Operation Hurricane

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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 inner 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 offshore. 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.

[edit] Specifics

Time: 00:00 on 3 October 1952 (GMT), 08:00 on 3 October 1952 (WAST)
Location: Off Trimouille Island, one of the Monte Bello Islands, Western Australia, Australia, 20°25′S, 115°33′E
Test Height and Type: Ship, -2.7 m
Yield: 25kt