Malcolm wallace skull and bones full#

In 2002 she successfully launched cruise missiles against Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan during Operationīack then she also returned to port bearing the submarine’s symbol of success – the skull and crossbones emblazoned with crossed tomahawks. To witness her return under her pirate flag was a moving moment that smacked not of vainglory or triumphalism but of a job well done.īut then HMS Triumph has been here before. It was a big task and my crew performed extremely well.’ We did not know what was happening or what we were going to do. He said: ‘We did what submariners do – moved quickly with extreme stealth.

Malcolm wallace skull and bones full#

Last night Commander Dunn revealed that Triumph had been in position a full 48 hours before the order to attack was given. He took control of HMS Triumph in 2009 after she’d had a comprehensive refit. He is, clearly, a good man to have in a tight spot, with the right amount of academic cool – he has a masters in Defence Studies – to temper any operational bravura. Previously Dunn commanded the surface ships HMS Smiter and HMS Glasgow, Triumph’s sister sub HMS Turbulent and the Royal Navy Submarine School. Those who have not passed it are told only when a boat arrives to collect them, whereupon they are presented with their packed kit and a bottle of whisky as scant consolation. Of the toughest command courses in the world with a one-in-four failure rate. Like all commanders he qualified on the Perisher course, known as one In all, she has eight of the missiles.Ĭommander Dunn, who followed in his grandfather’s footsteps to become a submariner, was the man with his finger on the missile button. This represented the precise number of Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from HMS Triumph at Libya.

Under the watchful eye of Commander Dunn, linesmen secured her with thick coils of rope.Īs the sub neared the dockside and her Jolly Roger danced in the wind, it became apparent that the flag also bore the motif of six tomahawks. It took a little over quarter of an hour for the sub – speedy underwater but difficult to manoeuvre on the surface – to be gently nudged into position. The questions of just how long she had been in position off the Libyan coast awaiting her orders, and if she was operating alone or alongside a sister submarine which has covertly remained on duty, are yet to be answered. Home: The sub return to Devonport, Plymouth after firing six Tomahawk cruise missiles during the conflict It was six o’clock when the 280ft Trafalgar Class submarine sliced up the River Tamar beneath the spring sun. And last night she celebrated her achievement in the best way – by coming safely home. Her image was emblematic of Britain’s role in the assault and her battle honours include flattening a three-storey command building within Gaddafi’s presidential compound. The submarine’s deadly accurate surprise strikes in the opening moments of the anti-Gaddafi campaign – pictures captured on front pages around the world two weeks ago – left loyalists and rebels alike in no doubt as to the coalition’s intent. There was little doubt before, but with the skull and crossbones fluttering alongside the White Ensign in a stiff sea breeze, HMS Triumph made it abundantly clear she’d routed her desert foe in Operation Ellamy. The flag was made by the submariners’ wives and sent out to Triumph as she made the voyage home. But nothing can quite prepare you for the sight of a Royal Navy vessel decked in the flag so beloved of corsairs and steeped in marine banditry. We guessed she’d do it – it is her right as a sub which has successfully completed a combat mission. Triumph: The fast-attack submarine routed her desert foeĪs she sailed in, the nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine showed her true colours: she flew the Jolly Roger from her mast.