Having received permission from London to go ahead with the amphibious landings as planned, British commanders in the South Atlantic were at the point of no return on Thursday 20 May 1982.
The window of opportunity for getting 3 Commando Brigade ashore was a narrow one, dictated to a greater degree by the weather, as the South Atlantic in winter is a most inhospitable place for ships and troops.
Indeed, the ships of the British task force had already taken a battering over the preceding weeks, and with the ability to replenish ships at sea becoming more tricky in heavy seas, and the ongoing risk that Argentina could procure more aircraft and Exocet missiles from somewhere in the world, establishing a beachhead and rolling back the Argentine defence was essential well before the end of May.
So the combined Carrier and Amphibious task group steamed steadily into worsening weather, but with the blessed cover of low clouds that made the task of Argentine pilots that much more difficult.
That combined force split once again into a carrier group and an amphibious group as it approached the Falklands on 20 May.
The carrier group consisted of aircraft carriers HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible, destroyers HMS Glamorgan, HMS Glasgow and HMS Coventry, frigates HMS Alacrity and HMS Arrow, tankers RFA Olmeda, RFA Pearleaf and RFA Tidepool, ammunitions and explosives ships RFA Regent and RFA Resource, and three merchant ships taken up from trade – Atlantic Conveyor, Elk and Fort Toronto.
Battle Group Commander Admiral Sandy Woodward detached some of his precious defenders to accompany the amphibious ships as they made their way round the northern coast of the Falkland Islands and the northern entrance to Falkland Sound, the narrow strait that separates East and West Falkland.
The amphibians were assault ships HMS Fearless (mainly 40 Cdo RM) and HMS Intrepid (Z Coy 45 Cdo and 3 Para), landings ships logistic RFA Sir Galahad, RFA Sir Geraint, RFA Sir Lancelot, RFA Sir Percivale and RFA Sir Tristram, supply ships RFA Fort Austin and RFA Stromness (45 Cdo), and three commercial passenger ships taken up by the MOD – liner Canberra (42 Cdo) and roll-on, roll-off ferries Europic Ferry and Norland (2 Para).
And escorting these ships, which were packed with battle-ready troops, were destroyer HMS Antrim and frigates HMS Ardent, HMS Argonaut, HMS Brilliant, HMS Broadsword, HMS Plymouth and HMS Yarmouth.
As the day wore on more detail was added to the overall pattern.
HMS Glamorgan left the carrier group to carry out her familiar task of creating a diversion at Choiseul Sound, a branch of water that stretched from south-east to north-west, ending at Goose Green – this time she was encouraged to make as much fuss as possible to suggest a landing was under way.
HMS Ardent had the same job but from Falkland Sound, with both ships’ helicopters buzzing about to add to the confusion.
Later on 20 May, helicopters launched from HMS Antrim put Special Forces ashore to destroy a lookout post at the mouth of the sound, and more such troops went ashore to carry out a diversionary attack on Darwin; both assaults were supported by naval gunfire.
As Thursday ticked over into Friday, the British amphibious group was poised to begin the assault to reclaim the islands.
And as one landing was gearing up, another was being quietly cancelled.
A daring – some would say overambitious – plan to strike at Rio Grande, the home base of Argentina’s deadly Super Etendard aircraft in the Tierra del Fuego region, had been hatched, but the whole strange episode was wreathed in mystery.
Carrier HMS Invincible, escorted by frigate HMS Brilliant, apparently made a furtive dash west towards South America, launching a Sea King carrying Special Forces.
Among the possibilities was that this was a reconnaissance party for a larger group which would fly in to the Argentine air base in two C-130 Hercules aircraft from Ascension Island, and while the planes sat on the runway with their engines running the troops would kill off the Super Etendard threat – aircraft, missiles and pilots – before jumping back aboard for a ride home.
If the Hercules were damaged, the troops would just make their way as best they could to Chile, some 50 miles away.
The recce party – on Operation Plum Duff – were stymied from the start; thick fog on the coast meant the helicopter, a Sea King of 846 Naval Air Squadron, landed on a beach on the Chilean side of the border several miles from the intended target, and while the SAS men headed into Argentina bound for Rio Grande the three-man crew of the Sea King, which was on a one-way trip as there was insufficient fuel to fly back to the carrier, attempted to sink it in deep water.
When that failed, they burnt it, and when the wreck was discovered they surrendered to the Chilean authorities, who interviewed them before repatriating them.
The SAS team were, presumably, spirited away at some point, either by escaping on foot via Chile, or being picked up by aircraft or by submarine – diesel-electric boat HMS Onyx was in the region and ideally suited for such a task.
Mounting difficulties experienced during rehearsals for Operation Mikado, the main element of the raid, and the lack of intelligence on Rio Grande meant that the whole plan was cancelled around the end of May.
As it happened, defences at Rio Grande were particularly strong, and the aircraft, missiles and pilots widely dispersed, so any such raid would have been unlikely to succeed.
Elsewhere on 20 May, the last remaining Harrier – an RAF GR3 ground attack version – was flown off Atlantic Conveyor and on to HMS Hermes, stopping off on the flight deck of HMS Invincible en route to refuel.
Back in the UK , on 20 May Sea King, Chinook and Wasp helicopters were embarked on commercial container ship Contender Bezant, part of the Sea Containers fleet which had been taken up from trade by the MOD on 12 May.
The ship had been converted at breakneck speed in Devonport, a suitable hangar and flight deck having been added in around five days.
Soon after the helicopters arrived Contender Bezant set out for Ascension, arriving on 31 May, where she picked up further aircraft including Harriers and Gazelle helicopters.
She arrived in the Falklands Total Exclusion Zone on 10 June.
Although the ship was returned to her owners after the conflict, she was bought on behalf of the MOD by Harland and Wolff in March 21984 and converted to a helicopter training ship; she is still serving today under the name RFA Argus…
Finally, on 20 May, the long-range RAF Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft undertook another marathon mission, flying along much of the Argentine coast to spot any signs of activity amongst the naval vessels that could threaten the amphibious force, but with the Argentine Navy effectively bottled up in port, no movement could be seen.
Today’s image from the Imperial War Museum collection (© IWM FKD 189) shows troopship MV Europic Ferry, part of the amphibious landing force, in San Carlos Water.
* 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
The Royal Naval Association is the biggest collective group of Royal Naval veterans and serving personnel, with more than 270 branches in the UK and overseas.
The RNA provides those with a link to the Royal Navy access to a life-long community of like-minded and supportive individuals.
Our community provides companionship, resilience, comradeship and unity to anyone and everyone with a Naval story, supporting them through life's highs and lows.
Membership is now free (please note, some branches may charge a small annual subscription, payable locally on their request) – see https://royal-naval-association.co.uk/join-us/ for details of how to join.
