Talk:Operation Grapple

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}} An event mentioned in this article is a May 15 selected anniversary

1 Images of Grapple X
2 H Bomb Test was (not really) a Hoax
3 Vandalized article
4 3 or 4 tests at Grapple
5 Cassandra's Photos

[edit] Images of Grapple X

I have added some screenshots of the Grapple X aircraft and weapon taken from the Channel 4 TV programme Britain's Cold War Super Weapons. They're not very good but considering the subject matter will probably have to do until someone can find some better ones. Ian Dunster 10:52, 28 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] H Bomb Test was (not really) a Hoax

I read recently that the H Bomb test was actually a huge A Bomb, which fooled the US into believing that the Uk had cracked the fusion bomb problems, leading them into collaboration. I'll try to find the source and see how reliable it is and them amend the article if appropriate. --Dumbo1 23:40, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

Added information and reference from House Of Commons documents on Nuclear Testing Veterans. It is surprising that after all these years, the fact that this was a hoax, (the UK has never successfully build an H bomb) seems not to be generally known. --Dumbo1 17:21, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

The hoax legend is almost completely incorrect as discussed below. The Americans are not as stupid as that. It IS true that Britain did let the rest of the world think Orange Herald was an H-bomb when it was not, but Britain went on to drop four successful true H-bombs. Man with two legs 12:34, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Vandalized article

This Article, including Tsar's contribution, seems to have been vandalized (or, to put it more politely, badly edited). It is true that Short Granite, the first test in the Grapple series, fell well short of its expected yield, but was hailed as a success by the British. It is also true that the second test, Orange Herald, was in reality a very powerful single-stage weapon. However, Grapple X and Y were both successful tests using the Teller-Ulam design. Both were detonated before the 1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement was signed on July 3 1958, and certainly before the US could have given any nuclear know-how to Britain. The mis-conception seems to have arisen from a statement by Brian Jenkins, MP for Tamworth (he is not reputed to have knowledge of nuclear physics, and at the time was speaking in support of veterans who were claiming that their health had been harmed by the explosions), in the House of Commons on 4 December 2002, in which he appeared to be referring to the Orange Herald test. See http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmhansrd/vo021204/halltext/21204h01.htm. Also, what is this doing at the end of the wiki article: "Although great men have made very important accounts of what was seen, it is still unproven that TNT and oil could have been used to create such effects."? -theeurocrat Theeurocrat 13:23, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

I do not understand why the article was reverted. Everything before the revert was correct and the person only brought back the previous errors which had been corrected (i.e. The May 15, 1957 was a hydrogen bomb test, not an atomic bomb test; the Grapple Z September 2 and 11, 1958 were NOT the largest British tests, Grapple Y was the larget test - I put a citation for this information in the fixed article). I reverted the article back. If you see something incorrect please fix the specific error, do not revert an entire article. - Tzar 02:39, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 3 or 4 tests at Grapple

The 4th test was not cancelled due to poor yield. ~~The only other design~~ mentioned by Lorna Arnold is Orange Herald (large) which was certain to make a big bang. Man with two legs 13:16, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

I missed Green Bamboo. Man with two legs 18:19, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Cassandra's Photos

Ah ha, I noticed my Cassandra page getting a few hits from this - The Cassandra pictures are "mine" but I have never been able to identify the military man in them, and at some point I will have to go back to archives to work out who it was. So if anyone can actually work out who the military chaps are, and which of the actual tests they are photographs of, I'd appreciate the extra information for the page.

Lawrie 00:19, 16 May 2007 (UTC)