Wahoo blast test requirements were met on May 16 1958, permitting for the nuclear device to be detonated. Within a second of detonation, a fountain dome was formed that reached a height of 840 feet (260 m) after seven seconds. The total shape of the fountain dome looked like a cone with 45-degree bent sides.
Plumes were seen busting through the spray domme six seconds later in all directions. The vertical plume persisted in rising until 12 seconds after the blast, while the lateral plumes travelled for 20 seconds before tumbling.
The width of the spray dome was roughly 3,800 feet at the 20-second mark. The base surge got to a radius of 8,000 feet in the downwind direction after 1.7 seconds. The downwind spray, aided by a 15 knots wind, attained speeds of 21 knots.
This base wave could be seen for over 3 minutes and even more from the air as it persisted in moving across the ocean. When the spray dome and base surge had dispersed, a foam patch could be seen spreading from the surface of zero water to reach over 6,000 feet.
The nuclear blast was calculated to be nine kilotons of TNT (38 TJ).
All fallout remained within the expected fallout area with a max of 0.030 R/hr. The target ship at 5,900 yards was instantly hit by the shockwave and shook the entire ship violently. The Moran merchant marine ship moored at 2,346 feet away and was incapacitated due to shock harm to its major and auxiliary gear while also suffering little hull damage. One hour and ten minutes after detonation, a five-gallon water sample was taken directly above the blast location, showing 5 R/hr. The retrieval team entered a 3.8 R/hrfield after an hour and thirty-five minutes.
