Trident: "A Cuckoo in the Naval Nest"
Next came promotion to Commander in 1978, and to the Ministry of Defence in
Whitehall as personal assistant to an Admiral who had the job of
recommending the replacement for Polaris. The nuclear submarine lobby,
known in the Navy as the 'Black Mafia', went ruthlessly for Trident, even
though it might mean that the rest of the Navy was starved of funds. A
Trident submarine is twice the size of Polaris, with twice the potential
firepower, and much greater missile range and accuracy. Rob was not alone
in seeing that Trident threatened the future of the Navy as a balanced
force - but Mrs Thatcher, who was addicted to all things nuclear, forced
the Trident decision through.
Irresponsible Underwater Sports Cars
By now Rob regarded nuclear submarine propulsion and nuclear electricity
generation with strong aversion because of the influence of his aunt, Hilda
Murrell, an amateur environmentalist who had become his guru after the
death of his mother when he was nineteen. Hilda pointed out the
irresponsibility of putting a nuclear reactor in a submarine, and the fact
that the nuclear industry did not know what to do with the waste from the
normal operation of nuclear power plants, or how to decommission nuclear
submarines. It wanted to dump them in ocean trenches, but was rumbled.
It was not concerned about the environmental catastrophe that might follow
torpedoing a nuclear submarine in its reactor; and it played down the
potential consequences if one had a collision, for instance, at the
entrance to a port.
All this seemed to Rob to be totally irresponsible. There were adequate
alternative conventional submarine designs, which were much cheaper and
environmentally safer. Building these "underwater sports cars" - lethal
'toys for the boys' that can go round the world submerged at thirty knots
without refuelling - was a sign of the nuclear addiction of the
decision-makers.
This made Rob realise that he could not stay in the Navy with Trident.
Also his next career move would have been to command a frigate, but his
rapid promotion meant that he had never served in one. He could not have
accepted such a posting and retained his professional integrity. When the
government announced a Defence Review in 1981, Rob took the chance and
applied for redundancy although he had no qualifications for any other type
of career.
Falklands War and Polaris
He got approval to go one week into the 1982 Falklands War, when he was
Fleet Intelligence Officer in charge of round-the-clock intelligence
support for
Polaris and the rest of the Navy, working in the bunker near London
from which the war was conducted. He was not allowed to go until after
Britain had won the war.
Afterwards, there was a lot of controversy over the alleged deployment of a
Polaris submarine within range of Argentina in case the British forces were
defeated. This made Rob wonder what Thatcher would have done if the
Argentinians had managed to sink a troop ship with an Exocet missile before
the troops were ashore. The British could have been defeated. The result
would have been an enormous crisis for the whole military system in
Britain and political disgrace for Thatcher. It would have tempted her to
threaten Argentina with a nuclear strike - but Galtieri, already undeterred
by Polaris, would have publicly called her bluff. Rob went on to do a
critique of the whole doctrine of nuclear deterrence, and found it deeply
flawed.
Thatching Therapy
At first, on his discharge Rob wanted to get away from the nuclear and
military scene, work with his hands, and sleep at home every night. He
had some money from the Navy, he had no children, and his wife worked. They
had converted a small barn in an idyllic area in Dorset. So here Rob began
a new career as a roof thatcher. The work in the open air was therapeutic,
even though he made no money, and he was away from the stresses of his
former life.
Murder of Hilda Murrell
Then in March 1984, his aunt Hilda Murrell was murdered. It has remained
unsolved. However on 10 June 2003 a man was charged with her murder. Rob
has reason to believe that her death was associated with both
the nuclear industry and the Falklands War. This tragedy catapulted him
into the anti-nuclear movement where his involvement has steadily grown.
Now read Part 3 "Events following the murder of Hilda Murrell".
