HMS PLYM (F271)

Career	RN Ensign
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, and 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.

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External link

External link

★ Recollection of ''Plym's last hours (Defunct link)