First waltz: Development and deployment of blue danube, Britain's post-war atomic bomb

Abstract

Blue Danube was the first British atom bomb deployed during the Cold War. The article focuses on practical issues of design, production, deployment, maintenance and testing of the weapon during the 1950s. Emphasis on scientific aspects of nuclear weapons means efforts to develop a workable technology have been overlooked. Blue Danube did not follow the usual pattern of technical development: it was deployed first and tested later. The first weapons were hand-crafted prototypes delivered to the RAF for familiarization and active service, rather than a durable and reliable deterrent. As service life progressed, components were tested and the technology developed in terms of safety, fuzing and arming. Electronic circuits were modified to improve reliability within the same overall casing. So, Blue Danube is not one weapon - more a sequence of modifications in response to a succession of problems. Development of the weapon required innovations in electronics, explosives and logistics. Conventional high explosive components were as much a constraint on deployment and serviceability as the novel radioactive parts. Learning how to manufacture, use, maintain and upgrade the weapon proved as important as building the device in the first place. The bomb was at the frontiers of practical application in electronic circuitry. Protecting electronic components by potting remained an uncertain art. Like many technologies, Blue Danube was a combination of the familiar and the advanced.