ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the immediate thoughts and reactions of the Royal Navy in the early months and years of the atomic age. The Joint Technical Warfare Committee recognised that atomic bombs would be more economically used on land than at sea; again the implication was that the Navy could plan to fight a third, non-atomic, Battle of the Atlantic. Flag Officer Submarines mentioned atomic propulsion for submarines; Director of Air Warfare and Training wondered whether 'the delivery of atomic weapons against an enemy beyond the range of rocket attack from our own territory [might] devolve on the Navy'. As such the Navy, identified as a lower-priority target, and later reassured by the Bikini data that at least some naval operations would be possible even under atomic attack, could feel justified in devoting time and effort to planning for conventional war.
