Promoted to rear admiral on 7 July 1951 , Torlesse was placed in change of a small fleet assembled for Operation Hurricane , the first test of a British atomic bomb . His command included the escort carrier , which served as his flagship , the LSTs '' Narvik '' , '' Zeebrugge '' and '' Tracker '' , and the River-class frigate , which would act as a target ship . The bomb was assembled at Foulness , and then taken to '' Plym '' on 5 June 1952 for transport to the Monte Bello Islands in Australia , where the test would take place . It took '' Campania '' and '' Plym '' eight weeks to make the voyage , as for security reasons they sailed around the Cape of Good Hope instead of traversing the Suez Canal . The Monte Bello Islands were reached on 8 August
Operation Hurricane
Operation Hurricane
Arthur David Torlesse