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The Mark 90 Betty was a nuclear depth charge developed by the United States in 1952. With a length of 10 ft 2 in, a diameter of 2 ft 7.5 in, and a weight of 1,243 lb, it utilized a Mark 7 nuclear warhead, with a yield of 5-10 kilotons. Its purpose was to serve as an anti-submarine weapon for the United States Navy. All units had been retired and withdrawn from service by 1960. A test of the Mark 90 was conducted in 1955 as Operation Wigwam.
On September 25, 1959, a "Betty" casing was lost in Puget Sound after the aircraft it was in was forced to "ditch". The casing was never recovered, but it did not have its nuclear core installed at the time.
References
- James N. Gibson, Nuclear Weapons of the United States: An Illustrated History (Schiffer Publishing, 1996): Chapter 12, "Nuclear Anti-Submarine Weapons".