11th April 1982 - Submarines Lead the Way to the Falklands

April 11 1982, The Nuclear Powered Swiftsure Class Hunter-Killer Submarines HMS Splendid and HMS Spartan arrive at the Falkland Islands Maritime Exclusion Zone

They are two of the most recently designed and launched vessels in the taskforce, each being under three years old. They are designed for anti-submarine warfare, specifically to detect and sink enemy submarines. Their role will be to prevent enemy submarines from approaching or attacking the amphibious assualt force or the carrier force. They will also gather intelligence

On arrival Spartan has the opportunity to fire upon several Argentine transports off Port Stanley, but is ordered not to in order to keep the submarines' presence secret, and thus avoid alerting higher value targets which may be in the area, such as the Veinticinco de Mayo, to their presence

HMS Spartan

 

HMS Splendid