1946-Contin ued

XAJ-1 aircraft, thereby beginning active development

of a long-range carrier-based bomber capable of deliv-

ering nuclear weapons.

25 June A contract was issued to Chance Vought for

the development and construction of three XF7U-l air-

craft. This was a tailless, high performance fighter,

equipped with tricycle landing gear, powered with

twin turbojet engines, and designed for carrier opera-

tion.

26 June The Aeronautical Board agreed unanimous-

ly that the knot and the nautical mile be adopted by

the Army Air Forces and Navy as standard aeronautical

units of speed and distance, and directed that use of

the terms be specified in all future procurement of air

speed indicators, charts, related equipment, and future

issues of applicable handbooks and technical orders.

1 July Operation Cross Roads-Tests to determine

effects of atomic bombs on naval targets were con-

ducted at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. In the first test, a

Nagasaki-type bomb, dropped from a B-29 at 30,000

feet on ships anchored in the lagoon, sank five of

them outright and did heavy damage to nine others. A

shallow underwater burst on the 25th raised the total

number sunk directly or indirectly to 32 of the 83

ships of all types used in the tests. Among them were

the aircraft carriers Saratoga, sunk in shallow water on

41 .. ;.."

FlU-l a tailless twin-net fighter by Vought 419488

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

163

the 25th after 19 years of active service, and

Independence, which was so heavily damaged and

contaminated that she was no longer fit for use.

Although these tests had broad national impact, to the

Navy and to Naval Aviation they not only made clear

the importance of nuclear weapons in control of the

sea but they also provided much detailed data on the

effects of nuclear blasts and a sound technical basis for

intensification of efforts to develop tactics and equip-

ment whereby the damage of such attacks against a

naval task force could be held to a minimum.

1 July The Naval Air Reserve Program was formally

activated under the Naval Air Training Command, with

21 Reserve activities already in operation.

1 July VX-3 was established at NAS New York, N.Y.,

to study and evaluate the adaptability of helicopters to

naval purposes.

3 July FAW-8 was disestablished at NAS Alameda.

11 July To establish clear-cut relationships for air-

craft maintenance, the Chief of Naval Operations

directed the disestablishment of all CASUs and other

maintenance units and their replacement by Fleet

Aircraft Service Squadrons (FASRON) by 1 January.

The new FASRONs were to be of three kinds accord-

ing to aircraft types serviced, and were designed to

promote higher standards and greater uniformity and

efficiency in aircraft maintenance.

21 July In the first U.S. test of the adaptability of jet

aircraft to shipboard operation, an XFD-1 Phantom

piloted by Lieutenant Commander James Davidson,

..

..

Davidson landed FH on CVE 1053757