This book examines the development of nuclear propulsion in the Royal Navy from the first proposal in 1946 to the start-up of the last core improvement for the first submarine reactor power plant PWR 1 in December 1974. Drawing from unreleased records and archives, the book answers questions around three main themes. Political: what problems were encountered in transferring nuclear knowledge from the USA to the UK in the post-war period, and how much support was there for the development of nuclear propulsion? Military: why was there a requirement to develop nuclear propulsion, and in particular, why submarines? Technical: were the problems associated with nuclear energy fully appreciated, and did the UK have the technical and engineering capability to develop nuclear propulsion? Aside from the political considerations and military motives for developing nuclear propulsion in the Royal Navy, the author focuses on the technical problems that had to be overcome by all participants in theRoyal Navy’s development of nuclear propulsion, adding significantly to naval historiography. Providing a critical analysis of the political, technological, operational and industrial issues of introducing nuclear propulsion into the Royal Navy, the author situates his research in the context of the evolving Cold War, changing Anglo-American relations, the end of Empire and the relative decline of British power.
Gareth Michael Jones is a former CPO(WSM) Royal Navy submariner retiring from the service in 2003. He is currently working as a Project Engineer with Babcock International Group at Devonport Royal Dockyard. He is interested in the history of nuclear propulsion development and completed his PhD at the University of Plymouth in the UK.

“The nuclear enterprise, and its success or failure, was fundamental to the UK, and also the USA, maintaining the edge in the Cold War under the sea. It is a devilishly complex subject, full of twists and turns, but Gareth Jones manage to tell the story in a lucid fashion. He unravels the complexities and provides deep understanding of the technological, political, industrial and key personalities. It is a ripping yarn that anyone seeking to truly comprehend the great submarine rivalry between the Soviet Union and NATO should read.”

—Iain Ballantyne, author of 'Hunter Killers' and 'The Deadly Trade' and editor of Warships: International Fleet Review

“The development of nuclear-powered propulsion for the Royal Navy's submarines marked a vital leap forward in the capabilities of the Senior Service. Indeed, it was an essential development if the Royal Navy was to remain in the premier league of world navies in the midst of a Cold War arms race. This book, for the first time,examines and analyses the complexities, technical, personal and diplomatic, the intrigues and twists and turns, which lay at the heart of the development of the Royal Navy's Nuclear Propulsion Programme. It was a human story as well as a technical one, that sheds new light on Anglo-American defence relations in the post-war period. For naval and diplomatic historians, this is a good book and an important one.”

—Dr Harry Bennet, Associate Professor of History, University of Plymouth

“Taff has opened wide an important window into a notoriously closed subject. Naval history and dogged research at its best.”

—Dr Sam Willis, Broadcaster, Author and editor of Navy Records Online

“The post-war advent of ‘nuclear’ was a universal game-changer. For the Royal Navy, it led to the development of a nuclear-powered propulsion programme which transformed our capability and ambition. It enabled the Submarine Service to operate almost at will in the harshest of environments for long periods of time, and to compete against a foe blessed with mass. That we prevailed in the Cold War is down to professionalism and technical superiority. It was nuclear propulsion that enabled success. Whilst this important book should appear on every “Back Aftie’s” book-shelf, it will also hold a great appeal to those ‘passengers’ in nuclear submarines – including the author and me - who spent many years of their lives submerged but ‘forward of the tunnel.”

—Commodore Mike Walliker CBE, former Submarine Commanding Officer, HMS Tireless and HMS Astute

Offers the first academic account of the history of nuclear propulsion in the Royal Navy Sheds light on British post-war defence policy, nuclear policy and foreign relations with the USA Makes use of records from the National Archives and unreleased files

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