The Avro Vulcan was a jet-powered tailless delta wing high-altitude strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force from 1956 until 1984. In Thunderball, it is hijacked, along with its payload of two atomic bombs, by a SPECTRE agent who has undergone surgery to resemble NATO pilot Major François Derval.

When Miss Moneypenny tells Bond that "all the 00s in Europe have been rushed in," he rushes to the conference room to find nine chairs for the 00 agents.

SPECTRE: My dear Prime Minister, two atomic bombs, numbers 456 and 457 which were aboard NATO flight 759 are now in the possession of SPECTRE. Unless within the next seven days your government pays to us 100 million pounds sterling, in a manner to be designated by us, we shall destroy a major city in England or the United States of America.

He is instructed to signal acceptance of the terms by arranging for Big Ben to strike 7 times at 6pm on the following day.

Bond observes Largo's mistress while scuba diving. When her flipper gets stuck between two rocks, Bond exploits the opportunity to rescue her and get close to Largo.

Bond joins Largo at the card table for a game of Baccarat chemin de fer. During the game, Bond hints that he knows who Largo really is, but in a way that no one else at the table could understand, dropping lines such as "I thought I saw a spectre at your shoulder--the spectre of defeat."

Palmyra is the temporary residence of SPECTRE board-member and second-in-command, Emilio Largo. Located near Nassau in the Bahamas, the estate is being utilized as part of SPECTRE's plot to steal atomic weaponry.

An MI6 operative based in the Bahamas, Paula Caplan assists Bond and Felix Leiter until she is kidnapped by Largo's henchmen.

Operating from the basement of his boating supplies shop, Symonette Marine Store, Pinder assists Bond in his investigation of Emilio Largo.

Q issues Bond a modified Breitling Top Time wristwatch, containing a built-in Geiger counter. Radiation levels are displayed via the watch's hands.