Comments on: Fauld Explosion

By: Tammo

Tammo — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:34:08 +0000

I think ExpatEgghead’s quarrel was with the assertion that the chisel caused a spark (which brass chisels are meant to prevent) … and the Wikipedia text says nothing about a spark …

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:20:57 +0000

@ExpatEgghead – apparently the brass chisel was the official RAF explanation….

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Fauld_Explosion#Cause

By: Tammo

Tammo — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:17:47 +0000

Even the claim that it was the biggest non-nuclear explosion on UK soil is dubious, as Heligoland was under UK administration at the time of the (bigger) “British Bang” on 18 April, 1947.

By: ExpatEgghead

ExpatEgghead — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:58:47 +0000

i fail to see the significance of the brass chisel. These were issued to armourers because they would not cause sparks.

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 06:48:32 +0000

re: James

The UK’s first Nuclear test shot, Hurricane, was tested on an island near Australia. The first UK thermonuclear test shot, Grapple, was on an atoll in what is now Kiribati. The first twenty or so nuclear tests that the UK did were in the Pacific- they only switched to Nevada after the 1958 agreements that essentially made the British nuclear program an adjunct of the American one.

By: James Turnbull

James Turnbull — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:18:21 +0000

@Aran: I think that’s “none”. Certainly all the UK test explosions were done in Nevada.

It seems that comparing explosion sizes is a difficult task, and that none of these “largest” facts stand up to much scrutiny. I mean, how exactly do you measure the size of an explosion? It it noise? height of cloud? size of resultant crater?

I think we’ll have to just stick with “it was a big explosion”. You can’t argue with that.

By: Arancaytar

Arancaytar — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 20:32:53 +0000

> biggest non-nuclear explosion on UK soil

How many nuclear explosions were there on UK soil?

By: Chet

Chet — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 12:09:02 +0000

“One search party found a cow standing motionless, twice it’s normal size obviously inflated by air under pressure. The party quickly shot the animal to save further pain, but it failed to fall down – it was obviously already dead, but the position of it’s legs were maintaining it’s upright position.”

Where was youtube when we really needed it!

By: Alex Turnbull

Alex Turnbull — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:52:09 +0000

Dammit, of course you’re right Flümo. Curse you!

Re: Wikipedia – I read the sentence “the largest non-nuclear explosions in history”, but failed to notice the prefix “one of”. Shoddy work, my apologies!

I shall update the post.

By: Flümo

Flümo — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:04:22 +0000

Alex: No, that’s the point: Minor Scale was a simulation of a nuclear explosion using conventional explosives.

Oh, BTW: The linked Wikipedia entry just claims “largest non-nuclear on UK soil”. That I accept