ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE EVENTS IN MILITARY HISTORY WAS THE SPEED AT WHICH BRITAIN ASSEMBLED A TASK FORCE LARGE ENOUGH TO RECAPTURE THE FALKLAND ISLANDS IN 1982. WITHIN DAYS OF THE INVASION THOUSANDS OF TROOPS AND DOZENS OF SHIPS WERE ON THE MOVE TO THE SOUTH ATLANTIC.
THIS IS THE STORY OF HOW IT HAPPENED.
They met in the Prime Minister's office in the House of Commons. Along with Margaret Thatcher was John Nott, Minister of Defence, Richard Luce and Humphrey Atkins of the Foreign Office, and Admiral Leach, the First Sea Lord. Argentinean warships had been observed moving southwards in considerable strength and it was assumed that their objective was the Falklands. The PM asked Harry Leach if there was anything which could be done to prevent the Islands from being invaded. "No", said Sir Harry, the Falklands were 8,000 miles away. But, he continued, we could send a "retrieval force" to win the Islands back. Mrs. Thatcher asked Leach how long it would take to assemble such a force, and he replied that it would take time. "How much time?" the PM demanded to know. "48 hours" was Sir Harry's reply!(1)
The man destined to lead the Task Force, Rear-Admiral J.F. Woodward, was engaged in fleet exercises off Casablanca, test-firing the Sea Dart missile system. At 03.00 on 2 April 1982, Woodward received his instructions. He was to prepare seven of his destroyers for a covert voyage to the South Atlantic.
Operation Corporate had begun
The destroyers earmarked for the Falklands were two County class ships, Antrim and Glamorgan, and three of the more modem Type 42 destroyers, Coventry, Glasgow and Sheffield. These would be accompanied by one Type 22 frigate, Brilliant; and the general purpose frigate, Arrow. These ships mounted a variety weapons with different capabilities. The Brilliant was equipped with the Sea Wolf air-defence missiles for close protection of capital ships and the Type 42 carried the longer-range Sea Dart "open ocean" anti-aircraft system. But it was the County class destroyers that were armed with the missile that would become a household name across the entire UK - the much-feared, French-built Exocet. The remaining five warships of Woodward's flotilla were to return to the UK.
At daybreak that morning, the ships returning home were asked to transfer as much of their stores and equipment as they could shift to those selected for the Falklands. They "threw everything they had" at those bound for the South Atlantic - everything from food to helicopters. Fortunately, the weather was good and the sea calm and the transfers were completed before nightfall.
Earlier, one of Woodward's flotilla, the frigate Plymouth, had left the exercise fully stored for a tour in the West Indies. She was called back to Gibraltar to pick up a collection of charts of the South Atlantic. The Plymouth then re-joined Woodward's force that evening and at 02.30 on the 3rd, the eight warships, along with the tanker Tidespring, sailed for the southern ocean.
Some naval units were already on their way towards the Falklands. The fleet replenishment ship Fort Austin had left Gibraltar at 10.00 on 29 March, three days before the Argentinean landing. Three other vessels sailed south on 1 April. The nuclear powered submarine Spartan was off Gibraltar and was ordered to depart for the South Atlantic immediately. That same day Spartan's sister ship, Splendid, left Faslane along with another nuclear-powered "hunter-killer" submarine, Conqueror, which had a contingent of the Special Boat Service (SBS) on board. The Conqueror would become the first British nuclear-powered submarine to fire its weapons in warfare - when it sank the Cruiser General Belgrano.
So, by 3 April, six destroyers, three submarines, two frigates, a supply ship and a tanker were already rushing to the South Atlantic. But if a retrieval mission was to be undertaken it could not be accomplished without ground troops and air support. It was the latter which would present the Admiralty with the gravest problems, as the Royal Navy no longer possessed any conventional aircraft carriers!
All that was available to Leach were two "anti-submarine-warfare" carriers, the twenty-three- year-old Hermes and the two-year-old Invincible. Little more than half the length of a conventional carrier, these two ships each carried a squadron of Sea-King anti-submarine helicopters but only five Sea-Harrier fighter-bombers. Ten 'planes alone could not protect the Task Force, so every available Sea-Harrier was flown down to Portsmouth where Hermes and Invincible were being made ready. When the two ships sailed from Portsmouth, past cheering crowds on the quaysides, Hermes and Invincible could count twenty Harriers on their decks and would later receive a further eleven of these versatile aircraft, including six of the RAF's GR3 ground-attack variant.
These valuable ships could not be allowed to travel the 8,000 miles to the Falklands without escort and, with far less ceremony, the frigates Alacrity and Antelope slipped out of Plymouth and joined the carriers off Land's End. That same day two more oilers, Olmeda and Pearleaf, set sail for the Falklands as did the Fleet Replenishment ship, Resource.
