Belgrano

[FourWheelDrift]

IanMorewood said:

Had it not been for the fact that the 2nd of May was unusually calm the Argentine A4’s would have been launched and closed to attack the RN carrier group, the chances are the Harriers would have been waiting for them though.

ARA Veinticinco de Mayo was initially stationed North of the Falklands with the Belgrano group to the South. It was going to launch an attack on the task force on the 1st of May but bad weather stopped it. After the Belgrano was sunk the following day by HMS Conqueror it was ordered back home and never left port again during the war. The Skyhawks were then operated from land bases. HMS Spartan had been assigned to find and sink the Argentinian carrier but didn't find it.

[Paul Dishman]

FourWheelDrift said:

IanMorewood said:

Had it not been for the fact that the 2nd of May was unusually calm the Argentine A4’s would have been launched and closed to attack the RN carrier group, the chances are the Harriers would have been waiting for them though.

ARA Veinticinco de Mayo was initially stationed North of the Falklands with the Belgrano group to the South. It was going to launch an attack on the task force on the 1st of May but bad weather stopped it. After the Belgrano was sunk the following day by HMS Conqueror it was ordered back home and never left port again during the war. The Skyhawks were then operated from land bases. HMS Spartan had been assigned to find and sink the Argentinian carrier but didn't find it.

I'm sure that I've read that the CO of a British sub had the Argentine carrier lined up for a torpedo attack but because the ROE stated that he had to get a clear shot at it couldn't carry out the attack because the weather was foggy.

[AMD87]

IanMorewood said:

http://www.rnsubs.co.uk/Community/Forum/index.php?... makes interesting viewing and confirms the presence of at least one Soviet submarine.

The first is that the then President Leonaldo F. Galtieri to General Haig (the U.S. "mediator") that the Soviets had offered to sink an aircraft carrier and Argentina could take credit for the sinking. Obviously, it could be a ploy by the Argentine or it could be said in the middle of a conversation in one night over drinks.


No way that would be true surely?

The first thing the navy would do is dive on the ship the ship and no doubt find evidence of how it sunk ie same with the north/south korea malarkey and find it was a Russian torpedo as iirc the argies used ex American subs?

[Simpo Two]

Paul Dishman said:

I'm sure that I've read that the CO of a British sub had the Argentine carrier lined up for a torpedo attack but because the ROE stated that he had to get a clear shot at it couldn't carry out the attack because the weather was foggy.

I don't see the logic in that. No torpedo attack is 100% guaranteed. It's not as if the carrier was surroundined by neutral passenger liners.

[AstonZagato]

I seem to recall a persistent rumour at the time that UK special forces had sabotaged the Argentinian carrier in port, damaging its steering gear. There were certainly some SAS bods who infiltrated southern Argentina via landing in Chile, though it is generally accepted that their target was an airbase (and that the attack was called off due to the op going FUBAR).

[IanMorewood]

FourWheelDrift said:

IanMorewood said:

Had it not been for the fact that the 2nd of May was unusually calm the Argentine A4’s would have been launched and closed to attack the RN carrier group, the chances are the Harriers would have been waiting for them though.

ARA Veinticinco de Mayo was initially stationed North of the Falklands with the Belgrano group to the South. It was going to launch an attack on the task force on the 1st of May but bad weather stopped it. After the Belgrano was sunk the following day by HMS Conqueror it was ordered back home and never left port again during the war. The Skyhawks were then operated from land bases. HMS Spartan had been assigned to find and sink the Argentinian carrier but didn't find it.

Veinticinco de Mayo moved further towards the Falklands and launched a reconnaissance aircraft that detected the British fleet 300 miles south east of the Argentinian ships. Again the carrier was moved closer to the Exclusion Zone, although it never actually entered it, its Skyhawk fighter-bombers were armed with bombs and prepared for a dawn launch on the 2nd May. The British submarines in the area had not found the Argentine carrier group but just after midnight on the 2nd, a Sea Harrier from HMS Invincible, flown by Flt Lt Ian Mortimer, an Air Warfare Instructor on detachment from the RAF, was ordered to undertake a radar patrol of the area to the east and north-east of the British Task Force. During this patrol Flt Lt Mortimer first encountered a Portuguese fishing fleet, lighting up the sea and destroying his night vision. As he turned north to avoid this problem, he found his aircraft being scanned by two Type 909 radars, usually associated with the Sea Dart missile system, and at a range of only 7 miles!As his radar reconnaissance tape later proved, he had found the enemy carrier group. The Harrier patrols were intensified in the area for the next couple of hours. An attack was expected by the British commanders soon after daybreak as the Skyhawk had limited night or all-weather capabilities. However, when dawn arrived there was not enough wind for the heavy Skyhawks to take off so the mission was cancelled and Admiral Lombardo turned back to await a better opportunity.

Source RAF