0:00:02 > 0:00:06Out there, somewhere, hidden under the sea...
0:00:07 > 0:00:11..is a British submarine ready to launch a nuclear strike.
0:00:15 > 0:00:22Continuously on patrol, its job is to hide, to wait and to deter.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27Earlier this year, the British Parliament
0:00:27 > 0:00:29voted for four new Trident submarines
0:00:29 > 0:00:33that are expected to last another generation.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39'This places Prime Minister Macmillan in a difficult position...'
0:00:39 > 0:00:41- But how did we get here? - 'As I read the papers...'
0:00:41 > 0:00:46Now, through the personal letters of prime ministers and presidents...
0:00:46 > 0:00:49This has become a matter of some urgency.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52..eyewitness accounts and once secret documents...
0:00:53 > 0:00:55This must be very secret.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00..the story can be told of the remarkable events,
0:01:00 > 0:01:04relationships and deals done half a century ago...
0:01:04 > 0:01:06Initiate fire.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09..to secure Britain's very first submarines and missiles...
0:01:11 > 0:01:15This is a weapon which may prove to be the ultimate answer.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18..and how one small loch in the west of Scotland
0:01:18 > 0:01:21became a crucial bargaining chip in this great game
0:01:21 > 0:01:25to keep Britain a member of the nuclear club.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28There was a great deal of anger about this in Scotland.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33This is how we came to have our very British deterrent.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43BELL TOLLS
0:01:47 > 0:01:52In 1957, Britain was one of just three nuclear powers in the world,
0:01:52 > 0:01:56third behind America and the Soviet Union.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03Prime Minister Harold Macmillan has staked his reputation on Britain
0:02:03 > 0:02:05remaining part of this elite club.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11But in October of that year, his plans are upset
0:02:11 > 0:02:14in a most unexpected way.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19# Find a wheel and it goes round, round, round
0:02:19 > 0:02:25# As it skims along with the happy sound as it goes
0:02:25 > 0:02:27# Along the ground, ground, ground
0:02:27 > 0:02:31# Till it leads you to the one you love... #
0:02:31 > 0:02:35The Soviet Union has put a satellite into space,
0:02:35 > 0:02:37and stunned the leaders of the free world.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41'Sputnik made history with hundreds of circuits in orbit.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45'Listening post picked up the beeps and hisses from its radio.'
0:02:47 > 0:02:50This seemingly innocent act by Russia
0:02:50 > 0:02:53will bring the Cold War to boiling point.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57Sputnik is a game changer.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59Once you put a satellite into space,
0:02:59 > 0:03:03that means you could put a warhead into space,
0:03:03 > 0:03:05which means that the United States
0:03:05 > 0:03:08is suddenly directly threatened by the Soviet Union.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12Were you surprised or alarmed by the fact that the Russians
0:03:12 > 0:03:16- were able to get satellites going round the world?- Definitely alarmed.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21What do you think about America not being able to do the same?
0:03:21 > 0:03:25Well, if I was in military service and fell down on the job like that,
0:03:25 > 0:03:27I could stand a court-martial.
0:03:28 > 0:03:29As America's humiliation sinks in,
0:03:31 > 0:03:33the president tries to maintain a brave face.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38This launching of the satellite
0:03:38 > 0:03:41proves that they can hurl
0:03:41 > 0:03:43an object a considerable distance.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47Now, that is a great accomplishment if done.
0:03:47 > 0:03:52One of the great frustrations for Dwight Eisenhower
0:03:52 > 0:03:58is that the American people don't trust him to keep them safe the way used to.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Macmillan is quick to grasp how much
0:04:03 > 0:04:06Sputnik has dented America's confidence
0:04:06 > 0:04:09and records these frank observations in his diary.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14The Russian success in launching the satellite
0:04:14 > 0:04:17has been something equivalent to Pearl Harbor.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20The American cocksureness is shaken,
0:04:20 > 0:04:24the president is under severe attack for the first time.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31Eisenhower and Macmillan know each other well.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Their bond is one of brothers in arms.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40I worked at his headquarters as British resident minister.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44We had a lot of very tough problems to deal with then.
0:04:44 > 0:04:45And we remained great friends.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49And one of the advantages of friendship
0:04:49 > 0:04:51is you can talk frankly to your friends.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54As America's crisis of confidence deepens,
0:04:56 > 0:04:58Macmillan reaches out to Eisenhower.
0:05:00 > 0:05:01These are his own words.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08What are we going to do about these Russians?
0:05:09 > 0:05:12This artificial satellite has brought it home to us
0:05:12 > 0:05:16what formidable people they are
0:05:16 > 0:05:18and what a menace they present to the free world.
0:05:20 > 0:05:26Has not the time come, when we could go further towards pooling our efforts,
0:05:26 > 0:05:30and decide how best to use them for our common good?
0:05:32 > 0:05:34Dear, Harold.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38All countries that fear themselves threatened by communism
0:05:38 > 0:05:41look primarily to your country and to ours
0:05:41 > 0:05:44for the leadership they need.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46As you know, I have long been an earnest advocate
0:05:46 > 0:05:50of closer ties between our two countries.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54I keep torturing my imagination to discover ways and means whereby we
0:05:54 > 0:05:56could occasionally meet together,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59without creating the necessity for a communique.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01If we are to meet,
0:06:01 > 0:06:03we should do so as soon as possible.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07How is my visit to be explained?
0:06:09 > 0:06:13I thought carefully about the possibility of some pretext,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16like a lecture or a university degree,
0:06:16 > 0:06:21in order to reduce any impression that this is an emergency meeting.
0:06:24 > 0:06:29In America's humiliation, Macmillan also sent us an opportunity.
0:06:31 > 0:06:36He was a calculating politician. He was interested in using this public reaction in the United States
0:06:36 > 0:06:38to achieve what he described as the great prize
0:06:38 > 0:06:43as far as Britain's concerned, which was to re-establish a very close
0:06:43 > 0:06:46nuclear partnership with the United States.
0:06:50 > 0:06:55Just three weeks after Sputnik, Harold Macmillan travels to America
0:06:56 > 0:06:58for his summit with Eisenhower.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03They strike a deal to help each other out,
0:07:03 > 0:07:06and Macmillan comes away with his great prize -
0:07:06 > 0:07:11the promise of access to America's deepest nuclear secrets.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Just like Britain once had before.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23Britain ended the Second World War as a full partner
0:07:23 > 0:07:28in the nuclear bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34Britain ends the war thinking that the country is a nuclear country.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36It doesn't have any bombs,
0:07:36 > 0:07:40but the country understands how to make them and then
0:07:40 > 0:07:42comes the cold shoulder.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46The US Congress looks at the DNA and decides that Great Britain is not
0:07:46 > 0:07:51the father of the nuclear bomb and that the United States should not be
0:07:51 > 0:07:56sharing nuclear secrets any more with any country and suddenly,
0:07:56 > 0:08:00Britain is pushed out of the nuclear club by the United States.
