In any event, San Luis survived all British ASW efforts, but at the same time was unable to inflict damage on the British force because of materiel problems.. PLYMOUTH was damaged but still no details. SBS were landed near Port Howard late last night and took up their spotting positions. One was in such decrepit condition it could not safely submerge, while the more modern Salta was undergoing repairs. Straight away she found herself in action, and on 1 May with HMS Brilliant she spent the whole day using her sonar's, helicopter and mortars to hunt for a submarine. Friday June 11th INVASION DAY + 21 Stormy weather again. Azcueta launched an SST-4 torpedo at a range of nine kilometersbut. Patrolled the TEZ. The Brilliant detected the attack, and the two frigates and their helicopters went into a frenzied pursuit of potential sonar contacts. Went to air raid warning red a few There are many possible counterfactuals that could result in the defeat of a British attempt to retake the islands, but the struggle was decided by men willing to put forth extraordinary effort despite difficult terrain, weather, and long distances. During the dogs an LCM came alongside to take off the gash and described our Ajax Bay. mind admitting that I have never felt so frightened in my life and I don't think that I will ever be Pebble Island. Friday May 21st INVASION DAY. At 1600 we detached with PLYMOUTH to go Not a bad little haul for some 500 Paras. the waves. raid closed but did not attack, one Skyhawk was shot down by the Rapier sites. A very peaceful day. He is president of Poppyscotland and Legion Scotland. repairs were completed by 2000 and the FMG men were disembarked. The We went to action stations at 0200 and moved into the gun line. The ship survived six days post-attack and was under tow from HMS Yarmouth when she took on too much water and was allowed to sink on May 10th. Kenny Duffy said the war was 90% boredom, 10% sheer terror, Falklands War: It was like walking into hell. gun-line until 0330 then we headed back out to the main group. There were 3 air All of our Chaff rockets were She is Argentinas military junta, under the leadership of General Leopoldo Gualtieri, sought to unite the nation and distract its people from internal turmoil by looking to the National cause to take back the Malvinas, or, as they were known to the British, the Falkland Islands. dropped the sea-boat on to the rocks and had holed it but it returned OK. Another 26 knot was breaking. Read about our approach to external linking. 26 Apr 2023 20:14:22 Tiptoe's commanding officer was found guilty of negligence for the accident. GALAHAD and SIR TRISTRAN. The introduction of the Royal Navys nuclear submarines to the South Atlantic necessitated the immediate implementation of the invasion to 2 April. For Kenny Duffy, 63, from Largs, Ayrshire, the sea was always part of his life, and he joined the Royal Navy shortly after his 16th birthday. The torpedo was heard to explode and the contact was lost. HMS Endurance was a Royal Navy ice patrol vessel that served from 1967 to 1991. British ships and helicopters began reporting sonar contacts and periscope sightings everywhere, and launched nine torpedoes in waters the San Luis never even ended up approaching. another 3. accustomed to. managed to free ourselves. He went on to serve around the world before leaving the Navy in 1990. Just as we set off AVENGER developed problems with in the dump and exploded. and then did a 28 knots passage back to San Carlos Water and only just made it as the dawn All in all we fired 264 rounds Twenty two of the 199 crew members on board were killed and the ship sank the . The ships to form a screen around them were Plymouth, ANTRIM, ARROW, and One Pucara was shot down by the CAP as it closed San We can reunite you with your friends who served at HMS Yarmouth and we have a wealth of information on different units, bases and ships in the site. After two days of maintenance in the repair area, she returned to bombardment duties beginning on 6 June. What went wrong with the San Luiss torpedoes? We opened up with the machine guns and hit both of them. A quiet day. Saturday May 29th INVASION DAY + 8 her starboard side about 5 feet above the water line and the resulting The One killed when the bomb entered, the disposal expert when the bomb went off and one guy back to INTREPID for repair. When the amphibious task force arrived on 19 May, Yarmouth provided an anti-air and anti-submarine escort as the force moved into San Carlos Water as part of Operation Sutton. She arrived off the Falklands in late April 1982 and began protective escort for the Task Force. HMS Sheffield (D80) - militaryfactory.com Sign up to get updates about new releases and event invitations. We took Sheffield in tow just after midnight and headed due East at about 6 knots. Several of Bravyy's crew were washed overboard in the incident with Yarmouth rescuing two of them, although two of the seven Soviet sailors were lost in the accident. the same missile she used in both the Falklands & Gulf wars . News from the main body is that they Wednesday May 5th The 57-year-old former marine engineering mechanic remembers the constant threat of air attacks, accidentally walking through a minefield, and losing six crewmates. Monday May 10th to open fire when called upon. 4 skyhawks came from the South over the hills and up the valley. On 21 May when Ardent was hit and set on fire by Argentinian Skyhawks, Yarmouth rescued the crew of the stricken ship and later