Nigel ‘Nick’ Kettlewell was born in Devon in 1934. He was raised in a military family and from a young age knew that he would enter the Navy. Kettlewell was sent to boarding school and was very interested in sport, particularly rugby. After boarding school, he decided to go to Naval College to train as an officer. He participated in Operation Mosaic and was an officer onboard HMS Diana, a ship that sailed through radioactive clouds for many hours after detonations. After returning from the Monte Bello Islands and undertaking further courses in signalling, Kettlewell met his wife while picking grapes in a vineyard. He later became the navigator of the Royal Yacht and took members of the Royal Family around the world. Subsequently, Kettlewell worked for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in an administrative capacity before returning to active duty in the Navy. During this resumption of service, Kettlewell played a significant role in the ‘Cod Wars’ between the UK and Iceland. Kettlewell was made a commodore in the Navy. He also worked as a consultant for British Aerospace and as a magistrate. Kettlewell now lives in Sherborne.
Interview extracts
Description
Nick Kettlewell, a naval officer, explains how troops aboard the ship HMS Diana were informed of their upcoming participation in Operation Mosaic. Operation Mosaic comprised two nuclear tests in Australia. Although the troops learnt about their involvement in the test operation in advance, they did not know that their ship would be ordered to sail through the plumes of the explosions. HMS Diana was subsequently involved in a skirmish during the Suez Crisis.
This is a short extract from an in-depth interview. Nick Kettlewell was recorded for the Oral History of British Nuclear Test Veterans project in 2024. The interviewer was Joshua A Bushen. This project was run in partnership with National Life Stories and the full interview can be accessed as the British Library.
Transcript
When I was appointed, and you’ll see the appointment in there, to the Diana, I had no idea, we were all sworn to secrecy. I don’t think the sailors were actually told what we were going to do. They must have guessed, because they were doing all these courses, and the dockyard was busy doing some serious work on the ship, I mean apart from, I didn’t mention, but there were various sensors round the ship for the scientists to actually read, get readings, and all this was obvious to the sailors because they were seeing it going on round them and being installed. But it wasn’t until we actually left Plymouth that we were allowed to brief the sailors properly about what we were really going to be doing. And then the doctor was put on the stand to tell them that they would all, they would not be made impotent.
[ends at 0:01:01]