0:08:03 > 0:08:08British scientists had been forced to go it alone and set out on a path
0:08:08 > 0:08:11towards an independent nuclear deterrent.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13Three, two, one.
0:08:16 > 0:08:21By 1957, we had our own H-bombs and a fleet of bombers to carry them.
0:08:24 > 0:08:30But in the new age of rockets, bombs and bombers were barely...
0:08:30 > 0:08:31credible.
0:08:33 > 0:08:34Britain could produce its own warheads,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37but that wasn't the most expensive part any more
0:08:37 > 0:08:40of being a nuclear power, it was how do you deliver these warheads?
0:08:40 > 0:08:44Britain needed a way to convey the nuclear weapons
0:08:44 > 0:08:47against a Soviet or Soviet bloc target.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50That was a very expensive proposition.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59Engine ignited, armed and guard removed.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01Roger.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04A group of elite rocket scientists were tasked
0:09:04 > 0:09:07with developing Britain's own nuclear missile.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10- Motors are central. - Roger.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15Tucked away from prying eyes in the very north of England,
0:09:15 > 0:09:19this top-secret project was called Blue Streak.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21All systems are ready.
0:09:21 > 0:09:22Roger.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26Blue Streak drained millions from the public purse.
0:09:30 > 0:09:31But it didn't go as planned.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37After Sputnik, there would be just four minutes' warning
0:09:37 > 0:09:39of a Soviet missile dropping from space.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45But Blue Streak took half an hour just to get its engine ready.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52While stuck on this vast launchpad, it would be a sitting duck.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59This is a small country, where do you put these things?
0:09:59 > 0:10:03You can't hide them like you can in the Russian steppes.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07They're easy to find and they're a target and they actually, in effect,
0:10:07 > 0:10:11make the British probably more vulnerable than they would be without them.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17Blue Streak's failings mean that by the mid-'60s,
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Britain will have no credible nuclear deterrent of its own.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27With Eisenhower's vast nuclear vault now opening,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30Macmillan can look inside for a solution.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40America has been funding a remarkable array
0:10:40 > 0:10:42of nuclear missile programmes
0:10:42 > 0:10:46through its Army, its Air Force and its Navy.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53Leading the way for the Navy is Admiral Arleigh Burke.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59In all of the campaigns of America's history,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02our ships have demonstrated a superior fighting quality
0:11:02 > 0:11:05and they have done that against all challengers,
0:11:05 > 0:11:08sometimes, it should be noted,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12when the odds seemed almost insurmountable.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17Burke is all too aware how dangerous nuclear missile bases on home soil
0:11:17 > 0:11:19have become since Sputnik...
0:11:21 > 0:11:25..as he reveals in this once top-secret memo.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29If we use the United States soil as the base,
0:11:29 > 0:11:32we will receive on United States soil,
0:11:32 > 0:11:35large numbers of enemy missiles aimed at eliminating
0:11:35 > 0:11:38our own missile-launching sites.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42If there were no alternatives, we should pursue this strategy.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45Fortunately, there are alternatives.
0:11:45 > 0:11:46And good ones.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52Burke has come up with a brilliant idea -
0:11:52 > 0:11:56put nuclear missiles into submarines.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59It's a system called Polaris.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04Move the deterrents out to sea,
0:12:04 > 0:12:10where the real estate is free and where they are far away from me.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15This would have the added benefit of keeping them far from America.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23The whole idea of a submarine launch system is almost incomprehensible.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28The basics of rocketry were really very new.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34They put them under water, in a submarine.
0:12:35 > 0:12:36And it works.
0:12:38 > 0:12:39And it shows, I think,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42the vast amount of money that they're prepared to spend,
0:12:42 > 0:12:44for instance, on this thing.
0:12:46 > 0:12:51Burke's once-secret papers shed more light on this extraordinary plan.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56Today, they are kept at the National Security Archive in Washington.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00Well, this is a document from the Navy archives,
0:13:00 > 0:13:03it's a memorandum that Arleigh Burke wrote
0:13:03 > 0:13:06and this one had an interesting section on plans
0:13:06 > 0:13:07for the Polaris missile system.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10As Burke put it, "having a Polaris submarine launch missile system,
0:13:11 > 0:13:15"it will permit eventually the US to move its deterrent missile forces
0:13:15 > 0:13:17"many, many miles from land.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20"Such distances, in the light of fallout,
0:13:20 > 0:13:23"of fixed site attraction for enemy missiles,
0:13:23 > 0:13:25"blast destruction and nuclear holocaust
0:13:25 > 0:13:28"are important and very impressive.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32"This would enlarge the possible launch area for ballistic missiles
0:13:32 > 0:13:35"to tens of millions of square miles."
0:13:37 > 0:13:41As far as he's concerned, the Russians had no real capabilities
0:13:41 > 0:13:44in determining the locations of submarines.
0:13:45 > 0:13:51You could put a submarine in the North Sea or in the North Pacific.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53A nuclear-powered submarine would be very quiet
0:13:53 > 0:13:57and he thought it would be potentially invulnerable to attack.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08Burke's ideas soon come to the attention
0:14:08 > 0:14:12of his counterpart in the UK -
0:14:12 > 0:14:15First Sea Lord, Dickie Mountbatten,
0:14:15 > 0:14:16who takes a very keen interest.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21Do you think our ships are the best to cope with this problem at the moment?
0:14:21 > 0:14:23I think they're the best that science
0:14:23 > 0:14:25and the present state of knowledge can produce.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29When we have to deal with nuclear submarines,
0:14:29 > 0:14:32we shall have a new problem and I think probably the best answer is to
0:14:32 > 0:14:34have nuclear submarines of our own,
0:14:34 > 0:14:36as being the best means of killing the others.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41So, Lord Mountbatten, descended from royalty, incredibly well connected,
0:14:41 > 0:14:42was always interested in technology.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45He used to joke that he invented technology
0:14:45 > 0:14:46and what he was interested in
0:14:46 > 0:14:48when he became First Sea Lord,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51was anything that would give the Royal Navy an edge.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58Mountbatten sees in Polaris the answer to all Britain's problems.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04He launches a charm offensive and begins a correspondence with Burke.
