We send in Admiral Vardy to face Russian supersub in the English Channel
THE stunned commander of a Russian submarine skulking through the English Channel looked through his periscope and saw a Sun armada — captained by Jamie Vardy.
Grim-faced crewmen scrambled on deck as our force closed in, with a lookalike of the Three Lions striker dressed as Lord Nelson.
He roared: “Come on, you Reds! Come and have a go if you think you’re Armada enough!”
And he danced a jig of delight as the £2billion Stary Oskol ended a stand-off by slinking away.
We told yesterday how sabre-rattling Vladimir Putin had sent the 210ft attack sub in the run-up to England’s opening Euro 2016 game against Russia on Saturday.
Britain’s favourite paper caught up with it hours later in the Straits of Dover.
The supersub, bristling with cruise missiles and torpedoes, was tackled in the North Sea by Royal Navy frigate HMS Kent.
We took to sea in a 40ft fishing boat, The Firefox, and in a superfast 34ft rigid-hulled inflatable boat.
Our brave defenders were led by 29-year-old Lee Chapman, a double for Leicester City hero Vardy.
Sporting a tricorn hat and white breeches, he had his Number 11 England shirt under his tailcoat.
After a three-hour hunt he declared: “I see no ships”. But a menacing slate-grey hull then loomed on to the horizon.
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As we trained our spy-glasses on the sub, Lee warned: “You’re out of your depth, Putin!”
We spotted some of the 52 crew on deck before the Stary Oskol headed towards the Bay of Biscay, still escorted by HMS Kent.
James Salmon, skipper of the inflatable Dover Explorer said: “That was pretty cool. I was surprised how close we got.”
Proud Lee said: “We repelled the Russians on the field of battle. Now it’s over to Roy’s Boys to destroy the Russians on the football pitch.”
Just like the real Nelson, who beat the French at the Battle of Trafalgar, Lee did suffer from sea sickness. But he proved that, like The Sun, he has the stomach for a fight.
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