Summary of Main
Events
CVBG
- CV Hermes, Invincible; DD
Glamorgan, Coventry, Glasgow; FR
Alacrity, Arrow, Brilliant, Broadsword,
Yarmouth; RFA Fort Austin, Olmeda,
Resource; with SBS and SAS
1. Argentine patrol
ship Alferez Sobral damaged 70 miles
north of East Falkland
island (3rd)
2.
Argentine aircraft
lost near Stanley - [a11] Aermacchi MB-339A
(3rd), [a12] PNA Skyvan(3rd/4th)
3. 'Black Buck 2' -
second Vulcan raid on Stanley
(4th)
4. Two Super Etendards launch
Exocet (4th)
at:
5. SHEFFIELD hit at 52¾S,
57¼ (4th) , sank at 53S, 57W
on 10th
6. British aircraft
lost at Goose Green - [b4]
Sea
Harrier (4th)
7. British aircraft
lost at 53S, 57W - [b5,
b6] Sea
Harriers (6th)
TEZ -
extended to within 12 miles of
Argentine coast from Friday
7th May
8. Argentine intelligence
trawler Narwhal damaged 60 miles SE
of Stanley (9th) and later sank
9. Argentine aircraft
lost off South Jason Island - [a13,a14] Skyhawks
(9th)
10. Argentine aircraft
lost at mouth of Choiseul
Sound
- [a15] Army Puma
(9th)
Midnight on Sunday 2nd as patrol vessel "Alferez
Sobral" searched
for the crew of the downed Canberra [a8] to the north of the Falklands, she was
detected by a No.826 Sea King. Fired on, the helicopter
called for help and from a range of eight miles,
"Coventry's" Lynx fired two of the new Sea Skua
missiles, followed shortly by two more from
"Glasgow's" Lynx. Badly damaged and with eight
crew dead, the "Sobral" was escorted into
Puerto Deseado two
days later, but the Canberra's crew was never found. Later in the day one of two MB-339A's of CANA 1 Esc
returning to Stanley from a patrol to the south east, crashed in
bad weather near the airfield killing the pilot [a11], and that night, a PNA Skyvan [a12] at the airfield was badly damaged
in another bombardment by "Glamorgan",
"Alacrity" and "Arrow". Then early on Tuesday
morning, the same
Vulcan as before attacked the runway in "Black Buck
2".
With the
Argentine Navy's return to port, the British Task
Force established control of the surrounding seas,
but it would be weeks before air supremacy was achieved.
As a foretaste of events, the first ships and aircraft
were lost in combat on Tuesday 4th. Most of the TF.79
ships were returning to port by Tuesday and "25 de Mayo"
disembarked her aircraft. Although submarine "San
Luis" stayed out a few more days, the rest of the
Navy kept well clear of the British nuclear subs. However
to the
south of the Falklands a number of ships joined in the search for
"Belgrano's" survivors with most of them
returning on Wednesday. Then to confirm control of the
seas, Britain extended the TEZ on Friday and warned
Argentina that any warships or military aircraft found
more than 12 miles from their coast were liable to
attack.
By late Tuesday morning
(4th) the CVBG
was 70 miles to the south east of Stanley. Aware of the Exocet
threat, frigates "Brilliant" and
"Broadsword" with their point defence Sea Wolf
stayed in close to the
carriers. Near them was a screen of three RFA's, further
out a second one of "Glamorgan" and three more
frigates, and then twenty miles ahead, the three type
42's including "Sheffield" with their high
altitude Sea Darts. Finally towards the Falklands, Sea
Harriers of No.801 flew CAP and at this time investigated
a number of possible air contacts. efore then a CANA
Neptune had picked up the ships by radar and two Super
Etendards of 2 Esc took off from Rio Grande each
armed with an Exocet AM.39. Refuelled by a Grupo 1
Hercules, they flew in at low altitude, popped-up for a
radar check and
released the missiles from 20 to 30 miles. One
of the Exocet may just have missed "Yarmouth",
but the other slammed with hardly any warning into "Sheffield" soon after 11.00 am. Hitting amidships, the warhead
did not explode, but the impact and unused fuel started
uncontrollable fires. Badly damaged and with little
power, frigate "Arrow" soon came alongside to
assist and "Yarmouth" stood by.
Captain Salt's crew
fought gallantly to save their ship, but with 20 men
dead, the order to abandon was given that
afternoon. With the wounded already
on board "Hermes", "Arrow" took off
most of the 260 survivors and "Sheffield"
drifted for four days until "Yarmouth" was
ordered to pull her clear of the TEZ. Taken in tow by Sunday, "SHEFFIELD" finally sank next day not too many miles from where she
was hit. The survivors later returned to Ascension on
tanker "British Esk". Shortly after
"Sheffield" was hit, three No.800 Sea Harriers
from "Hermes" attacked Goose Green airstrip with CBU's and retard bombs.
Little damage was done, but one aircraft was hit by
Skyguard-directed 35mm Oerlikon fire and crashed killing
the pilot [b4].
With the threat from Exocet, the carriers now moved further away from
Stanley, and there was
little activity over the next few days, but that did not
prevent further losses. On Thursday morning (6th), two No.801 Sea Harriers on CAP
were sent to check a radar contact and just disappeared
without trace after presumably colliding in the poor
visibility [b5,b6].
With the carriers down to 17 Harriers, their next action
took place Sunday morning (9th) when two No.800 aircraft left
"Hermes" to bomb Stanley. Stopped by cloud cover,
they detected intelligence trawler "Narwal" on the way back and were given
permission to attack by control ship
"Coventry". Strafing failed to stop her and the
high-altitude fuzed bombs were dropped, one of which hit
without exploding. With the trawler at a standstill,
Nos.820 and 846 Sea Kings flew an SBS party some 150 miles to capture
her, but before arriving, two more No.800 Sea Harriers
attacked and further damaged "NARWAL" with cannon fire. The SBS boarding went ahead, but next day she
sank in tow with one crewman dead.
Returning to Saturday evening, and with the Task Force back on
the offensive, frigate "Alacrity" bombarded the
Stanley
area as "Brilliant" and her Lynx entered the
north end of Falkland Sound to intercept any supply ships. Meanwhile
"Coventry" and "Broadsword" had moved
closer to Stanley with the unenviable job of tempting out
Argentine aircraft. Late Sunday morning, "Coventry" fired three Sea Darts
at distant aircraft, including a Hercules on a supply run
to
Stanley, and
apparently missed. However around this time, two Grupo 4
Skyhawks were lost [a13,a14].
They may have been hit by the Sea Darts or alternatively
crashed in low visibility on their way to attack the two
ships. Whatever the case, one of them was later found
on South Jason
Island. Then in the
afternoon, as an Army Puma headed out over Choiseul Sound to search for "Narwal",
another Sea Dart fired at extreme range brought her down
with the loss of all on board [a15].
British
Gallantry Awards included:
HMS
Sheffield - rescue work
Lt Cmdr J S Woodhead (post DSC) RN
PO MEM(M) D R Briggs (post DSM)
PO Medical
Asst G A Meager (QGM)
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