Jump to content

Letters of last resort

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Cogswobble (talk | contribs) at 01:05, 1 February 2013 (Reverting unsourced changes.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The United Kingdom relies on four Vanguard-class submarines to provide its nuclear deterrent. The submarine can carry 16 Trident II SLBMs, a ballistic missile armed with nuclear warheads with a range of 7000 miles (11265.41KM). The submarine does not have to refuel as she runs on a nuclear reactor and could theoretically remain underwater, circling the globe for approximately 20 years. Only the need for supplies prevents this. At least one submarine is always active and armed, lurking beneath the world's oceans whilst the other three will either be in re-fit or in port.[1]

The letters of last resort are four identically worded, handwritten letters written by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to the commanding officers of the four British ballistic missile submarines. They contain orders on what action to take in the event that an enemy nuclear strike has destroyed the British state and has killed or incapacitated the Prime Minister and the "second person" (normally a high-ranking member of the Cabinet) whom the Prime Minister has designated to make a decision on how to act in the event of the Prime Minister's death. In the event that the orders were to be carried out, the action taken could be the last act of the British state, and would have the capability of literally destroying the world.[2]

The letters are stored inside two safes in the control room of each submarine.[3] The letters are destroyed unopened after a Prime Minister leaves office, so what action would have been taken is only ever known to the outgoing Prime Minister.[4]

Process

In the event of the death of the Prime Minister and the designated alternate decision-maker as a result of a nuclear strike, the commander(s) of the nuclear submarine(s) (of which there is always one on patrol) will use a series of checks to ascertain whether the letters of last resort will have to be opened. According to Peter Hennessy's book The Secret State: Whitehall and the Cold War, 1945 to 1970, the process by which a Trident submarine would determine if the British government continues to function includes, amongst other checks, establishing whether BBC Radio 4 continues broadcasting.[5]

Options

According to the December 2008 BBC Radio 4 documentary The Human Button, there were four known options given to the Prime Minister to include in the letters:

  • Retaliate with nuclear weapons;
  • Don't retaliate with nuclear weapons;
  • The submarine commander uses his own judgement; or
  • The submarine commander places himself under United States or Australian command, if possible.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Brown move to cut UK nuclear subs". BBC News. 23 September 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  2. ^ "HMS Apocalypse: Deep in the Atlantic, a submarine waits on alert with nuclear missiles that would end the world..." London: Daily Mail. 30 November 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2011. The decision is, in the end, made by one person: the Prime Minister. Or, if he is dead, his personally appointed alternate decision-taker (usually someone high up in the Cabinet). If he or she is also dead, it falls to the submarine Captain to follow the orders of the Last Resort Letter — which might, in fact, ask him to use his own judgement.
  3. ^ Rosenbaum, Ron (2009). "The Letter of Last Resort". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2009-05-18. In the control room of the sub, the Daily Mail reports, "there is a safe attached to a control room floor. Inside that, there is an inner safe. And inside that sits a letter. It is addressed to the submarine commander and it is from the Prime Minister. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  4. ^ Rosenbaum, Ron (2009). "The Letter of Last Resort". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2012-03-18. [E]very prime minister in recent years has written such a letter and ... letters that go unused (Tony Blair's for instance) are destroyed without being read. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  5. ^ "HMS Apocalypse: Deep in the Atlantic, a submarine waits on alert with nuclear missiles that would end the world..." Retrieved 10 May 2012.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Letters_of_last_resort&oldid=535952283"