Operation Hurricane
For the Allied air forces show of force over Germany during World War II see Operation Hurricane (1944) |
The explosion cloud resulting from the Operation Hurricane detonation |
Operation Hurricane was the test of the first
British atomic bomb. The device tested was a plutonium
implosion bomb intended to be as close a copy to the
Fat Man weapon as possible but improved by using a levitated
pit. Although increasing the power of the bomb, this was actually done to allow the pit to be inserted into the weapon shortly before detonation as a
safety measure. There were concerns that without the gap between the tamper and the pit, a
criticality accident could occur.
The bomb used
plutonium produced at
Windscale (now
Sellafield) in
Cumbria with a low
Pu-240 content since hurried production led to short irradiation times. In fact Windscale could not quite meet the
1 August 1952 deadline for manufacturing the core and the device also used some
Canadian-supplied plutonium.
To test the effects of a ship-smuggled bomb (a threat of great concern to the British at the time), Hurricane was exploded inside the hull of
HMS Plym (a 1,370-ton
River-class frigate) which was anchored in 12 m of water 350 m off shore. The explosion occurred 2.7 m below the water line, and left a saucer-shaped crater on the seabed 6 m deep and 300 m across.
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Time: 00:00 on
3 October 1952 (GMT), 08:00 on
3 October 1952 (WAST)
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Location: Off Trimouille Island, one of the
Monte Bello Islands, Australia, 20°25′S, 115°33′E
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Test Height and Type: Ship, -2.7 m
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Yield: 25 Kt
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AWE Page devoted to Operation Hurricane*
British nuclear weapons testing in Australia*
Ministry of Supply made documentary hosted by Channel 4, requires broadband connection to view
