Raduga (nuclear test)

Raduga (in Russian Радуга, Rainbow) is the codename of a Soviet thermonuclear test, conducted in October 20, 1961, in Mityushikha Bay, Severny Island of Novaya Zemlya.

The test was conducted by the Northern Fleet. A R-13 missile with a thermonuclear warhead was fired from submarine K-102. When the submarine reached the specified point in the Barents Sea, she could not establish her position due to cloudiness and snowfall. A R-13 missile without a nuclear warhead was fired first, which missed the aiming point by a wide margin. However, it was decided to continue the test in spite of bad weather. The second missile performed better and its miss distance was less than the previous one, and detonated at 1000 meters height, yielding 1.45 megatons.