GRILL MASTER
11-30-2008, 03:03 PM
HMAS Apocalypse: Deep in the Atlantic, a submarine waits on alert with nuclear missiles that would end the world...
In chilling and compelling detail, Peter Hennessy and Richard Knight reveal for the first time the nation's last line of defence
Deep beneath the surface of the Atlantic, HMS Vanguard — one of four identical Royal Navy submarines carrying Trident nuclear missiles — is on patrol.
Moving at a fast-walking pace, she is out there right now; undetectable, untouchable and armed with more explosive power than was unleashed by all sides in the duration of World War II.
On board the Vanguard there is a safe attached to the floor of the control room. 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.
In that letter, Gordon Brown conveys the most awesome decision of his political career. He made it alone, in the first days of his premiership, and none of us is ever likely to know what he decided.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/11/28/article-1090400-02A0C856000005DC-585_468x360.jpg
HMS Vanguard, pictured sailing from HMNB Clyde, holds missiles that could end the world
It is the Prime Minister’s answer to a grim but essential question: in the event of a nuclear attack in which Britain is largely destroyed and he is killed before he has time to react, should Britain fire back?
The moment they discover true power
Writing that letter is a profound experience for any prime minister. It is, perhaps, the moment they discover what power really means. Lord Guthrie, former Chief of the Defence Staff, recalls briefing the newly-elected Tony Blair on Britain’s nuclear capability when he first entered Downing Street in 1997.
‘I think quite honestly, like most prime ministers, he hadn’t given a huge amount of thought to what this really meant. And it is actually an awesome responsibility. It really comes home to you that he could, if the circumstances demanded it, create devastation on a huge scale.’
How did Blair react? ‘Well,’ says Guthrie, ‘he went quite quiet.’
Guthrie’s comments were recorded as part of a forthcoming BBC Radio 4 documentary, The Human Button, for which we spent a month researching Britain’s
nuclear chain of command in unprecedented detail.
We talked to the men (so far, they have always been men) who operate the system. And we were given greater access to Britain’s nuclear weapons infrastructure than ever before.
We did not set out to debate the pros and cons of a nuclear capability. Our questions were more basic. How does the system actually work? Is it fail-safe? And how does it feel to be a part of the ‘human button’ — a flesh and blood component in a well-drilled machine which, if deployed, would bring about the end of the world?
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/11/28/article-1090400-02A18012000005DC-890_233x423.jpg Gordon Brown has written a 'last resort' letter containing instructions in the event of nuclear attack
Our journey took us to highly secret — and at times, startlingly bleak — corners of the British state. Ultimately, it took us to the weapon itself: HMS Vanguard.
Vanguard was the first of Britain’s four nuclear-armed submarines to slide silently into
the Faslane naval base on the east coast of Scotland when the Trident programme came into commission 14 years ago.
We can’t say where she is right now, because we don’t know. Even the Navy does not know precisely. Nor do most of her 160 or so crew.
Once the boat has left base, it is up to the captain alone to decide where to patrol within the vast sector of the ocean to which he has been assigned.
But before Vanguard sailed on her present patrol, we went aboard her. Nothing prepares you for your first encounter with a ballistic submarine. It’s not so much her size — though she’s big, 150metres long — which takes your breath away. It’s the overwhelming menace which drips from her glistening grey casement.
In chilling and compelling detail, Peter Hennessy and Richard Knight reveal for the first time the nation's last line of defence
Deep beneath the surface of the Atlantic, HMS Vanguard — one of four identical Royal Navy submarines carrying Trident nuclear missiles — is on patrol.
Moving at a fast-walking pace, she is out there right now; undetectable, untouchable and armed with more explosive power than was unleashed by all sides in the duration of World War II.
On board the Vanguard there is a safe attached to the floor of the control room. 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.
In that letter, Gordon Brown conveys the most awesome decision of his political career. He made it alone, in the first days of his premiership, and none of us is ever likely to know what he decided.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/11/28/article-1090400-02A0C856000005DC-585_468x360.jpg
HMS Vanguard, pictured sailing from HMNB Clyde, holds missiles that could end the world
It is the Prime Minister’s answer to a grim but essential question: in the event of a nuclear attack in which Britain is largely destroyed and he is killed before he has time to react, should Britain fire back?
The moment they discover true power
Writing that letter is a profound experience for any prime minister. It is, perhaps, the moment they discover what power really means. Lord Guthrie, former Chief of the Defence Staff, recalls briefing the newly-elected Tony Blair on Britain’s nuclear capability when he first entered Downing Street in 1997.
‘I think quite honestly, like most prime ministers, he hadn’t given a huge amount of thought to what this really meant. And it is actually an awesome responsibility. It really comes home to you that he could, if the circumstances demanded it, create devastation on a huge scale.’
How did Blair react? ‘Well,’ says Guthrie, ‘he went quite quiet.’
Guthrie’s comments were recorded as part of a forthcoming BBC Radio 4 documentary, The Human Button, for which we spent a month researching Britain’s
nuclear chain of command in unprecedented detail.
We talked to the men (so far, they have always been men) who operate the system. And we were given greater access to Britain’s nuclear weapons infrastructure than ever before.
We did not set out to debate the pros and cons of a nuclear capability. Our questions were more basic. How does the system actually work? Is it fail-safe? And how does it feel to be a part of the ‘human button’ — a flesh and blood component in a well-drilled machine which, if deployed, would bring about the end of the world?
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/11/28/article-1090400-02A18012000005DC-890_233x423.jpg Gordon Brown has written a 'last resort' letter containing instructions in the event of nuclear attack
Our journey took us to highly secret — and at times, startlingly bleak — corners of the British state. Ultimately, it took us to the weapon itself: HMS Vanguard.
Vanguard was the first of Britain’s four nuclear-armed submarines to slide silently into
the Faslane naval base on the east coast of Scotland when the Trident programme came into commission 14 years ago.
We can’t say where she is right now, because we don’t know. Even the Navy does not know precisely. Nor do most of her 160 or so crew.
Once the boat has left base, it is up to the captain alone to decide where to patrol within the vast sector of the ocean to which he has been assigned.
But before Vanguard sailed on her present patrol, we went aboard her. Nothing prepares you for your first encounter with a ballistic submarine. It’s not so much her size — though she’s big, 150metres long — which takes your breath away. It’s the overwhelming menace which drips from her glistening grey casement.