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Captain John Speller

Royal Navy

John joined the Navy at Dartmouth in 1953. He says that in the early days, submarines played the part of 鈥渓oyal opposition鈥 - working as practice targets for Royal Navy ships. In the early 1970s their role dramatically changed. The Soviet Union launched an aggressive submarine-building programme and its submarines started patrolling more and more of the world鈥檚 oceans.

John Speller was one of the few new frontline submarine commanders given the task of finding and trailing potential enemy Soviet submarines close to their home waters. His submarine, Swiftsure, a cutting edge hunter-killer, was the first in the British Navy to be fitted with "Tactical Towed Array Sonar", and brought back unprecedented and invaluable intelligence about the expanding Soviet Fleet, including the brand new aircraft carrier, the Kiev.