Armageddon It

Via Politico, an interesting article on Britain's nuclear deterrent:

The British approached a nuclear holocaust differently, and in an appropriately British fashion. Rather than rely on high-tech gadgetry, their prime ministers handwrote “Letters of Last Resort,” and then locked those letters inside of a safe inside of another safe, and placed them in the control rooms of the nation’s nuclear submarines. The safes will only be accessible to the sub’s commander and deputy, who must decide together when Britain has been entirely destroyed.

For decades now, Britain has maintained a force of four SSBN subs, one of which is always at sea. I actually dealt with something like this in To Defend the Earth, In The Waiting Below, an American sub cruises of the California coast on a doomsday patrol. The final decision was in captain's hands.

In World War 1990: Operation Arctic Storm, Prime Minister Thatcher says to the BBC, 'Any time I think I have to destroy the Soviet Union, I will.'

The nuclear arsenals of Britain and France always complicated Soviet nuclear planning. Even if the United States were destroyed both nations maintained nuclear deterrents. What to do about those in case of nuclear war? British nuclear forces were on alert during the Cuban Missile Crisis and Prime Minister McMillan was in contact with President Kennedy.

Interestingly, Britain only developed its own nukes to show it was still a world power and prove to the US they were still an important ally. They really weren't all that concerned with the Soviets.

As far as those instructions from British Prime Ministers they usually came down to; retaliate, do nothing, put yourself in command of an allied navy. This would mean the United States of course, or perhaps Canada or Australia.

On the Beach, certainly a nuclear Armageddon film, opens with a U.S. submarine arriving in Australia and asking for orders.