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In 1989, I remember watching a political/murder thriller called "Rules of Engagement" starring Kenneth Crantham on ITV.
The backdrop to a investigation into a high level govt murder was a build up of NATO-WARPAC tensions leading to possible WWIII due to a US SSBN/SSN breaking down after a reactor fire either in the Baltic or off the USSR northern sea's (I can't remember)
As the US sailors battled to regain power and steering while US & NATO assets steamed at full speed to her aid, the boat drifted towards Soviet home waters at which point the Soviets said that upon entering Soviet waters she would be boarded by the Red Fleet.
The US on the other hand told the Soviets that the sub was US territory and that any boarding of the sub would be an act of war.
How plausible was this story plot?
Would the US/NATO actually go to war over a sub in Soviet waters?