0:15:06 > 0:15:07These are their letters.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15My dear Arleigh, I hope you would agree to release to us,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18on a strictly Navy to Navy net,
0:15:18 > 0:15:21as much information as your acts would allow us to have
0:15:21 > 0:15:25in advance of you getting the weapon into service.
0:15:25 > 0:15:26Dear Dicky,
0:15:26 > 0:15:28we will, of course provide you with drawings
0:15:28 > 0:15:30of our Polaris submarines which you require.
0:15:31 > 0:15:36What we're aiming to do at the moment is to keep the Polaris pot boiling
0:15:36 > 0:15:39over here, so that the manifest advantages of the weapon systems
0:15:39 > 0:15:41shall not be overlooked.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44We can only do this if we can show that the US Navy
0:15:44 > 0:15:47is willing to give us every possible assistance
0:15:47 > 0:15:50to get such a weapon into service.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54For God's sake, Dickie, stop pestering me.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Put one of your men in our special projects office
0:15:57 > 0:15:59and he can tell you all you need to know.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02Both of us believe that this is a weapon which,
0:16:02 > 0:16:07if entrusted to our navies, may prove to be the ultimate answer.
0:16:11 > 0:16:16America's Navy is not the only force developing a nuclear deterrent that
0:16:16 > 0:16:18could solve Britain's problem.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24Top secret and incredibly sophisticated,
0:16:24 > 0:16:30a missile called Skybolt is being developed by the US Air Force
0:16:30 > 0:16:32to hit a target 2,000 miles away,
0:16:32 > 0:16:36after launching from a supersonic bomber.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42Because it's launched in midair,
0:16:42 > 0:16:44it's claimed to be more flexible
0:16:44 > 0:16:46and less vulnerable to counterattack
0:16:46 > 0:16:49than any weapon of comparable size on land.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53For Macmillan, the appeal of Skybolt includes its cost.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56Scramble, scramble!
0:16:56 > 0:16:59Because it can be fitted to Britain's bombers,
0:16:59 > 0:17:04it's far less expensive than a new fleet of submarines,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07even if it is not yet proven to work.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16It is February of 1960.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19In just a few weeks' time,
0:17:19 > 0:17:23Macmillan's government must finally announce to the public
0:17:23 > 0:17:27that Britain's nuclear missile, Blue Streak, will be cancelled.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32Yet he still hasn't got a replacement from Eisenhower's vault.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37A meeting is hastily arranged. PHONE RINGS
0:17:41 > 0:17:43A transcript of a call between them
0:17:43 > 0:17:46shows how desperate Macmillan is for a private word
0:17:46 > 0:17:48alone with his old friend.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53Hello, Harold.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55Where could we meet?
0:17:55 > 0:17:59Oh, we could come here we could go over to Camp David.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03We don't want lots of people milling around, we want just...
0:18:03 > 0:18:04you and me.
0:18:06 > 0:18:07Yes.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10We'd say we were talking about summit meetings.
0:18:11 > 0:18:12OK.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23On the 27th of March,
0:18:23 > 0:18:25Macmillan and Eisenhower arrive
0:18:25 > 0:18:28at the presidential retreat at Camp David.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31Officially, they are to discuss
0:18:31 > 0:18:34future summit meetings between world leaders.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40The next day, the two leaders of the free world slip away together
0:18:40 > 0:18:44on a short drive to the President's family farm
0:18:44 > 0:18:47at Gettysburg, for some time alone.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53I was in our backyard shooting baskets with friends
0:18:53 > 0:18:56and I'm dribbling a basketball around the side,
0:18:56 > 0:18:59this is the Gettysburg farm, and my grandfather and Macmillan
0:18:59 > 0:19:01are just simply walked towards us.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04And I put the basketball down and I shook his hand.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07And I was thrilled to meet him.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09This was a man who was in the news all the time,
0:19:09 > 0:19:13he was somebody that my grandfather spoke very highly of
0:19:13 > 0:19:15and I was impressed by his
0:19:15 > 0:19:18matter of factness and his dignity.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20Because it was just the two of them.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23In fact, they weren't even surrounded by security people.
0:19:23 > 0:19:24Yeah, just the two of them.
0:19:26 > 0:19:31Here, away from the gaze of advisers and civil servants,
0:19:31 > 0:19:32they get down to business.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37Eisenhower agrees to solve Macmillan's missile problem.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43He won't give Britain Polaris submarines and missiles,
0:19:43 > 0:19:47but he will provide the air-launched Skybolt -
0:19:47 > 0:19:50a deal that will keep Britain in the nuclear club
0:19:50 > 0:19:52for another ten years,
0:19:52 > 0:19:54and save Macmillan's skin.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58But Eisenhower wants something in return.
0:20:02 > 0:20:03To keep Russia in range,
0:20:03 > 0:20:08America's own Polaris submarines need a base in north-western Europe.
0:20:09 > 0:20:14Eisenhower thinks Scotland would be perfect.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16And Macmillan agrees.
0:20:18 > 0:20:24In a memo the next day, Eisenhower seals their gentlemen's agreement.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29We welcome the assurance that in the same spirit of cooperation,
0:20:29 > 0:20:32the UK would be agreeable, in principle,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35to making the necessary arrangements
0:20:35 > 0:20:38for US Polaris tenders in the Scottish ports.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48Just two weeks after Macmillan returns from America,
0:20:48 > 0:20:53Blue Streak is officially cancelled, to much derision,
0:20:53 > 0:20:57having a cost £180 million.
0:20:57 > 0:21:04Instead, Skybolt is announced as Britain's future deterrent.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06What's not announced and what remains top secret
0:21:06 > 0:21:11is the American nuclear submarine base Macmillan swapped it for.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15This must be very secret.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20And no wonder.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25The British public is becoming increasingly concerned
0:21:25 > 0:21:27about nuclear weapons.
0:21:29 > 0:21:30That very weekend,
0:21:30 > 0:21:34the biggest peace march in British history arrives right at
0:21:34 > 0:21:36Macmillan's doorstep...
0:21:38 > 0:21:40..and brings central London to a standstill.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45The question and issue is,
0:21:45 > 0:21:51shall the human race survive or shall it not?
0:21:51 > 0:21:52CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:21:54 > 0:21:57It's a triumph for a new protest organisation called
0:21:57 > 0:22:00The Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06People were frightened. I mean,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09Whitehall from Parliament Square to Trafalgar Square,
0:22:09 > 0:22:14was solid, absolutely solid with people
0:22:14 > 0:22:15with banners and flags.
0:22:15 > 0:22:20And it was the first political development where
0:22:20 > 0:22:22mass numbers were getting involved.