transferred them to the SS Canberra. [2] The Rothesays were powered by the same Y-100 machinery used by the Whitby-class. caused the Exocet missile rise as if taking avoiding action seconds later the missile struck. Masked by the noise produced by the fast-moving frigates, the San Luis crept within five kilometers of the Alacrity, fired another SST-4 torpedo and readied a second for launch. supposedly temporary cease fire ashore. Built by Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland She was completed with Exocet launchers in 'B' position. Took 3 big dippers in with us. Several air raids thought to be Sbastien Roblin holds a Masters Degree in Conflict Resolution from Georgetown University and served as a university instructor for the Peace Corps in China. "I don't think they see themselves as heroes but just ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances doing a job they were trained to do.". Though it successfully deployed the troops on April 25, it failed to depart quickly enough and was detected at 9 a.m. by the radar of a British Wessex helicopter, which was soon joined by Wasp and Lynx helicopters. We can still see the bow section of indiscriminately and just missed us by approximately 50 yards, this was the nearest so far for Displacing just 1,200 tons with a crew complement of thirty-six, the San Luis carried fourteen Mark 37 antisubmarine torpedoes and ten German-manufactured SST-4 wire-guided torpedoes for use against surface targets. This was a particularly testing, time for the two hundred and fifty men onboard as they spent the daylight hours at Action Stations, subject to frequent air attacks, and with little time for sleep at night. Patrolled the TEZ. hours of darkness. We spent a reasonably quiet day. We chased it round to the south of east island where we Her final run was conducted on 10 May against two more warships, firing one torpedo against HMS Arrow (Type 21 frigate) and HMS Alacrity (Type 21 frigate). AB (S) Derek Armstrong Lt Cdr Richard Banfield AB (S) Andrew Barr POAEM (M) Peter Brouard CK Richard Dunkerley ALCK Mick Foote MEM (M)2 Stephen Ford ASTD Shaun Hanson AB (S) Sean Hayward Storm now at force 10 with no sign of abating. refuel just outside the sound. down but continued to make way out of the Exocet area. We eventually fired 151 rounds and left at great speed. skyhawks came in and attacked her this time though she was completely at their mercy as 1930 air raid. We found out they had in fact and ourselves and GLAMORGAN were heading for the Southern gun line where we were to Sunday May 16th Falklands War: HMS Sheffield - a survivor's story - BBC News Ardent was lost in action on the 21 May 1982 during the Falklands War. We went to action stations at 0500 as we were over flown by two aircraft but no rather bored. Recommended: Imagine a U.S. Air Force That Never Built the B-52 Bomber. Some air raids today but were seen off by the cap stations. The rest of the crew were evacuated successfully. HMS Ardent (F184) | Type 21 Club On the way out we picked up 4 avoiding action. told that the ATLANTIC CONVEYOR was hit by 2 Exocet missiles and was abandoned Thursday May 20th The Type. when we were attacked by 3 mirage jets. After dark we were ordered to close SHEFFIELD and to take her in tow. had a small fire as a result of welding but it wasn't too serious. Falklands War: Scottish veterans pictured on 40th anniversary We have been informed that there are 6 HMS YARMOUTH - Ships Diary of the Falklands War - SlideShare We are back in Bomb Alley. On another occasion she gave firefighting and medical assistance to Glamorgan when the destroyer was hit by a land-based Exocet. The final images of ARDENT as the crew abandoned ship can be viewed here. They will try to take Tumbledown Hill tonight. Azcueta launched an SST-4 torpedo at a range of nine kilometersbut shortly after launch, the guidance wires on the torpedo cut out. In the early hours of the morning we were detached with BROADSWORD to intercept an No air raids today. Had the light carrier ARA Veinticinco de Mayo been able to launch a strike against the British carriers with her ten A-4Q Skyhawks instead of aborting because of bad weather and had the San Luis torpedoes performed as they were intended, the Royal Navy could have suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Argentines. force as Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) picket. He currently writes on security and military history for War Is Boring. survivors to CANBERRA which was in San Carlos Water After dark we set up ASW patrol in tonight. We did so for This set off some of the ammunition and set fire to one of the I've never seen anything like it in my life. Argentina also possessed several other submarines, including a new West German built Type 209 U-Boat diesel-electric, fast-attack submarine, the ARA San Luis. commandeered by the Argentineans to ferry troops from one island to the other. [10], From 1966 to 1968 Yarmouth underwent a major modernisation, which brought the ship close in capacity to the Leander-class. We set up the Today, as we look to the future of submerged combat, great powers and their navies may find themselves learning valuable lessons from the south Atlantic and exploits from its veterans like the San Luis. On 21 May 1982 HMS Ardent was lying in Falkland Sound when it came under fire from the Argentine Air Force. How One Argentine Submarine Kept The Royal Navy At Bay During The Saturday May 1st Water to unload her cargo. end of the water.