The ‘Hallmark of a First-Class Navy’: The Nuclear-Powered Submarine in the Royal Navy 1960–77

This article examines the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines into the Royal Navy and the images of national power that this generated, and indeed the images the Navy sought to present. It argues that from the Second World War onwards, the British slowly began to see the submarine not as a threat to their naval power and great power status, but as a means of shoring it up in the face of huge challenges to Britain's position in the world during the 1960s and 1970s. The article concludes that the imagery that surrounded the submarine indicates how important this type of vessel was to perceptions of the British naval power.