Former crew visit HMS Swiftsure at Rosyth Dockyard

More than 40 former crew members took the chance to reminisce about the retired hunter-killer - the first of the Royal Navy’s unwanted old nuclear-powered boats to be chopped up in a complex operation - before the cutters moved in.

Despite the passage of time, Swiftsure entered service in 1973 and was withdrawn in 1992, there were still reminders of her active service and life aboard.

Former crew were astonished to find bunk plans - that detailed who slept where - were still posted in the messes and other mementos of the sub's active days.

HMS Swiftsure veterans at the dock at Rosyth. (Image: Submarine Delivery Agency) READ MORE: 'What's being done to keep residents safe while nuclear subs are cut up?'

Some described her as “a time capsule” and all of the veterans found the return last month was a bittersweet occasion: good times came flooding back, as did memories of shipmates no longer here.

Chris Carpenter, head of submarine disposal, told them: “Let me say how grateful I and my colleagues are for your service in keeping us safe - to the Silent Service.

“I wonder how many memories have been recalled: operations under the ice, crossings of the Equator, activities in each of the globe’s oceans, whether rolling uncomfortably at 400m, or drifting tensely in the adversaries’ baffles.

HMS Swiftsure in the dry dock at Rosyth before the cutters moved in. (Image: Submarine Delivery Agency) “Whether you served on the longest continuous surveillance operation, or on the well-publicised Kiev recordings, I see your pride today.

"Your nerve, skill and determination set examples for us as valid today as they were then.”

The ‘Kiev recordings’ - capturing the sound signature of the flagship of the Russian Red Fleet with the submarine’s periscope just 10 feet below the aircraft carrier’s keel - is one of the few publicised highlights of Swiftsure’s 19-year career, almost all of it played out at the height of the Cold War.

READ MORE: Over £200m spent on Rosyth nuclear submarine dismantling project

Now she is one of 22 decommissioned nuclear subs - mostly hunter-killers, but also all four first-generation deterrent submarines - awaiting recycling in Rosyth or Devonport under the Ministry of Defence's complex, multi-phase Submarine Dismantling Project.

Parts of the former nuclear submarine being cut up at Rosyth. (Image: Submarine Delivery Agency) Swiftsure has been docked down in Rosyth since July last year in preparation for her dismantling.

Her breaking up will serve as a blueprint for dismantling the rest of the decommissioned boats.

With the reactor / fuel removed as well as any sections of the boat / fittings containing low-level radioactive waste dealt with, Rear Admiral JJ Bailey, director of Submarine Support, said the main task could begin.

READ MORE: Babcock apply to vary radioactive waste permit at Rosyth

“More than 90 per cent will be recycled and the project paves the way for the recycling of other laid up submarines,” he added.

“The lessons learned from Swiftsure will be applied to the remaining laid-up fleet, ensuring all future boats are safely and efficiently recycled with cost savings where possible applied.”

The dismantling is due to be completed by the end of 2026. Materials that cannot be repurposed will undergo conventional recycling.