ABSTRACT
This chapter examines 'attack at source' and other offensive naval plans, and the factors which made them attractive during the period of broken-backed warfare's prominence in naval plans, before looking in detail at the Royal Navy's part in early British nuclear weapons developments. The Royal Navy at the time probably liked to think that it had the more sensible regard for anti-submarine warfare. The chapter argues that support for an offensive nuclear strategy took second place throughout to purely tactical considerations in provoking interest in naval nuclear weapons. Naval sneak craft and Army land mine requirements also remained under consideration, although the depth charge was set aside. Other possible naval nuclear weapons were still some way off, although the Air Ministry was beginning to show more interest in a nuclear-tipped surface-to-air weapon and in the same month Rear Admiral Barnard again mentioned a short-range surface-to-surface weapon for use from a submarine.
