Pax per Tridentem?

Well, that's what the banner used to say, when we attended functions at the former US Submarine base, Site One, on the Holy Loch: Peace through Trident, with a silhouette of a submarine just like this one that slipped up the Firth this morning with its attendant tugs.

I never see one of these - one of the four Royal Navy Vanguard subs based on the Clyde - without one of two reactions. The first is the ever-present awareness of the capability of the missiles carried on board, and the nuclear threat against which I spent so many years actively campaigning. In a flash, I remember these days - predominantly in the early 1980s, and the passion which drove me to action. The second is the knowledge that these are old ships, and that now we are no longer to be informed of their status, or of any maintenance issues. 

This is not a distant issue for me or for anyone who lives in this area - this photo was taken from my own window. And in another sense, the distance feels less because for once I leapt for my proper camera, and the resulting photo is clear enough for an enlargement to show the group of people on the deck just behind the conning tower. Result!