0:22:25 > 0:22:30This is an age of anxiety for the public about nuclear weapons.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33Remember, that the example of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
0:22:33 > 0:22:35is literally only a few years before.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37It's within memory.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41The fear is that the Russians after Sputnik
0:22:41 > 0:22:46might threaten some form of nuclear attack.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50People believe that a nuclear exchange is possible.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58There are many remote places in Scotland
0:22:58 > 0:23:02where you could hide a nuclear submarine base.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06But Eisenhower doesn't have those in mind.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12He wants one at the mouth of the Clyde.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16Just 25 miles from Glasgow.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20The third biggest city in Britain.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29Locked away at the National Archives at Kew
0:23:29 > 0:23:33are remarkable once-secret documents that reveal how deeply worried
0:23:35 > 0:23:38Macmillan was about this politically toxic problem.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44Macmillan, when he gets back home, suddenly has a revelation,
0:23:44 > 0:23:46I don't know why he didn't have it earlier,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49at the possibility that stationing a nuclear base
0:23:49 > 0:23:50right next to Glasgow,
0:23:50 > 0:23:52might not be a good idea!
0:23:54 > 0:23:56They were worried about protests, largely.
0:23:56 > 0:24:02It makes, obviously, a target very close to a major city.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05Quite difficult to sell to the inhabitants,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08quite difficult to sell to Britain in general.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10So we get a whole host of the ins and outs, as it were,
0:24:11 > 0:24:13of the Anglo-American nuclear relationship.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18A series of extraordinary drafts
0:24:18 > 0:24:23reveals how Macmillan now tries to talk Eisenhower out of locating
0:24:23 > 0:24:25his base on the Clyde.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Dear friend,
0:24:28 > 0:24:32I'm sure you realise that this proposal must cause serious
0:24:32 > 0:24:36political controversy in our country at this time.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42I am convinced that the Clyde would not be the right place.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49I am convinced that this would not be the right place either
0:24:49 > 0:24:52in your interests or in ours.
0:24:57 > 0:25:03The placing, so to speak, of a target so near to Glasgow would,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06I believe, give rise to the greatest political difficulties
0:25:06 > 0:25:08of your point of view.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14It would give rise to the greatest political difficulties
0:25:14 > 0:25:19and would make the project almost unsalable in this country.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22It would surely be a mistake to put down what would become
0:25:22 > 0:25:27a major nuclear target so near to the third largest
0:25:27 > 0:25:31and most overcrowded city in this country.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37"Your officers and men would have to live in the spots chosen for them
0:25:37 > 0:25:40"and their lives would be extremely difficult
0:25:40 > 0:25:43"if they were badly received by the local population."
0:25:43 > 0:25:46So, at this point, you're already getting the indication
0:25:46 > 0:25:49that the Americans themselves might find a hostile reception
0:25:49 > 0:25:52and so the idea is emerging that we may offer
0:25:52 > 0:25:54the Americans another location.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01Macmillan is desperate for an alternative.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04Considering even naval bases in England and Wales.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11But he settles on a stretch of water 100 miles further up the west coast
0:26:11 > 0:26:16of Scotland and safely away from Glasgow.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25Loch Linnhe would be a far better location.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28From a security point of view,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31a robust population of 3,000 or 4,000 Highlanders
0:26:31 > 0:26:35at Fort William is much more to my taste
0:26:35 > 0:26:40than the rather mixed population of the cosmopolitan city of Glasgow.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44So, here we have the gambit, as it were.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48Can you move your base from Glasgow to Fort William?
0:26:50 > 0:26:54It would make Macmillan's life a lot easier and it would make
0:26:54 > 0:26:59the potential sale of this to the British population easier, politically.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12The president has not yet replied to my telegram, which is very odd
0:27:12 > 0:27:15and rather disturbing.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22The Americans look at this and basically reject it.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25They don't want it, they don't want to be stuck in Fort William,
0:27:25 > 0:27:28they want to be a good port with all various facilities.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35Dear Harold, Loch Linnhe would be a better location for the Polaris
0:27:35 > 0:27:39submarine tender and dry dock in the Clyde.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43Other factors important to our ballistic missile submarine needs however,
0:27:43 > 0:27:47compel us, reluctantly, to decline your offer of Loch Linnhe.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52More immediate access to open seas and international waters
0:27:52 > 0:27:56and the need for comparative ease and safety of navigation,
0:27:56 > 0:27:59greater shore facilities for logistical support.
0:28:02 > 0:28:07To ensure the very best Polaris crews are recruited and retained,
0:28:07 > 0:28:09Eisenhower doesn't want them in the middle of nowhere.
0:28:12 > 0:28:17For their comfort, morale and amusement,
0:28:17 > 0:28:20they require a city on their doorstep.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23And an international airport nearby.
0:28:24 > 0:28:29The decisive factor in the location of the base is pinned to here,
0:28:29 > 0:28:35Prestwick Airport, where American transport planes can land with ease.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43If this is the really vital point for you,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46I will have the question reopened.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49I'm happy to accept your offer to reconsider the question.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53Indeed, this has become a matter of some urgency.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58It would soon become apparent why.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03International tensions have never been higher.
0:29:06 > 0:29:11'Several cameras are mounted on the plane at different positions,
0:29:11 > 0:29:13'so that they can photograph the ground down below
0:29:13 > 0:29:14'at different angles.'
0:29:15 > 0:29:19Cold War espionage is taking the world to the brink of war.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25The shooting down of an American spy plane by a Soviet missile continues
0:29:25 > 0:29:27to send shock waves around the world.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33The Soviet leader has stormed out of disarmament negotiations because of
0:29:33 > 0:29:36it and is threatening to attack Berlin.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41The world is very dangerous
0:29:41 > 0:29:47because Khrushchev appears to be really taking the western states on
0:29:47 > 0:29:49and, indeed, he is the man
0:29:49 > 0:29:52with the supreme authority to push the button.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59Eisenhower wants to deploy his Polaris fleet to the UK
0:29:59 > 0:30:01as soon as possible.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06The pressure on Macmillan is unrelenting.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08And the news only gets worse.
0:30:11 > 0:30:15Another aeroplane, coming this time from a base in the UK,
0:30:15 > 0:30:18disappeared in the sea near the northern shores of Russia
0:30:18 > 0:30:21some 10 or 12 days ago.
0:30:21 > 0:30:25They claim it violated Russian airspace
0:30:25 > 0:30:28and was shot down over territorial waters.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35The plane is code-named RB 47.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39And a once top-secret civil service memo reveals the impact of this
0:30:39 > 0:30:44forgotten incident on the plan for Eisenhower's base on the Clyde.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51"The Americans should not underrate our problem.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55"After the RB 47 incident, nothing could be more difficult
0:30:55 > 0:31:00"than to announce what would look like a new H-bomb base in this country.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05"Its status as a Soviet target would give rise to the greatest political
0:31:05 > 0:31:09"difficulties and would make the project almost unsalable
0:31:09 > 0:31:11"in this country."
