This is HMS ARK ROYAL in 2008. In 1992 the Royal Navy made serious plans to permanently convert her to an LPH in place of ordering HMS OCEAN.

Thread on the 'LPH that never was'... Throughout the 1980s the RN wanted to buy two Aviation Support Ships (ASS) to replace HMS HERMES and BULWARK to support the Royal Marines if they moved to Norway during wartime.

These ships would have supported the 3 INVINCIBLE class, and the 2 LPDs.

This is the Argentine Navy aircraft carrier 25 De Mayo.

On 29 April 1982, during the early stages of the Falklands War the MOD met to discuss a paper setting out the 'rules of engagement' under which the Royal Navy would be authorised to sink her.

Thread/ The carrier, a former Royal Navy Colossus class, was seen as one of the biggest threats to the task group.

The MOD analysis of her capabilities credited here with around 11-14 fixed wing jets (Skyhawk and Etendard) as well as Tracker recce aircraft.

This is the USS PALM BEACH, sister ship to the USS PUEBLO, a spy ship captured by North Korea. In 1967 the US Navy sought British permission to base her in the UK to carry out top secret intelligence missions against Russia.

A short PSL thread on Cold War spy ships! She was built in 1944 as a US Army aircraft repair ship, seeing service in WW2. Post war she carried out survey work in the West Indies before being put in reserve in the 1950s.

In 1966 she was taken over by the US Navy and converted into an intelligence collector.

In late 1961 the British Cabinet debated what, if any, military support the UK would provide to the Netherlands in the event of Indonesia attacking the colony of Dutch New Guinea.

Short thread on a forgotten military crisis... After the independence of Indonesia in 1949, the Netherlands retained control of Western New Guinea as a colony, and began preparing it for independence. In Dec 1961 President Sukarno called for the seizure of the colony by military force.

In the 1980s, the US Government wanted to purchase Royal Navy Polaris missiles to use them to test the effectiveness of the SDI missile defence system. This was seen as both an opportunity, and serious threat to UK nuclear security concerns.

Short thread on SDI & Chevaline... For almost 30 years the Polaris SSBN force was the backbone of the UK's strategic nuclear arsenal. 4 submarines, carry 16 missiles with 3 warheads were available to deliver an overwhelming nuclear attack on any aggressor if required.

In August 1983, Ministers were concerned that the Argentine military planned to carry out a surprise Exocet attack on a Royal Navy warship off the Falkland Islands. The RN assessed Seawolf only had a 35% chance of intercepting any inbound missile...

Thread on Exocet 1983. In Aug 83, Minister Armed Forces sought advice from the Royal Navy about the risk of Argentine military forces carrying out a sneak attack using Exocet in certain domestic political circumstances.

In 1982 Maj Gen Jeremy Moore RM took the surrender of Argentine Forces on the Falkland Islands. He was signatory to the original surrender document.

In 1983 the MOD launched a formal investigation about rumours that more than one document existed, and was being kept by him... In 1983, the MOD identified that a 2nd surrender possibly document existed, and may have been kept by Maj Gen Moore.

The Secretary of State was sufficiently concerned to order a formal investigation to find, and recover this document.

Lots of reporting today about alleged claims for what the KGB would have done in the UK in the event of a run up to war, to support a new book about MI5.

Lets look at actual Cold War MI5 documents, quoting Oleg Gordievsky (codename OVATION) to see what MI5 really thought... A new book about the Soviet spy Lyalin claims that the Soviets looked at trying to poison Holy Loch in the 1970s to cause peace activists to force a ban on the presence of US Navy Polaris submarines - a key risk to Russia in the event of war.

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1…

According to previously unseen highly SECRET files release today (22 Jul), in 1989, the UK Government began planning in the utmost secrecy for the mass evacuation of millions of people from Hong Kong ahead of handover to China.

This was called 'The Armageddon Scenario' Following the massacre in Tiananmen Square, there was real concern that the Colony, due to be handover over to China in 1997 would see a potential mass exodus of people fleeing Chinese tyranny and repression. This would have huge repercussions for the UK and beyond.

In 1972, at Ministerial request, the MOD made SECRET plans to conduct a parachute attack on Entebbe Airport, with SAS raids, RAF airlift and RN airstrikes to evacuate 7000 UK nationals.

Long thread on OP ZEUS and how & why the UK was preparing to invade Uganda in 1972/ In August 1972 President, Idi Amin of Uganda directed the South Asian population to leave the country in 90 days. There were approximately 50,000 UK passport holders caught up in this situation, the FCO realised an evacuation was necessary, and asked the MOD for help.

Following allegations about a Russian spy in MI6, its time to return to the 1980s and the publication of "Their Trade is Treachery".

Long PSL thread on a 1981 Whitehall spy saga and leak inquiry that involved every living British Prime Minister...

