After a couple of setbacks in setting up reconnaissance posts on South Georgia, Sunday 25 April 1982 brought the firsts signs of success in Britain’s efforts to retake its South Atlantic territories – and the first vessel to suffer at the hands of the enemy.
Fortunately for British forces, that vessel belonged to Argentina.
Before battle was joined, Type 22 frigate HMS Brilliant joined the South Georgia (or Antrim) Group which was in a heightened state of alert as they had been warned of the threat posed by submarine ARA Santa Fe, known to be heading for Grytviken.
The group had been ordered to sail back towards the coast of South Georgia to deal with the submarine, leaving tanker RFA Tidespring – with members of M Coy 42 Cdo RM onboard – a couple of hundred miles out to sea.
Argentine submarine ARA Santa Fe was former US Navy submarine USS Catfish, launched in 1944 and which had undertaken a single wartime patrol – she sailed on that patrol just a week before the war ended.
She had also managed a reconnaissance patrol during the Korean War in 1950 in support of UN forces, but after that she was generally to be found training submariners or on exercise until her transfer to Argentina in the summer of 1971.
Santa Fe had completed her passage from Argentina to Grytviken late on 24 April and unloaded her cargo of supplies and weaponry, along with a party of Argentine marines to reinforce the small garrison already on the island.
The unloading process was slow as heavy equipment had to be passed through narrow hatches along a human chain and into a small boat, which ferried the stores ashore, but the process was finished almost two hours before sunrise.
Santa Fe promptly set sail to reach deeper water where she had a chance of avoiding detection or attack, but she was out of luck.
HMS Antrim’s Westland Wessex helicopter, an anti-submarine Mk 3 version, was on a pre-dawn surface search when she spotted the submarine at 0655 local time.
The veteran helicopter, named Humphrey, launched an attack with two Mk 11 depth charges – British munitions designed particularly for shallow-water operations against submarines operating not far below the surface or at periscope depth.
Humphrey’s attack damaged to the old submarine, which immediately reversed course and headed back towards Grytviken.
Assuming Santa Fe could not dive, a Westland Lynx helicopter from HMS Brilliant and a Westland Wasp from frigate HMS Plymouth also joined the attack, as did the Wasp aircraft from ice patrol ship HMS Endurance around an hour later.
The Lynx fired a Mk 46 NATO standard lightweight torpedo which failed to hit the submarine; the Wasps fired AS-12 anti-ship missiles, and all aircraft used machine guns to strafe the submarine, which returned fire with machine guns.
Santa Fe, which displaced almost 2,500 tons when submerged, limped back to the pier at King Edward Point in Grytviken, where her crew rapidly headed ashore, still exchanging fire with the British helicopters.
By this time the British warships were steaming in to join the fray, and they were joined by their respective aircraft, having carried out what is thought to be the first successful anti-submarine exercise carried out entirely by helicopters.
With the crew of Santa Fe joining the existing Argentine garrison, British commanders on the scene estimated that the total enemy force was just under 150, and decided to land whatever forces could be mustered from the Royal Marines and special forces at their disposal – which did not include the Royal Marines still stuck far away from the action in Tidespring.
Early on the afternoon of 25 April a naval gunfire observer was flown ashore by a Wasp from Endurance, and he controlled a barrage of more than 230 shells from the 4.5in guns of destroyer HMS Antrim and HMS Plymouth, positioned in Cumberland Bay, which peppered Argentine positions at King Edward Point.
Antrim’s Wessex and the two Lynx from Brilliant landed the first British troops ashore near Hestesletten, one of the few flat areas in the area, and they made their way through the old whaling station at Grytviken.
As the British troops approached Argentine positions at around 1700, without a shot being fired, the defenders hosted white flags – their situation, facing naval guns and unopposed air support, was far from promising.
A small Argentine detachment at Leith Harbour was contacted by radio, but refused to surrender.
However, South Georgia was effectively back in British hands and Operation Paraquet was a success – as Antrim signalled: “Be pleased to inform Her Majesty that the White Ensign flies beside the Union Jack in South Georgia. God save the Queen.”
The decision was subsequently taken to move Santa Fe from the pier, but in the act of preparing the boat, and in a moment of confusion, an Argentine submariner was shot dead in the belief he was intending to sabotage the boat.
Santa Fe settled on the sea bed alongside the pier, but was later towed to a nearby shallow inlet for disposal.
The following year – 1983 – an attempt was made to deal with the hulk, but a sudden storm caused her to sink once again, this time in deeper water.
She was still loaded with torpedoes, and was leaking oil and battery acid, so in 1985 the MOD set up an operation (‘Okehampton’) which saw Santa Fe lifted from the sea bed, contaminants removed over the course of a week or so, and the remaining hull towed out to sea and scuttled some five miles north of South Georgia.
While events were playing out in South Georgia, other elements of the overarching Operation Corporate were still in motion.
The main Carrier Battle Group was steadily making its way south, in improving weather conditions which helped lift the spirits of those on board the warships and auxiliaries as they rendezvoused with the ships of the Advanced Group on 25 April – less than seven days before they joined combat.
Also on 25 April two more large merchant ships sailed from the UK having undergone rapid conversion.
MV Europic Ferry was converted in Southampton; built as a roll-on, roll-off car ferry for the Atlantic Steam Navigation Company in 1967, she was acquired by European Ferries in 1971 and sailed in the Townsend Thoresen colours.
She was requisitioned by the British government to transport much of 2 Parachute Regiments’s equipment and three Scout helicopters, and sailed from Portland.
Roll-on, roll-off container ship SS Atlantic Conveyor sailed from Devonport as an aircraft and helicopter support ship, having had a flight deck added as well as refuelling gear and workshops for maintenance.
She carried with her six Fleet Air Arm Westland Wessex helicopters of 848 Naval Air Squadron and four RAF Boeing Chinook helicopters from 18 Squadron.
On leaving Devon, the Atlantic Conveyor carried out a trial replenishment at sea with small Fleet tanker RFA Grey Rover.
Landing Ship Logistic RFA Sir Bedivere finally arrived at Marchwood Military Port on Southampton Water on 25 April after a long passage from Vancouver on the Pacific coast of Canada, taking more than three weeks.
Today’s image from the Imperial War Museum collection (© IWM FKD 978) shows Royal Marines on patrol at the abandoned Argentine submarine ARA Santa Fe at South Georgia. The picture was taken near the end of May, as the two liners SS Canberra and Queen Elizabeth 2 can be seen in the background as troops are transferred to the former from the latter.
* 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 naval-history.net at https://www.naval-history.net/NAVAL1982FALKLANDS.htm
