The first measurements of toroidal rotation of the bulk plasma during
purely ion cyclotron resonance frequency (ICRF) heated H-modes on the
JET tokamak are reported. Substantial toroidal acceleration in the dir
ection of the plasma current occurs at the transition into H-mode. In
the present paper the relationship between toroidal rotation and impro
ved confinement of the H-mode is investigated. We conclude that the do
minant driving mechanism for toroidal rotation is the ion pressure gra
dient.