View source for HMS Splendid (S106)

{{short description|Swiftsure-class nuclear-powered fleet submarine of the Royal Navy}}

{{other ships|HMS Splendid}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMS Splendid S106.jpeg
|Ship image size=300px
|Ship caption=HMS ''Splendid'' pictured off [[HMNB Clyde]] in March 1995
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=HMS ''Splendid'' (ex ''Severn'')
|Ship operator=[[Royal Navy]]
|Ship ordered=26 May 1976
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Vickers]]
|Ship yard number=
|Ship laid down=23 November 1977
|Ship launched=5 October 1979
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|Ship commissioned=21 March 1981
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=2004
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|Ship motto=''Splendidly Audacious''
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|Ship fate=
|Ship status=Awaiting Disposal
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=[[File:HMS Splendid creset.jpg|100px]]
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Swiftsure|submarine}}
|Ship displacement=4,900 tonnes (dived)
|Ship length= {{convert|82.9|m|ftin||abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|9.8|m|ftin||abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|8.5|m|ftin||abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*One [[Rolls-Royce PWR|Rolls-Royce pressurised water nuclear reactor (PWR1)]]
* Two WH Allen turbo generators
* One [[Paxman (engines)|Paxman]] diesel alternator
* One emergency drive motor
|Ship speed=In excess of {{convert|20|kn|km/h|0}}, dived
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|Ship complement=116 officers and men
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|Ship armament=*5 × [[British 21 inch torpedo|{{convert|21|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}]] torpedo tubes
* [[Spearfish torpedo]]es
* RN Sub [[Boeing AGM-84 Harpoon|Harpoon missiles]]
* [[BGM-109 Tomahawk|Tomahawk cruise missiles]]
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''HMS ''Splendid''''' was a [[Royal Navy]] nuclear-powered fleet [[submarine]] of the {{sclass|Swiftsure|submarine|4}}. From commissioning in 1979 to her decommission in 2004 she took part in many operations involving British forces around the globe.

==Construction==

HMS ''Splendid'' was ordered on 26 May 1976 as the sixth and last submarine of the ''Swiftsure'' class.{{sfn|Moore|1985|page=616}} The submarine was laid down at [[Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd|Vickers Shipbuilding Groups]] [[Barrow-in-Furness]] shipyard on 23 November 1977 and was launched on 5 October 1979{{sfn|Moore|1985|page=616}} by Lady Eberle, wife of [[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]] [[James Eberle|Sir James Eberle]], then [[Commander-in-Chief Fleet]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Splendid (S106)|url=http://www.rnsubs.co.uk/Boats/BoatDB2/index.php?BoatID=693|work=Submariners Association: Barrow-in-Furness Branch|access-date=12 July 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714140743/http://www.rnsubs.co.uk/Boats/BoatDB2/index.php?BoatID=693|archive-date=14 July 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> ''Splendid'' commissioned on 21 March 1981{{sfn|Moore|1985|page=616}} under the command of Commander R. C. Lane-Nott.

==Operational history==
Her first major conflict came in 1982 during the [[Falklands War]] when Argentinian forces invaded the British [[Falkland Islands]]. ''Splendid'' was one of the first submarines to reach the islands, arriving mid-April, after sailing from [[Faslane]]. Unlike {{HMS|Conqueror|S48|6}}, ''Splendid'' did not directly engage Argentinian forces, however she shadowed the Argentine [[aircraft carrier]] [[ARA Veinticinco de Mayo (V-2)|''25 de Mayo'']], with ''Splendid'' running within a mile outside of the Argentinian territorial line, {{convert|12|mi|km}} off its Atlantic coast. The captain of ''Splendid'' claimed, that running on the edge of the exclusion zone around the Falklands, declared by the UK government, he had the right in international law and approval from the British PM, to fire at ''25 de Mayo'', a couple of miles away within Argentine waters, and would have fired MK 8 torpedoes at ''25 de Mayo'',{{sfn|Polmar|2008|page=517}} if he had confirmed his precise position. But just at the moment, he lost sight through the periscope of the carrier and was not immediately able to regain contact. The Naval Commander of the task force, Admiral [[Sandy Woodward]], does not appear to be entirely clear, that ''Splendid'' had the right to fire, but says he established, against his prior view, that ''Splendid'' had orders to engage and approval of the PM.{{sfn|Woodward|Robinson|2012}}{{page needed|date=May 2015}} ''Splendid'' did however provide valuable reconnaissance to the [[British naval forces in the Falklands War|British Task Force]] on Argentine aircraft movements. ''Splendid''{{'}}s presence along with ''Conqueror'' effectively restricted the freedom of action of the [[Argentine Navy]], which spent most of the war confined to port.

