HMS Splendid (S106)
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| Career | 
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| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | |
| Launched: | October 5, 1979 |
| Commissioned: | |
| Decommissioned: | 2004 |
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| Struck: | |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 4,900 tonnes (dived) |
| Length: | 82.9 m |
| Beam: | 9.8 m |
| Draught: | 8.5 m |
| Propulsion: | |
| Speed: | |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | 116 officers and men |
| Armament: | 5 x 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes, Spearfish torpedoes, RN Sub Harpoon missiles, Tomahawk missiles |
| Motto: | |
The HMS Splendid (S106) was a nuclear powered submarine of the Swiftsure class. HMS Splendid was launched at Barrow on October 5, 1979, by Lady Ann 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 Cdr. 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 Argentine forces invaded the British held Falkland Islands. Splendid was one of the first submarines to reach the islands, arriving mid April, after sailing from Gibraltar. Unlike HMS Conqueror, Splendid did not fire in anger, she did however provide valuable reconnaissance to the British Task Force on Argentine aircraft movements. Spendid's presence also ensured that the Argentine Navy would not dare leave its port.
In the late 1990s, HMS Splendid became the first British ship to be armed with American built Tomahawk cruise missiles. Splendid fired these in anger against Serbian targets in Belgrade during the Kosovo War. She again fired these weapons against positions in Afghanistan in support of US-led operations against the Taliban; and against Iraqi targets in Gulf War II.
In July 2003, HMS Splendid returned to her home at Faslane Naval Base on the River Clyde in Scotland. She was decommissioned in Devonport, Plymouth in 2004 due to defence cuts.
See HMS Splendid for other ships of the same name.
| Swiftsure-class submarine |
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Swiftsure | Sovereign | Superb | Sceptre | Spartan | Splendid |
| List of submarines of the Royal Navy List of submarine classes of the Royal Navy |