The Letter Of Last Resort - PMs letter to Nuke Sub Captains

[cronus]

The chances are, if Russia or China launched any nukes at Britain, all of the missiles on the subs would be made ready to go.
As soon as it became certain that the subs not at sea were targeted, they would fire everything, before they were hit.

I'm gonna need a bigger sickle!

[camoguard]

The chances are, if Russia or China launched any nukes at Britain, all of the missiles on the subs would be made ready to go.
As soon as it became certain that the subs not at sea were targeted, they would fire everything, before they were hit.

I'm gonna need a bigger sickle!

There are tools for that.

[Jason]

One of the first acts of a new British Prime Minister is to write 4 copies of a letter called "The letter of last resort". One copy of this letter is then placed in each of the 4 Trident submarines that carry the UK's nuclear deterrent. One of these subs is always on patrol. No-one but the PM knows what is in the letters
and the previous PMs letters are destroyed unopened upon the election of a new PM. The letter is to be opened by the submarine captain if they believe that the UK has been destroyed by a pre-emptive nuclear strike. The letters are thought to contain ONE of the following 4 commands, the option being up to the PM:-

1) Retaliate against the enemy
2) Do NOT retaliate against the enemy
3) Captain to use own judgement
4) Place the submarine, if possible, under the control of a friendly power, either the USA or Australia.

The "letter of last resort", if opened and acted upon, would constitute the very last act of the British state.

What would you do? Personally, I'd opt for option 4. Seems no point in retaliating, deterrence has already failed and there's no point adding to the destruction.

Australia? Why Australia? The Canadian forces already operate submarines, have a real army, and are just better positioned to put those subs to use.

I'd go for a fifth option.

5) Place the submarine, if possible, under the control of a Commonwealth power, preferably a militarily competent power like Canada. If not possible, retaliate against the enemy.

[Collector1337]

How dare you try and defend yourselves.

You should just be laying down a dying like mrjonno says.

[MrJonno]

How dare you try and defend yourselves.

You should just be laying down a dying like mrjonno says.

What has defence got to do with it, that has already failed in this scenario

[DaveDodo007]

It would have to be one, if anyone nuked my country then I want them to be motherfucking toast in the next few minutes. Lets face it no PM would dare pick any other option for fear of it being leaked. That would make him look weak and be political suicide.

[DaveDodo007]

The Yanks had "Plan Red" in the 30s, a scheme to wage war on and destroy the British Empire. As luck would have it, the Germans did it for them but I still don't trust the buggers.

You would have to mention this as I love 'what if' scenarios. Now am off to wiki to check how strong both countries were at that time.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The Yanks had "Plan Red" in the 30s, a scheme to wage war on and destroy the British Empire. As luck would have it, the Germans did it for them but I still don't trust the buggers.

You would have to mention this as I love 'what if' scenarios. Now am off to wiki to check how strong both countries were at that time.

"It's better to have a plan and not need than to need a plan and not have it."

[klr]

Do any of the letters ever mention anything about "... nuking from orbit, as it's the only way to be sure"

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Do any of the letters ever mention anything about "... nuking from orbit, as it's the only way to be sure"

IIRC, that's the Weaver Stance.

[DaveDodo007]

The Yanks had "Plan Red" in the 30s, a scheme to wage war on and destroy the British Empire. As luck would have it, the Germans did it for them but I still don't trust the buggers.

You would have to mention this as I love 'what if' scenarios. Now am off to wiki to check how strong both countries were at that time.

"It's better to have a plan and not need than to need a plan and not have it."

Yes I understand that but this is fascinating stuff. The USA would have invaded Canada and more amazing yet Canada would have invaded the US as a delaying tactic until Britain could send troops. Britain is always vulnerable to a blockade and was prepared to wait until an isolationist population of the USA got fed up with the war. There is even talk of Japan joining the Brits and the US fighting a war on two fronts. Who knows what would have happened to Canada even without support. It could have been quickly routed or a Russia vs Finns scenario.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The thing that's missing is the triggers. If nothing happens to trigger the plan, it just sits on the shelf. That's the case with this one. War Plan Orange started as a plan to defend Hawaii against Japan.

[pErvinalia]

One of the first acts of a new British Prime Minister is to write 4 copies of a letter called "The letter of last resort". One copy of this letter is then placed in each of the 4 Trident submarines that carry the UK's nuclear deterrent. One of these subs is always on patrol. No-one but the PM knows what is in the letters
and the previous PMs letters are destroyed unopened upon the election of a new PM. The letter is to be opened by the submarine captain if they believe that the UK has been destroyed by a pre-emptive nuclear strike. The letters are thought to contain ONE of the following 4 commands, the option being up to the PM:-

1) Retaliate against the enemy
2) Do NOT retaliate against the enemy
3) Captain to use own judgement
4) Place the submarine, if possible, under the control of a friendly power, either the USA or Australia.

The "letter of last resort", if opened and acted upon, would constitute the very last act of the British state.

What would you do? Personally, I'd opt for option 4. Seems no point in retaliating, deterrence has already failed and there's no point adding to the destruction.

Australia? Why Australia? The Canadian forces already operate submarines, have a real army, and are just better positioned to put those subs to use.

I'd go for a fifth option.

5) Place the submarine, if possible, under the control of a Commonwealth power, preferably a militarily competent power like Canada. If not possible, retaliate against the enemy.

We'd kick your arses. And we've got subs. And sometimes they even work..

[Jason]

The Yanks had "Plan Red" in the 30s, a scheme to wage war on and destroy the British Empire. As luck would have it, the Germans did it for them but I still don't trust the buggers.

You would have to mention this as I love 'what if' scenarios. Now am off to wiki to check how strong both countries were at that time.

"It's better to have a plan and not need than to need a plan and not have it."

The real reason the US didn't enter the war until after Pearl Harbour.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The Yanks had "Plan Red" in the 30s, a scheme to wage war on and destroy the British Empire. As luck would have it, the Germans did it for them but I still don't trust the buggers.

You would have to mention this as I love 'what if' scenarios. Now am off to wiki to check how strong both countries were at that time.

"It's better to have a plan and not need than to need a plan and not have it."

The real reason the US didn't enter the war until after Pearl Harbour.

That made no sense.