Mark 39 Bomb
The Bomb We Bombed Ourselves With
Weapon Specifications
Note that the relationship between explosive power and destruction is not linear—a weapon’s destructive effects grow far more slowly than its explosive power.
Explosive Power
3.8 Megatons
Hiroshima Equivalent Factor
253x
Dimensions
11 feet, 8 inches x 35 inches
Weight
6750 lbs.
Year(s)
1957-1966
Purpose
A smaller and lighter bomb
NukeMap
Simulated destruction of a Mark 39 bomb, at Eureka, North Carolina. Click on the map to change parameters.
Videos
These curated videos provide additional context for this weapon — showing test footage, deployment scenes, technical explanations, interviews, or other historical material, allowing viewers to go deeper into the weapon’s design, use, and place in nuclear history.
Further Reading
- Wikipedia
- In 1967 Sandia “published” a classified report on the history of the Mark 39, now available at the Pfeiffer Nuclear Weapons and National Security Archive.
- The Mark 39 is infamous for being involved in several serious nuclear accidents. One of them, when a B-52 broke up on its landing approach and two live Mark 39s were flung from the falling wreckage over North Carolina, is among the most frightening. The basic story is told in this Spectator article as well as in this one in Our State.
- Many of the details of the accident came to light as the result of Eric Schlosser’s efforts and appeared in his book, Command and Control (see pages 245–248). Some of the classified studies that Schlosser referenced were later released to the public (this one, a safety analysis of the Mark 39’s safety mechanisms in the accident, is especially worthwhile) and Schlosser made public an excerpt from an unclassified film, made by Sandia Laboratories, that included a segment on the accident (and here is a link to the full film). Here is Schlosser interviewed about his reporting.
- Parker F. Jones at Sandia National Labs wrote “How I Learned to Love the H-Bomb” in 1969 which analyzes the erroneous claims about the accident.
- Air Force EOD (Explosives Ordinance Division) Airman First Class Earl Smith was the first Air Force personnel on the scene of the Goldsboro accident and was out there for three weeks, digging in the mud. After the accident became public knowledge and especially after senior officer Jack ReVelle, according to Smith, falsely claimed credit for defusing the first bomb, Smith decided to tell his story. This video (linked above, as well) is especially interesting as Smith tells how there was a trap (meant for the Soviets) in the defusing process that would cause the bomb to explode if there wasn’t a specific pause in the disarming process. These links have only a tiny number of views and I have found no reference to his story anywhere else.