In November 1998, the Royal Navy attained initial operational capability for the American-built [[BGM-109 Tomahawk|Tomahawk]] [[cruise missile]] with the missile's deployment aboard ''Splendid''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-54879482.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924155750/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-54879482.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 September 2015|title=Royal Navy Launches First Live Warhead Tomahawk|work=Defense Daily|date=19 November 1998|access-date=8 August 2015}}</ref><ref name=HighBeam_Tomahawk>{{Cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-79025940.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924163747/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-79025940.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 September 2015|title=British Launch Tomahawk Missiles As Part Of Strikes On Afghanistan|work=Defense Daily|date=10 October 2001|access-date=8 August 2015|url-access=subscription |via=}}</ref> In March 1999, ''Splendid'' fired Tomahawks in battle against Serbian targets when [[NATO bombing of Yugoslavia|NATO forces intervened]] in the [[Kosovo War]], becoming the first British submarine in the conflict to do so; she would fire 20 Tomahawks throughout the war.<ref name=HighBeam_Tomahawk/> She again fired these weapons against Iraqi targets in the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3075011.stm |title=Hero's welcome for sub crew|work=[[BBC News]]|date=17 July 2003|access-date=10 June 2015}}</ref>

In July 2003 ''Splendid'' returned to her home at [[HMNB Clyde|Faslane Naval Base]] on the [[River Clyde]] in [[Scotland]]. The youngest of the ''Swiftsure'' vessels, she was decommissioned in [[HMNB Devonport]], [[Plymouth]] in 2004. Commander Burke was later awarded the [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] for his leadership of HMS ''Splendid'' in the Gulf.

==Alleged involvement in the loss of ''Kursk''==
{{details|Kursk submarine disaster}}
HMS ''Splendid'' was alleged by Russian officials to have been present, along with the [[US Navy]] submarines {{USS|Memphis|SSN-691|6}} and {{USS|Toledo|SSN-769|6}}<ref>{{cite news
|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E7D61530F932A3575AC0A9669C8B63
|title=Russia Identifies U.S. Sub
|work=[[New York Times]]
|location=New York
|access-date=19 December 2008
|date=1 September 2000
}}</ref>
at the Russian war games during which the Russian submarine [[Russian submarine K-141 Kursk|''Kursk'']] exploded and sank, resulting in the loss of that submarine and all 118 sailors and officers on board. Despite the conclusions of independent forensic inquiries and the eventual corroborating admission by the [[Russian Navy]] that the explosion was triggered by a faulty torpedo on board the ''Kursk'', various conspiracy theories posit that ''Kursk'' was actually sunk by one of the US or British submarines.  This may partly stem from the Russian Navy's initial attempts to shunt away criticism of its failed efforts to rescue the surviving crew members from the ocean floor and of the generally poor condition of its own equipment, which was eventually found to be the cause of both the sinking and the failure of the Russian rescue attempts.<ref>
{{cite news
|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/aug/24/highereducation.kursk
|title=Fire down below
|work=[[The Guardian]]
|location=London
|access-date=19 December 2008
|last=Gentleman
|first=Amelia
|date=24 August 2002
}}</ref>  In the days immediately after the explosion, Russia suggested that the cause of the disaster was a collision with one of the US or British submarines present.<ref>
{{cite web
|title=Cohen Press conference at the U.S. Embassy, Tokyo
|publisher=[[US Department of Defense]]
|url=http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=1821
|access-date=19 December 2008
|date=22 September 2000}}</ref>  Though the accusation proved to be unfounded, conspiracy theorists have picked up on and elaborated it in various directions over time.

==Commanding officers==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
!From||To|||Captain
|-
|1981||1982|||Commander [[Roger Lane-Nott]] RN
|-Cdr Tony Smith
|1987||1988|||Commander [[Mark Stanhope]] RN
|-Cdr Chris Roddis
|1994||1997|||Commander Ken Clark RN
|-
|1997||1999|||Commander [[Ian Corder]] RN
|-
|}

===Notes===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Moore|first=John|title=Jane's Fighting Ships 1985–86|year=1985|publisher=Jane's Yearbooks|isbn=978-0-710-60814-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Polmar |first=N. |year=2008 |title=Aircraft Carriers: A History of Carrier Aviation, Vol. 2, 1946–2006 |publisher=Potomac Books|location=Washington, DC|isbn=978-1-574-88665-8}}
* {{cite book|last1=Woodward |first1=Sandy|last2=Robinson|first2=Patrick |year=2012 |title=One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of the Falklands Fleet Commander |publisher=Harper |location=London |isbn=978-0-007-43640-8}}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
* {{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3608737.stm|title=Gulf War honours for servicemen|work=[[BBC News]]|date=7 April 2004|access-date=10 June 2015}}

{{Swiftsure class submarine}}
{{Falklands War British ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Splendid (S106)}}
[[Category:Swiftsure-class submarines]]
[[Category:Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness]]
[[Category:Falklands War naval ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1979 ships]]