Eniwetok, Sakawa broke down and Nagato attempted to tow the cruiser, but had a boiler failure and then ran out of fuel. An oil tanker, , was diverted to refuel the ships, but ran aground on a reef in bad weather and was lost. The two ex-Japanese ships were finally taken in tow on 30 March, with Sakawa reaching Eniwetok two days later. While at Eniwetok, five of the ship's American sailors were angry over the dismal working conditions aboard Sakawa and sabotaged her in an unsuccessful attempt to get off the ship. They damaged the fuel system, poured sand into the oil and water pumps, smashed gauges, tachometers, and cut high-pressure steam lines. Repairs took four days and the five sailors were brought up on charges. Sakawa sailed to Bikini Atoll the following month. Operation Crossroads began with the first blast (Test Able), an air burst on 1 July; Sakawa was filled with cages containing various animals to be tested for radiation effects. Ground zero was above and slightly to starboard of Sakawas stern. The blast set the ship afire and its force crushed her superstructure aft of her bridge, damaged her hull and she began taking on water. After the test, Sakawa was slightly down by the stern and had a slight list to port. The flooding progressively worsened overnight and the following morning saw her even more settled by the stern and with a greater list. The tug boat tried to beach the cruiser to prevent her from sinking, but failed as Sakawa started sinking by the stern almost as soon as towing began. Achomawi had to cut the tow cable to prevent herself from being dragged under. Sakawa sank at in about of water. The second weapons test, Baker, was an underwater shot on 25 July about away from the sunken Sakawa. It blew most of the remaining forward superstructure off the ship and further damaged the wreck. Sakawa is mostly upright on the sandy bottom, but there is very little surviving aft of the forward gun turrets. Notes Bibliography External links Agano-class light cruisers Agano-class cruisers Ships built by Sasebo Naval Arsenal 1944 ships World War II cruisers of Japan Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Ships sunk as targets Ships involved in Operation Crossroads Maritime incidents in 1946