#coldwar #Espionage #spying In 1979, just after arriving in Office, PM Thatcher was informed in writing that Anthony Blunt, a key Establishment figure, was the '4th man' linked to well known British spies, as part of wider investigations into Soviet penetration of the UK

She announced this publicly.

UK may acquire F35A, capable of using tactical nuclear weapons, and expand FF/DD fleet to 25 as part of SDR.
Big changes, but also challenging, expensive and years to deliver. Tactical nuclear mission would be huge commitment of FJ force /1

thetimes.com/uk/defence/art… UK has no capability to develop/deploy air launched tactical warhead within 10yrs, so reliance on dual key B61 seems likely. Huge costs for associated nuclear mission, protection of assets and stepping up nuclear QRA - this will be incredibly expensive to deliver.

In 1968 Tony Benn asked Dennis Healey for the Royal Navy to provide aircraft carriers to ferry British made cars, like the Vauxhall Viva to the United States due to a shortage of shipping.

This thread tells the untold story of how the RN did its best to not comply! In spring 1968 the Suez canal was shut following the 1967 war. There was a global shortage of shipping, and the British car industry needed ships to ferry its vessels to the USA in time for peak sales season. Commercial shipping was in short supply.

The Russians have a long history of covertly spying in UK waters. This thread is about their spy ships in the Cold War, the threat they posed to the nuclear deterrent and the extensive steps taken by the Royal Navy to stop them.

Full PSL blog is tinyurl.com/4t6nvwy8 In 1988 the Royal Navy was deeply concerned about the new VISHNAYA class AGI operating off Malin Head, and the Soviet Type 75 Sonobuoy, shown by the RAF to be capable of tracking a NATO submarine deep in the GIUK gap. This posed a real threat to UK naval security.

This is one of the final design options for the Type 43 Destroyer. This little known cancelled project to succeed the Type 42, was far more important than generally realised, and far more capable too.

A short thread on the forgotten destroyer design. /1 The Type 43 emerged in the late 1970s as the successor platform to T42, intended to carry Seadart to provide air defence to task forces operating globally, but particularly in the North Atlantic.

I love crazy Cold War documents. This is a classic of the genre. It is the SECRET wartime instructions from the Home Office for Immigration Officers on how to process visas and illegal immigrants arriving in the UK after a nuclear attack has happened.

Short thread! It starts with the reminder that in wartime, contact with HQ won't be possible and immigration officers will need to act independently - if in doubt though, follow the peacetime procedure! /2

In 1992 the British Government was concerned that the US Administrations move to build links with Russia threatened the credibility of the Trident nuclear deterrent, and the 'Moscow Criterion'.

Thread on espionage, nuclear warheads and UK Trident effectiveness follows! British nuclear deterrence is built around core idea that the UK can inflict unacceptable harm to Russian regimes core interests (e.g. Moscow). If this can be achieved, then it follows other areas can also be destroyed - 'the bomb must always get through'.

In March 1963 the Royal Navy submarines HMS GRAMPUS and HMS PORPOISE participated in secret arctic trials.

Archive files provided remarkable unseen photos of RN submarines operating deep in the Arctic as part of Exercise SKUA.

Long thread on the exercise follows! The plan was to spend about a month operating in the Arctic, off the east coast of Greenland and sailing over 500 miles under the icepack - a bold move for a conventional submarine which needed to 'snort' for air.

In a TOP SECRET 1972 briefing, the MOD advised Ministers that were NATO forces to be reduced to 20 Divisions in Central Europe, that in the event of war, the only way to avoid defeat would be to use tactical nuclear weapons within 48hrs.
Quick thread on nuclear deterrence... In 1972 NATO nations were seeking arms control talks with the Warsaw Pact known as the MBFR process - Mutual Balanced Force Reductions process (or 'Most Bizzare Form of Ritual'). There was concern this would lead to defence spending cuts across NATO.

In 1972, based on still TOP SECRET intelligence reporting by the JIC, the MOD assessed the conventional threat to the UK from the Soviet Union.

It concluded the UK could not defend itself against the conventional Soviet Naval and Air threat.

Long thread follows!
/1 The study came about due to a reportedly still classified JIC assessment which concluded that in a conventional war phase, the Soviets would potentially target tactical nuclear 'dual use' sites.

2024 Royal Navy fleet stats - A short thread.

Warships ordered: 0
Warships commissioned: 0
Warships decommissioned: 9 (1 SSN, 1 MCMV, 2 LPDs, 2 tankers, 3 frigates).

RN/RFA ships in Jan 2023 - 81
RN/RFA ships in Dec 2024 - 72 Royal Navy Fleet in Dec 2024:
2 x Carrier, 6 x DDG, 8 x FFG, 7 x MCMV, 4 x SSBN, 5 x SSN, 8 x OPV, 18 x Coastal forces (P2000), 3 x Survey vessels, 4 x tankers, 1 AOR, 3 x LSD(A), 1 x MCMV mothership, 1 x ROV Vessel, 1 x PCRS.