On Her Majesty's Nuclear Service

by Eric Thompson

A journey inside the submarines that patrolled beneath the surface to keep the peace during the Cold War, from a Royal Navy officer and engineer.   During the Cold War, nuclear submarines quietly helped prevent a third world war, keeping watch and maintaining the deterrent effect of mutually assured destruction. For security reasons, very few knew the inside stories—until now. Eric Thompson is a career nuclear submarine officer who served from the first days of the Polaris missile boats until after the Cold War, ending up as the top engineer in charge of the Navy’s nuclear power plants. Along the way, he helped develop all manner of kit, from guided torpedoes to the Trident ballistic missile system. In this vivid personal account of his submarine operations, he reveals what it was like to literally have your finger on the nuclear button.   He leads the reader through top-secret submarine patrols, hush-hush scientific trials, underwater weapon developments, public relations battles with nuclear protesters, arm wrestling with politicians, and the changes surrounding gender and sexual preference in the Navy. It is essentially a human story, rich in both drama and comedy, like the Russian spy trawler that played dance music at passing submarines. There was never a dull moment—but it was always a deadly serious game. Among other subjects, Thompson   • The two American nuclear submarines Thresher and Scorpion, which sank with no survivors during the Cold War • The history of submarines, including the Hunley  a Confederate submarine during the US Civil War, which was the first sub to ever sink a ship—though it did so kamikaze-style • What a submarine base is like • How a Soviet sub in the Mediterranean was flushed out, earning the crew a crate of champagne from America • The author’s personal experience with the Polaris and Trident classes of submarine, and more   “Interesting, sometimes thought provoking, but above all an entertaining read.” —Nuclear Futures

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Ebooks, Military Fiction

296 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 19, 2018

Reviews

[Morleymor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Submariners are often asked how do you cope with life on a submarine? Eric Thompson has answered this question.

It is always difficult to write about one's career without bias. Eric Thompson has presented a level-headed view of life in the Royal Navy. For me, a dominating feature of this book is the number of hoops naval personnel have to jump through before being allowed into positions of responsibility. This, as ever, has to be balanced against ensuring that family life is also kept on an even keel. This is well documented in this comprehensive and entertaining naval autobiography.

[Carro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many years back I read One of Our Submarines for the first time - the experiences of a Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve officer in submarines during World War Two. That lead to me visiting the Submarine Museum at the Portsmouth Historic Naval Dockyard (UK) which is very interesting (and includes the submarines Holland and Alliance which you can go round). I spotted this book in the museum shop (it's available on Amazon and the like too).
Just like One of Our Submarines it is clearly written, very informative and clear at a technical level without burying the reader in too much information and brings across the people of the next generation of the submarine service - during the Cold War.
The author is a career Naval officer who specialised in engineering covering both submarine's engines - diesel and nuclear - and torpedo development. It covers his career from training to retirement, working on conventional submarines, nuclear submarines, in research and development (primarily testing) and in dockyard postings in support of submarines.
He goes into the practical details of life in submarines including the really severe problems caused by a blockage in the toilet flushing system and has a wonderful analogy starting with the downstairs loo in a house, which really brings across the hazards of submarine life. Eric Thompson also likes practical jokes - not to the point of being dangerous - and mentions a few that he pulled which are truly hilarious. Very enjoyable book that can easily be read by a layman.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written account of a 37-year career in the Royal Navy with fascinating insight on the shift to nuclear powered submarines, the Polaris and later Trident programs interspersed with enjoyable sea stories and a personal touch. Highly recommended.

[Jon Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased my copy of this book as a Kindle ebook from Amazon. I really struggled with whether to give this book three or four stars... It was pretty informative and entertaining for the first 2/3 or so - the portion of the book when the author recounted his introduction to the Royal Navy, his training, and his time spent serving on various submarines as an engineer. There are some interesting anecdotes about life on diesel-electric and nuclear subs in this portion, including a couple of hair-raising near-disasters caused by equipment failures. The author's description of his assignment to a team testing a prototype torpedo is also pretty interesting. But in the latter part of the book, covering the portion of the author's career when he had been promoted to higher rank and transferred to shore duties, the story was a lot less compelling - here it turns to anecdotes about bureaucracy, paperwork, dealing with discipline problems in the lower ranks, interpersonal issues, and politics/bickering in the command ranks. Less of this content would have earned the book a four-star rating.

[Erwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not What You’d Expect

Nuclear Service is not what you might expect. It is not a WWII saga of running silently under the Pacific. It is an honest, straightforward memoir of the Cold War by a young man who entered his country’s service to do his duty. Laced with humor Thompson relates his experiences on and in the hills and valleys of his career, the efforts made by career officers to keep the politicians on track to protect their country. It is not a tale sweat, grime and diesel fuel. But rather the quiet, silent service performed by the boomers Polaris and Trident to keep the world silent and peaceful. An interesting read detailing the typical career of a peace time submariner naval officer. Thank you for your service, Commodore.

[Dan Cohen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It's a frank and sometimes funny account of the author's career in the Royal Navy's submarine service. Unlike many other memoires from people who rose to high ranks in the military, the author conveys a sense of ordinariness about himself - he does not come across as someone whose abilities would have inspired awe! But clearly, having risen to the level he did, he had a certain something. He does come across as a bit of a nitwit at times, but also as someone capable of significant achievements and as a person it would be enjoyable to spend time with.

Definitely worth a read.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a former Petty Officer onboard Submarines Resolution and Revenge back in 1971 If found this book very enjoyable and also funny in a lot of areas and it brought back a lot of memories from Faslane and living in married quarters in Churchill Estate. Life onboard was hard but enjoyable at times during our long 3 month patrols, our mindset had to be in the right place to cope with the separation and characters around us.
This book was an enjoyable account of an officers struggle to cope with the higher echolons thank you Sir.

[Henry Rausch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartfelt and well-told story of service to one’s nation

I read all the military biographies I can get my hands on and this stood out for it’s honesty and humanity. Many senior officer’s stories are whitewashed tales by company men; this is not one of them. Commodore Thompson admits to mistakes and relates his long career ti his nation with humility and grace. Most highly recommended.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn’t a book I would normally choose of the shelf from the subject matter. It was written by a friend on my writers group though. Very interesting account of life working in nuclear submarines, which I had no idea about. Some fascinating stories and a good spattering of Eric’s wit, which has me laughing out loud on occasions.

[Alan Pratt]

Really Good

As an ex surface rating I never really thought very much about life and routine on the dark side, even more ,I never thought I would have anything interesting from the Wardroom , but this book had me interested right from the start, I feel a lot less ignorant than before, certain that I would never have made it in submarines, a fascinating read, thank you sir

[Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating account. Will be recommending to everyone at work (Australian Submarine Corporation).

[Kas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a warts and all read about a secret service run by brave men full of history and sea tales, very rnjoyable

[Paul Cooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding. Wonderfully written balanced narrative.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great - informative and entertaining. I would love to go to the pub with the author

[Bookreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compared to his previous books nothing to heavy was interesting and that learning bout submarines

[Anatolikon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Britain may be committed to destroying itself and its standing in the world, but at least it can consistently produce solid SSBN memoirs.

[Derek White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book

Having served in this nuclear age this book has given a in-depth of the side you don’t see as a rating on nuclear boats