0:31:15 > 0:31:17My mind is not working quite right.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22Really, the last fortnight has been an absolute nightmare.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30After six months of backtracking,
0:31:30 > 0:31:32Macmillan finally gives Eisenhower
0:31:32 > 0:31:35the base on the Clyde he promised him, in return for Skybolt.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39The Holy Loch.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43But Macmillan has one last card to play.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48To limit the political fallout when it all becomes public,
0:31:48 > 0:31:53he asks Eisenhower for joint control of the fleet's nuclear button.
0:31:59 > 0:32:03All that has been suggested so far is they should not,
0:32:03 > 0:32:05without our consent,
0:32:05 > 0:32:08fire their missiles from within our territorial waters.
0:32:10 > 0:32:14I'm wondering whether this could, for presentation purposes,
0:32:14 > 0:32:17be extended to something like 100 miles.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22It will not be necessary for me to explain to the public
0:32:22 > 0:32:23the whole procedure.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31We agree that our Polaris missiles would not be launched within your
0:32:31 > 0:32:33territorial waters without your consent.
0:32:34 > 0:32:39To carry any form of dual control beyond territorial waters would,
0:32:39 > 0:32:42however, present us with a number of problems.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47I give you the following assurance, which, of course,
0:32:47 > 0:32:49is not to be used publicly.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52In the event of an emergency,
0:32:52 > 0:32:56such as increased tensions or the threat of war,
0:32:56 > 0:32:58the US will take every possible step
0:32:58 > 0:33:02to consult with the British and other allies.
0:33:03 > 0:33:08With this weak assurance, Eisenhower can now hold Macmillan to his word.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12And Macmillan must face the consequences
0:33:12 > 0:33:15when it all becomes public.
0:33:16 > 0:33:21The Cabinet this morning approved facilities for Polaris on the Clyde
0:33:21 > 0:33:26on terms which are, I fear, not what I originally hoped.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42Well, it was November, 1960,
0:33:42 > 0:33:44when it was announced just out of the blue
0:33:44 > 0:33:49that Scotland was going to have a major nuclear base.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54There had been no consultation, no debate, no discussion on this.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57There was a good deal of anger about this in Scotland.
0:34:00 > 0:34:06First comes a giant support ship packed with technology and weapons.
0:34:08 > 0:34:11Then the Polaris submarines and their nuclear missiles.
0:34:14 > 0:34:18And what was once America's most secret weapon is now anchored
0:34:18 > 0:34:21in a Scottish loch and very public indeed.
0:34:24 > 0:34:28Everybody wants to know, are you carrying Polaris missiles now?
0:34:28 > 0:34:31We have the capability to do so and...
0:34:33 > 0:34:35..that's about all we have.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41This pier was the link between the American base
0:34:41 > 0:34:43and the Scottish mainland.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49And it quickly became a magnet for protests.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54They sat it out for 20 hours at the pier and they slept and sang
0:34:54 > 0:34:57anti-Polaris songs and were fortified by tea from supporters.
0:35:00 > 0:35:05First sit-down here, the sailors did clamber over us.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09I mean, I was trampled over by some American sailors.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11The sailors were upset.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13This was unexpected.
0:35:15 > 0:35:17Youths and elderly men and women lay limp
0:35:17 > 0:35:19as they were dumped on top of each other.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21There were cries of protest from the crowd
0:35:21 > 0:35:23as one boy stuck his head on the ground.
0:35:26 > 0:35:28We did get arrested.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31The police tactics, the authorities had decided
0:35:31 > 0:35:35they would clear the pier, so we were carried away
0:35:35 > 0:35:39and distributed in various police stations
0:35:39 > 0:35:43throughout the area over the weekend, until court the next week.
0:35:47 > 0:35:52It was trying to get people to realise
0:35:52 > 0:35:56just what kind of evil power
0:35:56 > 0:36:01was there that could get out of control.
0:36:01 > 0:36:05Just one of them could kill millions of people.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17It used to be quite a spectacle, actually, because
0:36:17 > 0:36:20each time a sub came in...
0:36:20 > 0:36:21the entire ship's company
0:36:21 > 0:36:24would present themselves on deck and they would
0:36:24 > 0:36:27stand to attention, and it was quite something to see.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34We're just coming up to the bit of the loch now
0:36:34 > 0:36:36that the base used to occupy.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38We'd be looking...
0:36:38 > 0:36:40inside the floating dock from here
0:36:40 > 0:36:44and then the big linkspan was after that and then the mothership.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48And of course lashed alongside the mothership would be...
0:36:49 > 0:36:52..half a dozen submarines at any one time.
0:36:52 > 0:36:54The Tannoy would be going,
0:36:54 > 0:36:56"Now hear this."
0:36:56 > 0:36:58It was just a bustle all the time.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05Lots and lots of local girls of course took up with the Americans
0:37:05 > 0:37:07and benefited from it in that way.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10They started families and got off to pastures new -
0:37:10 > 0:37:14the usual story, I suppose, anywhere there's a big base.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23In trying to keep Britain at the top table of nuclear powers,
0:37:23 > 0:37:28Harold Macmillan has turned the Clyde into a major Soviet target.
0:37:30 > 0:37:32And all this for Skybolt...
0:37:33 > 0:37:36..a weapon still in the hands of the developers.
0:37:41 > 0:37:46'Deliveries of Skybolt to the Royal Air Force were scheduled for 1965.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49'At the moment, after five and a half years of planning and building,
0:37:49 > 0:37:51'Skybolt is in the testing stage.'
0:37:52 > 0:37:57Skybolt has been promised to Macmillan by President Eisenhower
0:37:57 > 0:38:00as a way of solving Britain's nuclear missile problem.
0:38:02 > 0:38:07But in early 1961, a new American president comes to power.
0:38:08 > 0:38:11The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards,
0:38:11 > 0:38:13as all paths are.
0:38:13 > 0:38:17But it is the one most consistent with our character and courage,
0:38:17 > 0:38:20as a nation, and our commitments around the world.
0:38:21 > 0:38:26The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it.
0:38:26 > 0:38:30The thing that's important about Kennedy
0:38:30 > 0:38:34is that he's from different generation.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36He's not like Eisenhower,
0:38:36 > 0:38:40who had the experience in the Second World War
0:38:40 > 0:38:42of working closely with the British
0:38:42 > 0:38:45and therefore was sympathetic to their needs.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49He doesn't really have the same belief that Britain
0:38:49 > 0:38:54is still a superpower and that you need to keep maintaining
0:38:54 > 0:38:56that illusion, if you will.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02From different generations with different worldviews,
0:39:02 > 0:39:04these are not the most obvious of friends.
