Britain was forced to base its nuclear deterrent on the Clyde so that American sailors could enjoy nights out in nearby Glasgow.
Newly declassified top secret documents show that Harold Macmillan, then Prime Minister, was strongly opposed to having American weapons stored within 30 miles of Scotland’s largest city in the early 1960s.
He tried to persuade President Dwight D Eisenhower that subs carrying Polaris missiles should be sited in more remote locations in Cornwall, Wales or Loch Linnhe, near Fort William, rather than the Holy Loch in Dunoon.
But Eisenhower insisted that his men be based near a large city like Glasgow because it would be better for morale and they could relax and have fun on their shore leave.
Between 1962 and 1992 Holy Loch near Dunoon was the home base of the US Navy’s Submarine Squadron and about 2000 US servicemen.
The story of how Britain was strongarmed by the USA over the location of its nuclear weapon deterrent is told tonight at 8pm in a BBC 2 documentary, A Very British Deterrent.