Operation Cauldron
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'''Operation Cauldron''' was a secret [[biological warfare]] trial undertaken by the British government in 1952{{fn|1}}. Scientists from [[Porton Down]] and the [[Royal Navy]] were involved in releasing [[biological agents]], including [[pandemic|plague]] ("agent L") at sea off the coast of the [[Isle of Lewis]] in the [[Outer Hebrides]] and testing the effects of the agents on caged animals. In one test, a [[fishing trawler]] sailed through a cloud of plague bacteria (''[[Yersinia pestis]]'') on its return from a fishing trip to the waters around [[Iceland]], causing concern about a possible plague outbreak around its home port in north-west England{{fn|2}}. This event was successfully covered up by [[Churchill]]'s government; the trawler ''Carella'' was apparently kept under covert observation until the incubation period had elapsed, with a naval medical team ready, but none of the crew fell ill.
==Notes==
{{fnb|1}} Operation Cauldron was the code name for the series of trials
{{fnb|2}} This cover-up was recently the subject of a half hour BBC radio 4 programme and other press coverage:
*{{cite visual | crew=Matt Fletcher (researched), Jolyon Jenkins (presented and produced)| date=2005 | title=Operation Cauldron | medium=Documentary | location=Bristol | distributor=BBC}}
*{{cite web | author=Karin Goodwin | title=Trawler crew exposed to deadly plague test | publisher=London: Times Newspapers Ltd | year=September 11, 2005 | work=The Sunday Times - Scotland | url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2090-1775079_1,00.html | accessdate=September 25 | accessyear=2005 }}
{{UK-gov-stub}}
[[Category:Biological warfare]]
[[Category:Bioethics]]