0:39:06 > 0:39:11'You are the target of those who would trample the liberties of free men.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13'You are in the crosshairs of the bombsite.
0:39:13 > 0:39:15'An enemy is centring on you.'
0:39:17 > 0:39:21But Kennedy sees Macmillan as someone he can turn to in times of crisis.
0:39:22 > 0:39:25'Our president has told us that even against the most powerful defence,
0:39:26 > 0:39:30'an aggressor in possession of an effective number of atomic bombs
0:39:30 > 0:39:32'could cause hideous damage.'
0:39:32 > 0:39:35As Khrushchev tries to place Russian missiles in Cuba and Kennedy faces
0:39:37 > 0:39:43his darkest hour, he telephones Macmillan everyday for his counsel,
0:39:43 > 0:39:47and their personal relationship emerges even stronger.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54Good evening. Was it then the most dangerous week
0:39:54 > 0:39:57in the whole history of mankind? I suppose it was.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00But we're through it. And where are we now?
0:40:02 > 0:40:06In the days and weeks immediately after the Cuban Missile Crisis,
0:40:06 > 0:40:08Skybolt begins to cloud the relationship
0:40:08 > 0:40:11between their two countries.
0:40:13 > 0:40:16Some members of Kennedy's inner circle want to see Britain give up
0:40:16 > 0:40:20its role as an independent nuclear power altogether.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26Why should Britain get preferential treatment
0:40:26 > 0:40:30with American nuclear weapons and not other European countries?
0:40:32 > 0:40:35For the US State Department,
0:40:35 > 0:40:39every mention of an independent British deterrent
0:40:39 > 0:40:42was a poke in the eye of the French and the West Germans.
0:40:44 > 0:40:50In November 1962, Kennedy's Defence Secretary, Robert McNamara,
0:40:50 > 0:40:53takes stock of Skybolt's progress,
0:40:53 > 0:40:55and doesn't like what he sees.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02Skybolt is one of many systems the Americans were working on
0:41:02 > 0:41:04and they have a pretty ruthless approach.
0:41:06 > 0:41:10McNamara is looking at his budget and says, "Look, this is a turkey.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13"We've already spent 400 million on this.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16"It's a turkey. Let's get rid of it. We don't need it."
0:41:19 > 0:41:23In early December, the bad news becomes very public indeed
0:41:23 > 0:41:25when McNamara comes to London.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31I think the most significant point he makes is to state categorically
0:41:31 > 0:41:37that all five Skybolt tests so far have been failures.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40This is the first time this has been publicly admitted.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44To the press and the public,
0:41:44 > 0:41:46Macmillan has been played for a fool.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51There was huge uproar in the United Kingdom.
0:41:52 > 0:41:54He feared his government might fall.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58He had invested his political prestige,
0:41:58 > 0:42:00which is always dangerous for any politician,
0:42:00 > 0:42:02into one particular programme,
0:42:02 > 0:42:05one particular solution to the British problem
0:42:05 > 0:42:08of how to be part of a nuclear club.
0:42:09 > 0:42:14On the 12th of December, Macmillan's Defence Secretary meets McNamara
0:42:14 > 0:42:17and spells out British concerns in no uncertain terms.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22We have cancelled the Blue Streak.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27We have made ourselves absolutely dependent on you in this matter.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31This was part of the Holy Loch agreement.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35Are we going to continue to have such agreements or are we not?
0:42:36 > 0:42:39That is the fundamental question.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51Britain's strategy is in tatters.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54And the Skybolt affair becomes a fully-blown international crisis.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58It has been, really, in a sense,
0:42:58 > 0:43:01the kind of the engineering that's been beyond us.
0:43:01 > 0:43:05We put 0.5 billion into it already.
0:43:05 > 0:43:07To complete the system might cost another,
0:43:07 > 0:43:10and to buy the missiles that we would want
0:43:10 > 0:43:11might require 2.5 billion.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17This was an opportunity that a number of American foreign policy leaders
0:43:17 > 0:43:21had been looking for to kill the entire British deterrent.
0:43:23 > 0:43:25It's not because they were anti-British,
0:43:25 > 0:43:27they weren't anti-British,
0:43:27 > 0:43:31they were just pro-French and pro-German and pro-Europe.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33And they felt that the British deterrent
0:43:33 > 0:43:35was an artefact of World War II.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40A frantic period of diplomacy follows.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43And the date is set for a head-to-head summit
0:43:43 > 0:43:45to try to resolve the crisis.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51Macmillan expects America to stick to its word
0:43:51 > 0:43:54and provide Britain with an effective nuclear deterrent..
0:43:56 > 0:44:02..while Kennedy wants to know exactly what has already been agreed
0:44:02 > 0:44:06and calls Eisenhower to check what he promised.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13- KENNEDY:- 'I will receive tomorrow morning the Prime Minister
0:44:13 > 0:44:15'and this Skybolt matter is going to come up.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17'I've been going through...'
0:44:17 > 0:44:21An audio recording exists of some of their actual conversation.
0:44:22 > 0:44:24- KENNEDY:- 'As I read the papers...
0:44:25 > 0:44:29'..there was always a question of the feasibility of Skybolt,
0:44:29 > 0:44:32'and that... I think, they feel,
0:44:32 > 0:44:34'we've got two or three the problems.
0:44:34 > 0:44:39'First, that in the agreement we need on Holy Loch...'
0:44:39 > 0:44:41In the agreement we agreed on Holy Loch,
0:44:41 > 0:44:44they may feel that one is for the other.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47It doesn't read that way. It seems they were separate decisions,
0:44:47 > 0:44:49both made at the same time.
0:44:49 > 0:44:51I'll go down to Nassau and meet him.
0:44:51 > 0:44:56By the way, be sure to give him my warm greetings.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58Oh, I will.
0:44:58 > 0:44:59I will, General.
0:45:03 > 0:45:08The venue for Kennedy and Macmillan to meet is Nassau in the Bahamas.
0:45:09 > 0:45:12It was on Wednesday morning that the president drove up
0:45:12 > 0:45:16to the Macmillan villa to begin the first main session
0:45:16 > 0:45:18of this critical Anglo-American meeting.
0:45:18 > 0:45:21But it could be politically disastrous for Mr Macmillan
0:45:21 > 0:45:26if he were to return home without some way of keeping the British nuclear deterrent in being.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32The encounter is documented, word for word,
0:45:32 > 0:45:34in these remarkable transcripts.
