Last Resort.

This is coolbert:

From Business Insider an article as describing the Doomsday Scenario.

That British national command authority for whatever reason [usually expected to be an atomic attack of cataclysmic proportions] becoming totally incapacitated or destroy, chaos the result. Those commanders of nuclear deterrent [Trident and before that Polaris] submarines responding to instructions as deemed appropriate by the British Prime Minister.

"The first task of any new prime minister is to write this letter to nuclear submarines in case the government is destroyed"

"Somewhere out in the North Atlantic, every hour of the day, every day of the year, a lone submarine glides through the ocean with no real destination. Since 1969, one of the four boats of the UK’s Continuous At-Sea Submarine Deterrent has always been on patrol."

"Options do allow a great deal of latitude"

Options to include as alleged:

1. "Retaliate with nuclear weapons without prejudice."
2. "Do not retaliate at all."
3. "Allow the commander to act within his own discretion."
4. "Place the boat under the control of an allied navy, specifically the Royal Australian Navy [RAN] or US Navy [USN]."

The devoted reader to the blog if in command of a Trident missile firing submarine and  if instructed to "act within his own discretion" would do what exactly? Think about it for a while!

coolbert.