The UK Biological Weapons Program - Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945 - page 56

enlarged sick bay, and laboratory space. Still another ship operated
downwind of the trot and performed “clear range” duties, warning off
any shipping that strayed within range of the trials. After a nine-day se-
ries of tests using nonpathogenic organisms as simulant agents, the ex-
perimenters proceeded to trials with pathogens. The first agent tested was
Brucella, although the initial layout of animals on dinghies provided at-
tractive meals for sharks. 32 Once special shark-repellent bags had been
hastily procured from the US Navy, the scientists and their naval assis-
tants continued trials throughout January and February. The full appara-
tus, involving all 35 dinghies stocked with sheep and guinea pigs, was
used in just two anthrax trials.
The main findings in the technical report of the trial remain closed. The
open sections stress that “the operation was not primarily designed to test
weapons or weapon design.” Instead, the trial had aimed to locate a suit-
able base and to refine research techniques for future tests. The report
concluded that the logistics of the operation were too complex, at times
exposing “an excessively large number of men to 'risk.'” 33 This said, the
authors still favored future sea trials. Of the 22 toxic trials attempted, 15
were judged by the experimenters to be completely successful, having
been carried through to completion without being disrupted; 3 were par-
tially successful, and 4 were a “complete failure.” 34 From the successful
trials, the report noted, the higher toxicity of biological over chemical
warfare agents could be cautiously accepted.
A further report by the BRAB to the BWS reveals the optimism with
which this first sea operation was viewed:

The operation has confirmed the value of BW. The laboratory work since
the previous field trials has been confirmed. It has provided information
regarding the behaviour of new types of bacterial suspensions with cer-
tain experimental animals, and brought out the value of monkeys in this
type of research. It will be unnecessary, in future, to rely on such clumsy
animals as sheep in trials with bacterial clouds. The trials have brought
out many administrative and scientific problems. 35

Operations Cauldron and Hesperus

Although there was some talk of establishing a permanent Tripartite base
for trials, nothing materialized. 36 The next series of British trials, code-