The ship was selected to participate as a target ship in Operation Crossroads, a series of nuclear weapon tests held at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946.
In mid-March, Nagato departed Yokosuka for Eniwetok under the command of Captain W. J. Whipple with an American crew of about 180 men supplementing her Japanese crew.
The ship was only capable of a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) from her two operating propeller shafts.
Her hull had not been repaired from the underwater damage sustained during the attack on 18 July 1945 and she leaked enough that her pumps could not keep up.
Her consort, the light cruiser Sakawa, broke down on 28 March and Nagato attempted to take her in tow, but one of her boilers malfunctioned and the ship ran out of fuel in bad weather.
The ship had a list of seven degrees to port by the time tugboats from Eniwetok arrived on 30 March.
Towed at a speed of 1 knot (1.9 km/h; 1.2 mph), the ship reached Eniwetok on 4 April where she received temporary repairs.
On her trip to Bikini in May, Nagato reached 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph).

Operation Crossroads began with the first blast (Test Able), an air burst on 1 July; she was 1,500 meters (1,640 yd) from ground zero and was only lightly damaged.
A skeleton crew boarded Nagato to assess the damage and prepare her for the next test on 25 July.
As a test, they operated one of her boilers for 36 hours without any problems.
For Test Baker, an underwater explosion, the ship was positioned 870 meters (950 yd) from ground zero.
Nagato rode out the tsunami from the explosion with little apparent damage; she had a slight starboard list of two degrees after the tsunami dissipated.
A more thorough assessment could not be made because she was dangerously radioactive.
Her list gradually increased over the next five days and she capsized and sank during the night of 29/30 July.

The wreck is upside down and her most prominent features are her four propellers, at a depth of 33.5 meters (110 ft) below the surface.
She has become a scuba diving destination in recent years and The Times named Nagato as one of the top ten wreck diving sites in the world in 2007.
The ship was selected to participate as a target ship in Operation Crossroads, a series of nuclear weapon tests held at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. In mid-March, Nagato departed Yokosuka for Eniwetok under the command of Captain W. J. Whipple with an American crew of about 180 men supplementing her Japanese crew. The ship was only capable of a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) from her two operating propeller shafts. Her hull had not been repaired from the underwater damage sustained during the attack on 18 July 1945 and she leaked enough that her pumps could not keep up. Her consort, the light cruiser Sakawa, broke down on 28 March and Nagato attempted to take her in tow, but one of her boilers malfunctioned and the ship ran out of fuel in bad weather. The ship had a list of seven degrees to port by the time tugboats from Eniwetok arrived on 30 March. Towed at a speed of 1 knot (1.9 km/h; 1.2 mph), the ship reached Eniwetok on 4 April where she received temporary repairs. On her trip to Bikini in May, Nagato reached 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph).
Operation Crossroads began with the first blast (Test Able), an air burst on 1 July; she was 1,500 meters (1,640 yd) from ground zero and was only lightly damaged. A skeleton crew boarded Nagato to assess the damage and prepare her for the next test on 25 July. As a test, they operated one of her boilers for 36 hours without any problems. For Test Baker, an underwater explosion, the ship was positioned 870 meters (950 yd) from ground zero. Nagato rode out the tsunami from the explosion with little apparent damage; she had a slight starboard list of two degrees after the tsunami dissipated. A more thorough assessment could not be made because she was dangerously radioactive. Her list gradually increased over the next five days and she capsized and sank during the night of 29/30 July.
The wreck is upside down and her most prominent features are her four propellers, at a depth of 33.5 meters (110 ft) below the surface. She has become a scuba diving destination in recent years and The Times named Nagato as one of the top ten wreck diving sites in the world in 2007.
Japanese battleship Nagato