HMS Plym Mooring, Montebello Islands

3D Model

The United Kingdom’s first atomic weapon test occurred during Operation Hurricane in the Montebello Islands, off Western Australia’s Northwest coast. The decommissioned River-class frigate HMS Plym (1942-1952) was moored 400 metres off Trimouille Island and used as the detonation platform to simulate the effects of a nuclear attack on a British port. At 0800 hours local time on 3 October 1952, a 25 kiloton plutonium implosion device was detonated, almost completely vaporising HMS Plym and creating a huge crater in the seabed. The test made the United Kingdom the third nuclear power after the USA and USSR, and resulted in radioactive contamination of the Montebello Islands. In 1956 two further atomic tests were conducted in the Montebello Islands as part of Operation Mosaic. Reconstructed using Agisoft Metashape. 396 images. 4th of May 2021. WA Museum and Patrick Morrison.