Another two warships, the frigates Yarmouth and Broadsword, which were sailing through the Mediterranean on their way to the Arabian Gulf were ordered to turn around, eventually meeting up with the carrier group beyond Gibraltar.
This, then, was the original Task Force of two aircraft-carriers, seven destroyers, five frigates and four Fleet Auxiliaries - all despatched by 5 April, just three days after the Argentinean invasion. Leach had been as good as his word
This had been an incredible achievement by the Navy. When in theatre, this force would prove powerful enough to drive the Argentinean navy back into its ports and to establish an "exclusion zone" around the Falklands that would prevent the invaders from being reinforced by sea. But what was needed now were the troops to land and recapture the Islands and the ships to take them there.
The first military unit to be put under notice for immediate deployment to the South Atlantic was 3 Commando Brigade. Led by Brigadier Julian Thompson, this brigade consisted of 40, 42 and 45 Commando, the 1st Raiding Squadron for small-boat work in coastal waters, a contingent of Commando Engineers, a Commando logistics regiment, an Air Defence Troop, an electronic-countermeasures unit, a regiment of Commando artillery (with helicopter-portable 105mm guns), and even its own squadron of helicopters! The brigade was designed to be able to operate entirely independently of other supporting units. Thompson was woken at 03.00 on 2 April, and told to prepare his brigade for departure on the 5th.
Landing ships would be needed for the assault upon the Falklands and the Amphibious Assault Ship Fearless, which would be the assault HQ ship, and four Landing Ships (Logistics), or LSLs, were made available. The LSLs were Sir Geraint and Sir Galahad at Devonport and Sir Lancelot and Sir Percivale stationed at Marchwood, Southampton. These four joined the carrier group as it departed Home waters on the 5th.
Another two LSLs, Sir Tristram which was in Belize, and Sir Bedivere at Vancouver, would join the Task Force in the South Atlantic. The Amphibious Assault Ship Intrepid had actually paid off its crew ready for possible disposal. It was hurriedly re-commissioned and sailed from the UK three weeks later.
On 3 April, when the size of the 10,000-strong Argentinean occupying force became known, it was decided that a single infantry brigade would not be sufficient to oust the invaders. As a result, another battalion of infantry, an anti-aircraft battery and a contingent of light tanks were added to the Commando Brigade. Available for immediate deployment was 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment (3 Para) which was stationed at Aldershot within easy reach of Portsmouth. The other units added to Julian Thompson's force were 'T' Battery 12th Air Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, armed with Rapier anti-aircraft missiles, and a small detachment of four Scorpion light tanks and four Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicles along with a Samson recovery vehicle from 'B' Squadron Blues and Royals. Thompson's force now numbered 5,500 men.
All these troops were immediately prepared for embarkation, but there were no ships to transport them! In the era of air travel, Britain had not attempted to move large bodies of troops by sea for decades, so the Navy was granted permission to take ships up from the civilian maritime trade - known as 'STUFT' (Ships Taken Up from the Trade).
Some of these ships, such as the tankers, would be performing a similar function to their normal employment but for others major conversions were required. This was particularly the case with the troop transports. The luxury passenger liner Canberra and the ferry Elk were converted to take troops. The conversion work began at Vosper Ship Repairers on 7 April and, just two days later, the Canberra sailed from Southampton with 40 and 42 Commandos and 3 Para on board.
The P&O liner Uganda was on an educational cruise in the Mediterranean when she was taken up on 10 April. The school parties were dropped off in Naples and the ship returned to Gibraltar. Uganda was converted into a hospital ship, repainted white with great red crosses and was heading south by 21 April.
Other STUFT, their civilian crews all volunteers, were to follow over the subsequent days. The magnificent QE2 was commissioned to carry further infantry reinforcements (at a cost of approximately £1,000,000 per week!) in the shape of 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, 2nd Battalion Scots Guards, 1st Battalion 7th Gurka Rifles and 2 Para, all of which made up 5 Brigade. Container ships, such as the Atlantic Causeway and the Atlantic Conveyor, were given flight-decks for the helicopters and Harriers that they carried to the South Atlantic. Tugs, cargo-ships, ferries, coasters and tankers all had a part to play.
The great armada of ships deployed in the South Atlantic included two aircraft carriers, eight destroyers, fifteen frigates, one diesel-electric and five nuclear-powered submarines, two amphibious assault ships, three patrol vessels, three survey vessels, five mine-sweeping trawlers, ten oilers, five fleet replenishment ships, a helicopter support ship, six landing ships, a Royal Navy tug and a RN mooring vessel. In addition to these sixty-two naval vessels, there were no less than forty-four ships taken up from the trade.(2)
This made a staggering total of 106 vessels, and 10,000 of the toughest troops in the world, assembled 8,000 miles away in the South Atlantic in a matter of weeks. It was an astonishing achievement and it sent a signal to the rest of the world that Britain was still a major military Power.
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