Unlike HMS Conqueror, Splendid did not directly engage Argentinian forces, however she shadowed the Argentine aircraft carrier 25 de Mayo, with Splendid running within a mile outside of the Argentinian territorial line, 12 miles (19 km) off its Atlantic coast.

The captain of Splendid claimed, that running on the edge of the exclusion zone around the Falklands, declared by the UK government, he had the right in international law and approval from the British PM, to fire at 25 de Mayo, a couple of miles away within Argentine waters, and would have fired MK 8 torpedoes at 25 de Mayo,[3] if he had confirmed his precise position.

[4][page needed] Splendid did however provide valuable reconnaissance to the British Task Force on Argentine aircraft movements.

Splendid's presence along with Conqueror effectively restricted the freedom of action of the Argentine Navy, which spent most of the war confined to port.

This may partly stem from the Russian Navy's initial attempts to shunt away criticism of its failed efforts to rescue the surviving crew members from the ocean floor and of the generally poor condition of its own equipment, which was eventually found to be the cause of both the sinking and the failure of the Russian rescue attempts.