Grim humourous career of Eric Thompson, UK nuclear sub officer.

Vigilis, former USN submariner of Molten Eagle fame, points out a humourous book by a former UK nuclear submarine officer: one Eric Thompson who wrote:

 On Her Majesty's Nuclear Service (in hardcover, published 28 February 2018)

Stephen Stewart for Scotland’s Daily Record, 5 March 2018 writes https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scottish-submariner-lifts-lid-extraordinary-12125812

"Scottish submarine captain who had finger on nuclear button reveals chilling Cold War secrets

Eric Thompson (November 2003 photo above) says he was issued with secret letter from the prime minister to be opened in the event of nuclear war.

He had his finger on the nuclear button, ready to unleash World War III.

Now, former Faslane Commodore Eric Thompson – who commanded five nuclear submarines during his career – has lifted the lid on the chilling secrets of the Cold War. Eric revealed that the frontline subs were issued with a secret letter from the prime minister to be opened in the event of nuclear armageddon.

The note – which was kept in a safe on board – would tell the crew to either retaliate by launching a cataclysmic nuclear strike or stand down. ­Thankfully, Eric never had to open his letter.

Eric, who was born in Coatbridge [in Scotland], won a ­scholarship to Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth at 16. He served as an engineer officer before going on to submarines.

In 1969, the early part of his career, Eric ready for action aboard the HMS Andrew [a conventional  sub retrofitted with a 4 inch deck gun to take care of blockade-running junks in Southeast Asia] (Image: Collect Unknown)

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Nearly 40 years later, he retired as Commodore of Faslane, Britain’s principal nuclear submarine base.

Among the dangers of the Cold War, Eric also shares some funnier times.

He said: “Britain’s nuclear deterrent Polaris submarines were continuously at 15 minutes’ notice to launch a nuclear counter-strike on Russia in response to any Soviet nuclear strike against the UK.

“As I served in Polaris submarines during this period, I can testify to our readiness being a grim but effective reality. On taking office, every prime minister selects three nuclear ­deputies from his or her ministers.

[Eric Thompson] former top naval officer performing stand up (Image: Centre Press Agency).

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“They are appointed to take over the firing decision should the prime minister be killed.

...“This is called the letter of last resort and, ­sometimes, the letter from the grave. It is kept in a safe within a safe in the submarine control room. One such letter was held in my submarine, HMS Revenge.

...Eric served in five submarines, two squadrons, the staff of Submarine HQ and the Ministry of Defence. His MBE was awarded for leadership during a submarine emergency on patrol.

He would often have to go on a 10-week nuclear deterrence patrol on a sub with no contact from the outside world. In his new book, he argues that nuclear weapons were directly responsible for the avoidance of World War III.

...Eric stokes controversy in his book by claiming [still leading] Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn could leave Britain’s defences vulnerable.

He wrote: “In 2015, Jeremy Corbyn, a lifelong nuclear activist and one-time vice chairman of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, became leader of the Labour Party. "Were he to be elected as prime minister, he could, hypothetically, select the ‘do not retaliate’ option. If a potential aggressor were to be aware of this, our independent nuclear deterrent would have lost all credibility.

...He said: “I had brought some exploding cigar tips for insertion in the wardroom panatelas that were passed round after mess dinners.

"One night, I snuck the wardroom cigar box into my cabin, removed two panatelas from their tubes, unwrapped their cellophane, inserted the explosive tips and returned the box to its cupboard.

“The other spiked cigar was either not smoked or failed to explode. I had not considered that at the end of our patrol, we would be handing the boat over to the other crew, including the cigar box.

“A tradition of the deterrent programme is that a VIP meets every returning nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine in the Clyde estuary and rides it back to Faslane.

A snap from Eric's book of Faslane [UK SSBN base] in 1998. [Guess where the Trident D5 missiles are likely interchanged!] (Image: Handout).

“VIPs range from the prime minister down to senior admirals. Another tradition is that after lunch, the VIP is invited into the captain’s tiny cabin for coffee and a cigar.

“Four months later, the captain of the other crew was entertaining his VIP guest, the commander-in-chief, in the privacy of his cabin when the end of the great man’s cigar exploded.

“Until writing this book, the perpetrator of that joke has never been identified. In military speak, it’s called, ‘Third party targeting’.”...”

SEE WHOLE DAILY RECORD ARTICLE HERE
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Also see biodata by Eric in Eric's own website Welcome to Eric's World which contains a blog, Short Fiction, "Poem of the Week" and even "Burns" (Robert Burns club information) etc.

Pete