10 Weirdest Cold War Stories You Probably Haven't Heard

This is the story of what must be the most famous submarine in British naval history, HMS Conqueror. Best known for sinking the General Belgrano at the start of the Falklands War in 1982 and being the first submarine since the end of the Second World War to fire a torpedo in anger, it’s the least known of its exploits that was the most incredible.

The US and British believed that they were light years ahead of Russia in the technology of towed sonar arrays, (A two mile long cable covered with hydrophones, enabling more accurate underwater surveillance) until they started to get the feeling the Soviets had something similar. Unsure whether they had developed this or just stolen it from them, a plan was devised to steal one.

HMS Conqueror was almost back to base following its participation in the Falklands War when it received orders of an incredibly unique nature. They were to put to dock to have special pincers fitted to her bow, and they were then to patrol north of Russia to locate a Polish trawler (keeps getting better, doesn’t it?). The plan was then to match speed with the trawler, snip the cable and bugger off with it!

While the full details of the raid are classified top secret, a brief understanding of the operation and confirmation of its success are public record. Arguably one of the most daring raids in naval history