of the war, the Nagato was the only Japanese battleship still afloat.
Prinz Eugen, a German heavy cruiser was targeted at Bikini as well. Commissioned in 1940, it was involved in the 1941 sinking of the British battle cruiser Hood.