Tuesday 18 May 1982 did not start well for the British Carrier Battle Group, steaming north-east away from the Falkland Islands.
The group was heading for rendezvous with the bulk of the Amphibious Group, more than 20 ships that held the key to the success of Operation Corporate, the retaking of the islands from the Argentinian invasion force.
A Sea King from 826 Naval Air Squadron, conducting an anti-submarine sonar patrol at night around two miles away from flagship HMS Hermes, suffered a radio altimeter failure and ditched into the ocean.
Although the four aircrew were rescued, the helicopter was a valuable asset and, as the sea was calm, the possibility of lifting it from the sea was discussed – but as it carried depth charges, it was considered too much of a risk to the carrier, quite apart from the potential danger of Argentine submarines being in the area.
Frigate HMS Brilliant was invited to finish off the aircraft with gunfire, and as it sank the explosives went off, justifying the cautious approach.
The carrier and amphibious groups joined forces later that day, and preparations were quickly in hand to make some space on the flight deck of the makeshift aircraft carrier SS Atlantic Conveyor, a Cunard roll-on, roll-off container ship built for transatlantic crossings and taken up from trade (STUFT) by the MOD for Operation Corporate.
Despite the ships being in open seas, hundreds of miles from the nearest land, much-needed Harriers were made ready for flight, and four Sea Harriers took off vertically from the merchant ship, landing shortly afterwards on the deck of Hermes.
A further Sea Harrier flew on to the other carrier in the task force, HMS Invincible, which was closer to the Falklands in the Total Exclusion Zone (TEZ), and other jets flew with it to make room on the now-crowded deck of Hermes.
Atlantic Conveyor had also transported six RAF Harrier GR3 ground-attack versions, but only four were fit to fly immediately; they also transferred to Hermes.
Crews now got on with the task of preparing helicopters for transfer at a later date – Atlantic Conveyor had also brought a clutch of Royal Navy Wessex helicopters and four of the RAF’s heavy-lift Chinooks.
18 May was also the first time Battle Group Commander Admiral Sandy Woodward could talk face-to-face with Commodore Amphibious Warfare Cdre Mike Clapp, who flew over to Hermes from assault ship HMS Fearless with his staff, as did Brig Julian Thompson RM, commander of 3 Commando Brigade.
On the same day, in London, Mrs Thatcher’s War Cabinet was presented with the final proposals for British landings in San Carlos Water; the proposal was approved but formal confirmation did not follow until two days later.
Orders were also sent from the UK to Cdre Clapp and Brig Thompson on 18 May to redistribute troops amongst a number of ships before the final approach to the Falklands, to avoid a colossal loss of manpower if one ship – liner-turned-troopship Canberra – was to be successfully attacked by Argentine forces.
With good conditions forecast for the following day, plans were made to switch troops around the fleet using helicopters and landing craft the following day.
The arrival of the Amphibious Group in the area meant two desalination plants could be delivered in sections by helicopter from HMS Intrepid to British hospital ship HMHS Uganda.
Nicknamed Kariba (after the massive dam in Africa) and Niagara (after the American waterfall), the units were successfully assembled without the help of instructions, and when activated produced up to 60 tons of fresh water each day.
Soon after her arrival in the TEZ, Uganda was given authority to co-ordinate the movement of all seven hospital ships in the South Atlantic, the other six being British ‘ambulance ships’ HMS Hecla, HMS Herald and HMS Hydra and Argentine vessels ARA Bahia Paraiso, ARA Almirante Irizar and ARA Puerto Deseado.
It had quickly became apparent that keeping Uganda on edge of TEZ was impractical because of difficulty transporting patients.
She was also subject to the worst of the South Atlantic gales – just three days before, on 15 May, a roll of 18 degrees to port and starboard was recorded, and apart from seasickness taking its toll, no surgeon would be happy operating on a patient while the operating theatre was tilting wildly from side to side.
So new procedure was introduced, whereby Uganda moved in closer to the combat zone during the day and sailed out to a designated Red Cross box 12 miles off Cape Dolphin – the most northerly point on East Falkland – at night.
Throughout the conflict, the relationship between the two medical contingents was cordial; 150 of Uganda’s 730 patients over the course of Operation Corporate were Argentine and who, once stabilised, were transferred to Bahia Paraiso, which was frequently in company with Uganda.
On one occasion, when X-ray film was running low on the British hospital ship, supplies were sent over from Bahia Paraiso.
Back in the UK ships were still being taken up from trade to take part in the operation to retake the Falklands.
British Enterprise II was an offshore ship requisitioned from British Underwater Engineering at Dundee on 18 May for use as a despatch vessel.
The ship sailed to Rosyth that day for conversion, and sailed for the South Atlantic at the bend of the month, returning to the UK at the end of August, to rejoin her owners in Leith.
Today’s image from the Imperial War Museum collection (© IWM FKD 86) shows a Puma helicopter from the Argentine hospital ship Bahia Paraiso, painted white in accordance with Red Cross regulations, on the flight deck of the HMHS Uganda during repatriation of Argentine wounded in the South Atlantic.
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* These posts can only give a brief sense of what was a complex and fast-moving situation 40 years ago, and cannot cover the involvement of every ship, squadron and unit in detail – for a much more comprehensive account see the Falklands section of naval-history.net at https://www.naval-history.net/NAVAL1982FALKLANDS.htm
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