My stepfather was a British naval officer on board one of the ships in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The captain was instructed to open the sealed orders, which were "Fire if fired upon".

Which was nice.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Tue 19 Jun 2012, 13:39, 7 replies)

I wouldn't imagine you'd really need to be told, would you?
Orders: "shoot them cunts if they shoot us". What else are you going to do. You're in a fucking battleship.
( Ken Oath, Tue 19 Jun 2012, 13:47, closed)

Retreat
if fired upon?
( Ungersven would support SpankyHanky's patreon, Tue 19 Jun 2012, 13:48, closed)

Retreat?
Fuck that. Return with interest.
( Ken Oath, Tue 19 Jun 2012, 13:55, closed)

Hey, you!
That's right, you! Ivan, or whatever your name is. Come and have a look at the hole you've made in my battleship. The stress patterns in the metal are fascinating...
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Tue 19 Jun 2012, 15:46, closed)

Ivan?
You bin reading too many Sven Hassell books.

More like "Hey Fidel".
( Ken Oath, Tue 19 Jun 2012, 22:04, closed)

well
if an armed response was perhaps going to be the catalyst for an all-out thermonuclear war, then just maybe some restraint might be called for.
(haberman is singing in the changes, Wed 20 Jun 2012, 9:57, closed)

Google "Cuban Missile War"
It's an insanely detailed "What if?" timeline of the nuclear war that could have resulted.
Its single point of departure from reality is a Russian sub commander, under extreme pressure, misinterpreting similar orders allowing nuclear-tipped torpedoes to be used, as commanding him to do so. The whole hellish scenario develops from there.

It's a chilling read if you have a couple of hours.
(North Utsira South Utsira, Thu 21 Jun 2012, 12:53, closed)