0:45:36 > 0:45:39Kennedy is quickly on the defensive.
0:45:39 > 0:45:41He denies Skybolt has been cancelled
0:45:41 > 0:45:44just to force Britain out of the nuclear club.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50Now, it is true that the US doesn't favour national deterrence.
0:45:50 > 0:45:55I agree, there is a danger that some would think that cutting off Skybolt
0:45:55 > 0:45:58was an effort to cut off the British deterrent.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01There can be no question of bad faith.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06Kennedy then stuns Macmillan by trying to sell him
0:46:06 > 0:46:08the failed Skybolt all over again.
0:46:10 > 0:46:15He even offers to foot the bill to make it finally work.
0:46:15 > 0:46:20Now, for 100 million, the British could get 450 million worth of work
0:46:20 > 0:46:22which we have put in.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25Skybolt should be capable of deterring Mr Khrushchev.
0:46:25 > 0:46:2820 missiles in Cuba had a deterrent effect on us.
0:46:28 > 0:46:30And Macmillan says, "Oh, no.
0:46:31 > 0:46:32"Not now.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35"Not now. No, no. It's too late for that."
0:46:37 > 0:46:41His Secretary of Defence has publicly said the thing doesn't work.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43We're getting a nuclear hand-me-down.
0:46:43 > 0:46:45That can't... "No, no!
0:46:45 > 0:46:48"I don't want Skybolt any more."
0:46:48 > 0:46:51We were being asked to spend hundreds of millions of dollars
0:46:51 > 0:46:55upon a weapon on which the President's own authorities are casting doubts.
0:46:58 > 0:47:02Harold Macmillan then uses one of the most unexpected phrases in the
0:47:02 > 0:47:04history of British diplomacy.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10One of the things that Macmillan first learned about Kennedy
0:47:10 > 0:47:13was he was oversexed, so it made perfect sense for Macmillan
0:47:13 > 0:47:16to use a sexual metaphor
0:47:16 > 0:47:18to explain the problems that he now faced.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22While the proposed marriage with Skybolt
0:47:22 > 0:47:24isn't exactly a shotgun wedding,
0:47:24 > 0:47:28the virginity of the lady must now be regarded as doubtful.
0:47:30 > 0:47:33Skybolt has been undermined in terms of its credibility
0:47:33 > 0:47:35and so he's not prepared to accept it.
0:47:36 > 0:47:41Then Macmillan makes a play for the real prize -
0:47:41 > 0:47:43the Polaris submarine and missile system.
0:47:45 > 0:47:47Kennedy won't hand this over without strings.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53A British Polaris fleet should be assigned to NATO,
0:47:53 > 0:47:55where America will be able to control it.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00What is really meant by the words, "Assigned to NATO"?
0:48:03 > 0:48:08I understand that it is in the UK's interest to define "assigned" as
0:48:08 > 0:48:09loosely as possible.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14These missiles and submarines should be available to the UK for national
0:48:14 > 0:48:16use only in case of dire emergencies.
0:48:18 > 0:48:20What is meant by "dire"?
0:48:20 > 0:48:23And how much of an emergency would it have to be?
0:48:25 > 0:48:28It seems to me what you're saying is it will be all right if it was
0:48:28 > 0:48:31a question of absolute survival,
0:48:31 > 0:48:35and that no situation short of this would justify their doing so.
0:48:38 > 0:48:42The Foreign Secretary said there are other potential crises
0:48:42 > 0:48:43which should be considered.
0:48:43 > 0:48:49For example, Kuwait and the UK oil interests there.
0:48:53 > 0:48:57Macmillan called these Britain's supreme national interests.
0:49:00 > 0:49:03In 1962...
0:49:03 > 0:49:07the supreme national interest might be the defence of oilfields.
0:49:07 > 0:49:11Britain was so dependent upon the Gulf states for its oil.
0:49:11 > 0:49:16Dire national emergency implies that either there is a very likely threat
0:49:16 > 0:49:18of a nuclear attack or a nuclear attack is underway.
0:49:20 > 0:49:22That's a dire national emergency,
0:49:22 > 0:49:25that's not the same as your supreme national interest.
0:49:29 > 0:49:31Day one of the summit ends without a deal.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38The British press is convinced that the sun is setting
0:49:38 > 0:49:41on Britain's independent deterrent.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47But in Nassau, Macmillan remains unfazed.
0:49:49 > 0:49:51Assigned.
0:49:51 > 0:49:53Earmarked.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56Earmarked for commitment to.
0:49:58 > 0:49:59Committed.
0:50:00 > 0:50:03He has an enormous confidence in himself
0:50:03 > 0:50:06because he actually does think
0:50:06 > 0:50:09that he's better than everyone in the room.
0:50:09 > 0:50:11He's not only British but he's also Macmillan,
0:50:11 > 0:50:13and so he's going to get his way.
0:50:15 > 0:50:20On day two of the summit, Macmillan takes a different line -
0:50:20 > 0:50:22honesty.
0:50:22 > 0:50:27But it's a tactic that threatens the whole Anglo-American relationship.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31Actually, the whole thing is ridiculous.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33What does seven or eight UK units
0:50:33 > 0:50:36add to the existing nuclear strength,
0:50:36 > 0:50:39which is enough to blow up the world?
0:50:39 > 0:50:42So, why does the UK want it?
0:50:44 > 0:50:47It is partly a question of keeping up with the Joneses.
0:50:47 > 0:50:51Countries which have played a great role in history
0:50:51 > 0:50:53must retain their dignity.
0:50:53 > 0:50:58The UK does not want to be just a clown or a satellite.
0:50:58 > 0:51:03The UK wants a nuclear force, not only for defence,
0:51:03 > 0:51:06but in the event of menace to its existence.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10There's all these wonderful metaphors
0:51:10 > 0:51:16which basically mean that you've got this country which is
0:51:16 > 0:51:22admittedly in a state of decline but which is desperately trying to
0:51:22 > 0:51:25maintain its credibility as a great power.
0:51:26 > 0:51:30And at this point, Macmillan begins to say, "Look,
0:51:30 > 0:51:35"if you're not prepared to provide us with Polaris, then there will be,
0:51:35 > 0:51:38"within my government, an agonising reappraisal."
0:51:39 > 0:51:42It must still be capable of being used when they wish
0:51:42 > 0:51:45by the British Government.
0:51:45 > 0:51:47Unless this principle can be accepted,
0:51:47 > 0:51:50I would prefer to drop the whole idea.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55We would have to undertake an agonising reappraisal
0:51:55 > 0:51:58of our military and political policies.
