The Falklands War

Discussion in 'Postwar' started by Drew5233, Nov 26, 2009.

  1. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

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  2. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Last edited: Jan 26, 2020
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  3. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    I think the Argentines' FN rifles were full auto capable and the British ones were not. Not sure though. Any instances of the Brits swapping over to the full auto ones as opportunities arose?
     
  4. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    By chance, I've literally just read this paragraph:

    SmartSelect_20200125-024511_Samsung Internet.jpg

    Source:
    Across an Angry Sea
     
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  5. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Just a quick plug: this Twitter account has just begun a daily recap of the Falklands War (declared 2 April). I thought some of you might be interesting in following along:

    Falklands82 on Twitter
     
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  6. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    I might give this a go CF. Thanks for posting.
     
  7. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    I know the Veinticinco de Mayo stayed in port during most of the war but I keep thinking Argentina had another carrier that was in Scotland for repairs when the war started but I can't find any info that anything like that ever existed.

    Anyone know of a carrier that was any way connected to the Falklands war that I might be thinking of?
     
  8. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    Wiki shows they did have two carriers, but the other one was scrapped in 1971. See: List of ships of the Argentine Navy - Wikipedia

    Mark Felton in this 2020 video refers to one carrier: That might account for your post as in the comments some refer to two, but are corrected that one had been scrapped.
     
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  9. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    Right, thanks. I did know about the ARA Independencia but I remember seeing a picture of a carrier in a shipyard in Scotland during the war. It seems I must have been wrong about it being Argentine but do you remember what ship it might have been?
     
  10. davidbfpo

    davidbfpo Patron Patron

    I am reasonably sure there was no British carrier in a shipyard, either at Rosyth or on the Clyde. By 1982 the only other European navy with a carrier was the French; given the Free French navy link to the Clyde it is possible there was a visit, either by the Clemenceau or the Foch. Personally I doubt it.

    There are some strange tales that came out of the Falklands War.
     
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  11. Robert-w

    Robert-w Banned

    One of which was that Triumph, then a retired repair ship but still having a flight deck, was surveyed with a view to recommissioning as a Harrier Carrier but this was too expensive/impractical and so she went to the breakers.
     
  12. Ewen Scott

    Ewen Scott Well-Known Member

    Can’t have been Triumph either. Having been in reserve at Chatham since 1972 she was sold for scrap in 1981 and was towed to Spain in Dec that year. Anyway, as a repair ship there were a number of permanent structures built on her flight deck.

    Bulwark was surveyed at the start of the war. Even though she had only decommissioned in March 1981 it was found that her machinery was in a poor state and fire damage suffered in 1980 had not been fully repaired. So the navy passed on her.

    Steps were begun to bring Tiger and Blake back into service. The plan was to use them as “lily pads” for Sea Harrier ops to either extend the CAP range or to allow them to transit by air from Ascension to the Task Group. I’ve read of both as possibilities. Plans were dropped after the sinking of the Belgrano.
     
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  13. Robert-w

    Robert-w Banned

    Could have been Bulwark then
     
  14. Ewen Scott

    Ewen Scott Well-Known Member

    Just had a thought (dangerous I know!). NATO exercises continued as normal with the annual Reforger series in Aug/Sept. One element was MarineCorps landings in Denmark. So it’s probable that at least one Iwo Jima or Tarawa class helicopter carrier was present and maybe stopped off in Scotland at some point.
     
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  15. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    I'm just reading this two-part in-depth interview with Sharkey Ward, who has a new book out. There's a more recent one (linked at the end) that led me to them, but that's a bit shallow in comparison.

    Interview with Commander ‘Sharkey’ Ward, Part 1: Sea Harrier FRS Mk 1 & Air combat

    How the Sea Harrier clipped the F-15 Eagle’s wings: Interview with Commander ‘Sharkey’ Ward (part 2)

    From the new one:

    It is worthy of note that all air to air kills by British forces since 1948 have been achieved by naval aircraft...

    Which is not a fact that I was aware of--and is indeed worthy of note.

    Full Article:
    Myths & mistakes of the Falklands War: We ask Commander ‘Sharkey’ Ward

    New Book:
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Majest...d=1&keywords=nigel+ward&qid=1603068162&sr=8-1
     
    Last edited: Oct 19, 2020
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  16. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Also very good:

     
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  17. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

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  18. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Podcasts...

    207. Harrier

    "In this rare foray away from the Second World War Al Murray and James Holland are joined by aviation writer Rowland White to discuss the role of the Harrier 809 in the Falklands War."

    216. Falklands

    "Part two of our conversation with aviation writer Roland White, as he explains the challenges of flying off carriers in the South Atlantic. Roland tells Al Murray and James Holland about the role played by birds around the islands and he describes the difficult relationship between the RAF and the Navy."
     
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  19. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    The Falklands Play is available on IPlayer currently and for the next 26 days. I watched it the other night and thought it was well acted.

    BBC iPlayer - The Falklands Play
     
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  20. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

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