ABSTRACT
As the transatlantic crisis over Skybolt had begun to unfold towards the end of 1962, the COS's Joint Planning Staff had been busy preparing a series of papers examining the future of British strategy. One of the first they compiled - with uncommon timing - presented the military case for maintaining a UK-controlled strategic nuclear capability in the period after 1970. The Prime Minister's party arrived in Nassau after the long trip from London on 18 December. Accompanying Macmillan on the ministerial side were Home, Thorneycroft, and Duncan Sandys, the Commonwealth Secretary. The two delegations reconvened on the morning of 20 December knowing that the outcome of the conference was still in the balance. After recapping his rejection of the previous day's US offers, Macmillan began by admitting that he might have been wrong in picturing Polaris as a straightforward replacement for Skybolt since it had implications both in character and in time which marked beginning of a new phase.
