HMS Plym (F271)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | 1 August 1942 |
| Launched: | 4 February 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 16 May 1943 |
| Decommissioned: | |
| Fate: | Deliberately destroyed by test detonation of nuclear weapon 3 October 1952 |
| Struck: | |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1370 tons |
| Length: | 301.5 ft (92 m) |
| Beam: | 36.5 feet (11.1 m) |
| Draught: | 14 feet (4.3 m) |
| Propulsion: | Twin screws, oil fired three drum boilers driving reciprocating steams engine, 5500 hp (4.1 MW) |
| Speed: | 20 knots (37 km/h) maximum |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | 140 |
| Armament: | Two 4 inch (102 mm) guns, ten 20 mm anti-aircraft guns, Hedgehog depth charge mortar, Depth charge launchers |
| Armour: | None |
| Aircraft: | None |
HMS Plym (F271), was a River-class anti-submarine frigate built for the Royal Navy at Smiths Dock, Middlesbrough, England. She was launched on February 4, 1943, and commissioned on May 16, 1943. The ship was named after the River Plym in Devon, England.
She was deliberately destroyed when the first British nuclear weapon, a 25 kiloton bomb, was detonated inside her hull a few seconds before 9:30am local time on 3 October 1952. Plym was vaporised by the blast, and had been anchored in 12 metres of water at a distance of 400 metres from the island of Trimouille in the Monte Bello Islands, Australia. Although data acquisition would have been simplified by detonating the bomb on a tower above the ground, the test was conducted on board a ship to simulate the effects of a nuclear weapon being smuggled into a British harbour (which was considered a real possibility at the time). The test was called Operation Hurricane.
