It Is an acceptted doctrine of the American defense estabilishment that naval power is the most flexible of all instruments of force, one with many symbolic as well as strategic functions.
For centuries the British navy was the worlds strongest, an obvious and indispensable shield for the Island and the Empire. But now the Empire is gone, the British Isles are menaced by missiles that her warships cannot stop and the United States and the Soviet Union have replaced her as the worlds leading naval powers.
For the last couple of decades, attempts have been made to develop some general understanding, and ultimately a theory, of systems that consist of many interacting components and many hierarchical layers
The history of the Special Boat Squadron and its predecessors has long been a closed book.