HMS Spartan in 1993
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Spartan
Ordered	7 February 1976
Builder	Vickers
Laid down	26 April 1976
Launched	7 May 1978
Commissioned	22 September 1979
Decommissioned	January 2006
Identification	Pennant number: S105
Motto	Courage With Great Endurance
Fate	Paid off
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Swiftsure-class submarine
Displacement	4,900 tonnes (dived)
Length	82.9 m (272 ft 0 in)
Beam	9.8 m (32 ft 2 in)
Draught	8.5 m (27 ft 11 in)
Propulsion	Rolls-Royce pressurised water nuclear reactor (PWR1)
Speed	In excess of 20 knots (37 km/h), dived
Complement	116 officers and ratings
Armament	5 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes Spearfish torpedoes RN Sub Harpoon missiles Tomahawk cruise missiles

HMS Spartan was a nuclear-powered fleet submarine of the Royal Navy's Swiftsure class. Spartan was launched on 7 April 1978 by Lady Lygo, wife of Admiral Sir Raymond Lygo. The boat was built by Vickers Limited Shipbuilding Group (now a division of BAE Systems) at Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, England. She was decommissioned in January 2006.

Spartan was ordered to sail south for the Falkland Islands two days before the Argentine invasion of the islands on 30 March 1982. Spartan was the first vessel to arrive in the islands and began to enforce a 200-mile (320 km) maritime exclusion zone imposed by the British. Shortly after, Spartan sighted Argentine merchant shipping mining the harbour at Stanley, but was not ordered to attack. This was partly due to British concerns about escalating the war too early, but also to avoid scaring off more lucrative targets such as the Argentine aircraft carrier Veinticinco de Mayo. On 1 May, Spartan was marking Veinticinco de Mayo, from just outside the Argentinian 12-mile (19 km) limit, when the submarine was ordered away by the Northwood fleet command in England,^[1] rejecting the strong view of the task force commander, Admiral Woodward. He considered, as the highest ranking naval officer in the area, he should control the RN submarines in the area and potentially faced losing the war by the lack of local control in the battle zone ^[2] In the following days Veinticinco de Mayo was therefore able to move, unchecked by the British nuclear submarines, and potentially launch an A-4Q Skyhawk attack from much closer range than possible from Argentinian airfields. Unlike HMS Conqueror, Spartan did not fire in anger during the Falklands War, though she did provide valuable reconnaissance to the British Task Force on Argentine aircraft movements.

In November 2010, it was reported in Hansard that Spartan had run aground off the west coast of Scotland in October 1989.^[3]

In 1999, Spartan was fitted with Tomahawk cruise missiles.

v t e British Naval Forces of the Falklands War
Royal Navy	Active Alacrity Ambuscade Andromeda Antelope S Antrim Ardent S Argonaut Arrow Avenger Brilliant Bristol Broadsword Cardiff Conqueror Cordella Courageous Coventry S Dumbarton Castle Endurance Exeter Farnella Fearless Glamorgan Glasgow Hecla Herald Hermes Hydra Intrepid Invincible Junella Leeds Castle Minerva Northella Onyx Penelope Pict Plymouth Sheffield S Spartan Splendid Valiant Yarmouth
Naval Auxiliary (RFA)	Appleleaf Brambleleaf Bayleaf Blue Rover Engadine Fort Austin Fort Grange Plumleaf Pearleaf Olna Olmeda Regent Resource Sir Bedivere Sir Galahad S Sir Geraint Sir Lancelot Sir Percivale Sir Tristram Stromness Tidespring Tidepool
Ships Taken Up From Trade	Alvega Anco Charger Astronomer Atlantic Conveyor S Atlantic Causeway Avelona Star Balder London Baltic Ferry British Avon British Dart British Enterprise III British Esk British Tamar British Test British Trent British Wye Canberra Contender Bezant Eburna Elk Europic Ferry Fort Toronto G.A.Walker Geesport Iris Irishman Laertes Lycaon Nordic Ferry Norland Queen Elizabeth 2 Rangatira Salvageman Saxonia Scottish Eagle St Edmund St Helena Stena Inspector Stena Seaspread Strathewe Tor Caledonia Uganda Wimpey Seahorse Yorkshireman
Civilian Auxiliary (RMAS)	Goosander Typhoon
S - Sunk

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1989
Shipwrecks	7 Jan: Lavia 21 Jan: USS Muliphen 28 Jan: Bahía Paraíso 15 Feb: Maassluis 8 Apr: K-278 Komsomolets 25 Apr: USS Parsons 24 May: Moby Dick June (unknown date): USS Blenny 20 Aug: Marchioness 10 Sep: Mogoșoaia 29 Oct: Murree 4 Dec: USCGC Mesquite Unknown date: HMS Leander, YO-257, ROCS Tze Yang
Other incidents	17 Jan: USS Norfolk, USS San Diego 16 Mar: NOAAS Oregon II 24 Mar: Exxon Valdez (oil spill) 19 Apr: USS Iowa (turret explosion) 19 Jun: Maxim Gorkiy 25 Jun: K-131 19 Aug: Ross Revenge 20 Aug: Bowbelle 29 Sep: USS Pennsylvania October (unknown date): HMS Spartan 19 Dec: Khark 5 (oil spill)
1988 1990