 Nagato was selected to participate as a target ship in Operation Crossroads, a series of U.S. nuclear weapon tests held at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. In mid-March, Nagato departed Yokosuka for Eniwetok, but her hull had not been repaired from the underwater damage sustained during the attack on 18 July and she leaked enough that her pumps could not keep up. The ship had a list of seven degrees to port by the time tugboats from Eniwetok arrived. She reached the atoll on 4 April and Bikini in May.
