The Royal Navy's Cold War anti-submarine role

Speed identifies the Soviet Northern Fleet and its nuclear submarines on the Kola Peninsula as the principal Atlantic maritime threat. The Royal Navy's primary NATO role was therefore anti-submarine warfare, although it still required anti-ship and anti-aircraft capabilities against the fleet's surface ships and aircraft. Britain's four Polaris submarines contributed to strategic deterrence, while roughly seventy major ships and more than twenty-five conventionally armed submarines were assigned to NATO. The standing Atlantic and Channel forces demonstrated multinational cooperation in peacetime and prepared to protect reinforcement and supply routes in war. This inventory explains why British geography and maritime experience translated into a major alliance responsibility.