Tuesday 6 April 1982 saw the first departures of major units of the amphibious fleet that would play such an important role in retaking the Falkland Islands from the Argentine invaders.
Assault ship HMS Fearless left Portsmouth to act as 3 Cdo Brigade HQ, taking on a trio of Sea Kings off Portland as well as Brig Thompson.
Fearless was by the time of the Falklands Conflict 17 years old, but not yet halfway through her service life.
One of a class of two landing platform docks (LPDs) – the first such class of ship to be purpose-built for that role in the Royal Navy – Fearless would be the last steam-powered surface ship in the Fleet, though as she sailed south in April 1982 she boasted recently-installed high-tech satellite communications kit.
The ship, and her landing craft, went on to play a pivotal role in the retaking of the Falklands.
Landing Ships Logistic RFA Sir Percivale and RFA Sir Lancelot sailed from Marchwood Military Port on Southampton Water on the same day as Fearless, as did sister ships RFA Sir Galahad and RFA Sir Geraint from Devonport.
Meanwhile, stores ship RFA Fort Austin reached Ascension on Tuesday 6 April, the start of a three-day stay, while on the same day the first RAF aircraft directly involved in the conflict, two Nimrods from RAF St Mawgan, landed at Wideawake Airfield on Ascension ready to start patrols around the mid-Atlantic island.
* 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
Today’s image, from the Imperial War Museum collection (© IWM FKD 188) shows HMS Fearless under way in 1982
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