HMS Splendid (S106)

HMS Splendid (S106)

HMS Splendid was a Royal Navy nuclear powered fleet submarine of the Swiftsure class. HMS Splendid was launched at Barrow on 5 October 1979, by Lady Eberle, wife of Admiral Sir James Eberle, then Commander-in-Chief Fleet. The boat was built by Vickers Shipbuilding Groups and was under the command of Commander R C Lane-Nott.

Since her launch in 1979, she has taken part in many conflicts involving British forces around the globe.

Her first major conflict came in 1982 when Argentinian forces invaded the British held Falkland Islands. Splendid was one of the first submarines to reach the islands, arriving mid April, after sailing from Faslane. Unlike HMS Conqueror, Splendid did not directly engage Argentinian forces, she did however provide valuable reconnaissance to the British Task Force on Argentine aircraft movements. Splendid's presence along with HMS Conqueror effectively restricted the freedom of action of the Argentine Navy which spent most of the war confined to port.

In the late 1990s, Splendid became the first British ship to be armed with American-built Tomahawk cruise missiles. In 1999 the BBC were allowed on board to record her firing Tomahawks in battle against Yugoslav targets in Belgrade during the Kosovo War, becoming the first British submarine in the conflict to do so. She again fired these weapons against Iraqi targets in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

In July 2003, HMS Splendid returned to her home at Faslane Naval Base on the River Clyde in Scotland. She was decommissioned in HMNB Devonport, Plymouth in 2004 due to defence cuts. Commander Burke was later awarded the OBE for his leadership of HMS Splendid in the Gulf.