0:51:58 > 0:52:01And he uses this phrase,
0:52:01 > 0:52:03"There could well be a parting of the ways
0:52:03 > 0:52:05"between Britain and the United States."
0:52:05 > 0:52:08The special relationship, close ties between us will end.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15After two days of intense negotiations,
0:52:15 > 0:52:17a deal is nowhere in sight.
0:52:20 > 0:52:22Despite the public face,
0:52:22 > 0:52:27Anglo-American relations are now hanging by a very thin thread.
0:52:30 > 0:52:33At the back of Kennedy's mind
0:52:33 > 0:52:35is the special relationship.
0:52:36 > 0:52:42Britain, for a long time, has been America's bridge to Europe
0:52:42 > 0:52:46and without some kind of deal, that bridge is destroyed.
0:52:52 > 0:52:54Both leaders now desperately need a deal
0:52:54 > 0:52:57that will allow them to save face.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00It's all hinges on the words.
0:53:03 > 0:53:09Macmillan cleverly works with Kennedy on finding language
0:53:09 > 0:53:15that would allow Macmillan to sell to the British people
0:53:15 > 0:53:18the fact that he got Polaris as an independent UK deterrent,
0:53:18 > 0:53:24while at the same time allowing Kennedy to tell the Europeans
0:53:24 > 0:53:31that the British Polaris fleet will be part of a multinational nuclear deterrent when necessary.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37Kennedy finally gives Macmillan the deal he needs.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42The submarines will be assigned to NATO after all,
0:53:42 > 0:53:46yet the UK reserves its right to use its forces independently.
0:53:48 > 0:53:53Not just in a dire national emergency,
0:53:53 > 0:53:58but when her supreme national interests are at stake.
0:54:03 > 0:54:08Both Kennedy and Macmillan were able to claim success,
0:54:08 > 0:54:09and on his return to Britain,
0:54:09 > 0:54:14Macmillan basked in the glory of keeping Britain in the nuclear club.
0:54:17 > 0:54:21I would like to pay tribute to the statesmanship
0:54:21 > 0:54:25of President Kennedy and his advisers,
0:54:25 > 0:54:29who, after much thought and discussion,
0:54:29 > 0:54:33and I think I may be perhaps right in saying some pressure from us,
0:54:33 > 0:54:38accepted what we felt was the right balance within the alliance.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43Harold Macmillan was extraordinarily aware
0:54:43 > 0:54:46of the limits of British power.
0:54:46 > 0:54:51He...played with words
0:54:51 > 0:54:55and always used ambiguity to his own advantage.
0:54:55 > 0:54:57He left things ambiguous,
0:54:57 > 0:55:02not because he didn't have command of the English language,
0:55:02 > 0:55:05but BECAUSE he had command of the English language.
0:55:08 > 0:55:12Harold Macmillan's government was voted out in 1964.
0:55:14 > 0:55:18His replacement, Labour's Harold Wilson,
0:55:18 > 0:55:21had promised to cancel Britain's independent nuclear deterrent
0:55:21 > 0:55:23when elected.
0:55:23 > 0:55:25Instead, he pressed ahead.
0:55:26 > 0:55:28Action stations.
0:55:28 > 0:55:30Four nuclear submarines were commissioned.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34Ready for launch.
0:55:34 > 0:55:39Each would cost the equivalent of £600 million today.
0:55:39 > 0:55:41Fire.
0:55:43 > 0:55:46Britain would make these and the warheads
0:55:46 > 0:55:49and the missiles would come from America.
0:55:50 > 0:55:55By 1969, they were ready to be deployed at sea.
0:55:55 > 0:55:59When you look at the Polaris programme, five years to design,
0:55:59 > 0:56:02build, test, and then train the crew
0:56:02 > 0:56:05so they could take a submarine on operational patrol,
0:56:05 > 0:56:08for an operation which we'd never done before,
0:56:08 > 0:56:10is actually an incredible achievement.
0:56:10 > 0:56:12If you know anything about submarines,
0:56:12 > 0:56:15they are some of the most complex things
0:56:15 > 0:56:17that man has ever put together.
0:56:17 > 0:56:19In terms of the moving parts,
0:56:19 > 0:56:23it has more moving parts, for example, than the space shuttle.
0:56:23 > 0:56:25And they all have to come together
0:56:25 > 0:56:29and work in one of the harshest environments known to man.
0:56:31 > 0:56:35But where would the submarines and nuclear missiles be based?
0:56:37 > 0:56:41After Devonport and Falmouth were ruled out,
0:56:41 > 0:56:44a spot in Scotland was identified...
0:56:46 > 0:56:51..with the right mixture of sea access and shore facilities.
0:56:52 > 0:56:56It was just a few miles across the Clyde from the Holy Loch,
0:56:56 > 0:56:58at Faslane.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04From April 1969 through to the present day,
0:57:04 > 0:57:08there has been a deterrent submarine patrolling the waters
0:57:08 > 0:57:12365 days a year, 24/7.
0:57:12 > 0:57:17All we are providing is a minimum credible deterrent to deter
0:57:17 > 0:57:20whatever adversaries around the world are there,
0:57:20 > 0:57:22that might threaten the United Kingdom
0:57:22 > 0:57:27or certainly its vital interests, in the most extreme ways.
0:57:29 > 0:57:31- Breaking clear.- Breaking clear.
0:57:34 > 0:57:38The Americans left the Clyde in 1992.
0:57:38 > 0:57:43But Faslane is still going strong as the home base and training centre
0:57:43 > 0:57:46for Britain's current nuclear deterrent, Trident.
0:57:48 > 0:57:53Parliament has now voted to renew Trident for another generation.
0:57:53 > 0:57:55But the public debate will continue.
0:57:55 > 0:57:57No to Trident!
0:57:57 > 0:58:01Do these submarines and their deadly missiles succeed in deterring
0:58:01 > 0:58:06Britain's enemies, or are they simply not necessary?
0:58:06 > 0:58:08As Britain tries to maintain its place in an uncertain world,
0:58:11 > 0:58:17the issue remains dominated by ideas forged half a century ago.
0:58:17 > 0:58:21# Find a wheel and it goes round, round, round
0:58:21 > 0:58:23# As it skims along with a happy sound
0:58:26 > 0:58:30# As it goes along the ground, ground, ground
0:58:30 > 0:58:34# Till it leads you to the one you love
0:58:34 > 0:58:38# Then your love will hold you round, round, round
0:58:38 > 0:58:40# In your heart's a song with a brand new sound
0:58:42 > 0:58:46# And your head goes spinning round, round, round
0:58:46 > 0:58:49# Cos you've found what you've been dreamin' of. #