ABSTRACT

In the 30 years since 1970, the only important change in the Royal Navy's nuclear posture has been the withdrawal of tactical nuclear weapons. The Royal Navy remained, therefore, very much aware of the defensive implications of nuclear weapons. The Soviet Navy and air forces were strongly nuclear-capable, and it had to be assumed that, in any future war, Western naval forces in the North Atlantic would be threatened with nuclear attack. The focus on North Atlantic operations also dictated a continuing awareness of the offensive possibilities of nuclear weapons, especially during the 1980s when the US Navy was able to restate, in the new 'Maritime Strategy', its visceral belief in the offensive. Interestingly, however, in practical terms the Royal Navy found itself playing the same role in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation plans to implement the Maritime Strategy as it had in the 1950s Striking Fleet: anti-submarine defence.