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HMS EDINBURGH’S RETIREMENT

The Type 42 Destroyer HMS Edinburgh is due for decommissioning on 06 June marking the end of an era for the Type 42 in Royal Navy service.

HMS Edinburgh is the last T42 in service, having served 30 Years on the frontline.

She was absent from the First Gulf War having been in the middle of a refit but took part in the 2003 Gulf War escorting HMS Ocean and supporting the Royal Marines on shore.

After another series of refits, she was deployed to the Middle and Far East as part of Orion 2008 during which she took part in interception of drug cargo.

The Type 42 Class of Destroyers have been an ever present Force in the Royal Navy since the 1970′s, amounting to nearly 4 Decades of service in major conflicts throughout the globe, from the Falklands to the 1st Gulf War.

They hold a significant record namely; the only confirmed kill of a missile by another missile when an Iraqi “Silkworm” aimed at the USS Missouri was shot down by HMS Gloucester and her Sea Dart Missiles in 1991. HMS Gloucester’s Lynx Helicopter was also responsible for sinking a number of Iraqi navy vessels during the 91 Gulf War and led boarding actions with her compliment of Royal Marines, resulting in Gloucester being the longest coalition vessel “up threat” during the conflict.

It was not all plain sailing however; HMS Sheffield and HMS Coventry were sunk during the Falklands war by French built – Argentinian Exocet missiles. Two mis-haps in 1988 and 2002 sparked headlines when HMS Southampton collided with a buoy in Portland resulting in a major refit being required. HMS Nottingham then ran aground on well charted submerged rocks near Australia.

Despite this the vessels have had the longest period of Service in the Royal Navy for a single ship class. Not even the Dreadnought Battleships that served the Royal Navy through two world wars can match the service length of the Type 42s.

The class will be survived by the Argentinian Vessel ARA Hércules which saw service during the Falklands conflict squaring off against the Royal Navy’s Type 42s.

The Royal Navy has replaced the Type 42 Destroyer with the Type 45 Daring Class, widely regarded as the best Air Defence Destroyer in the world. The 6 new vessels, Daring, Dauntless, Diamond, Dragon, Defender and Duncan have big boots to fill, but I’m sure they are up to the task.

03/06/2013 08:48:26

THE BATTLE OF JUTLAND

The only major Naval engagement of the First World War, taking place at Jutland in the North Sea, North West of Denmark. It was the first time that the new Dreadnought Battleships developed in the early 1900s had come to blows and only the third time that the big Steel Battleships had engaged each other, following the smaller battles in the Russo-Japanese War.

The battle was fought by the British Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet with elements of the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Canadian Navy commanded by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe and the German High Seas Fleet commanded by Vice-Admiral Rheinhard Scheer.

The Germans recognising their fleet was inferior to the Royal Navy intended to draw out and destroy part of the Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet, which was a numerically superior force, and thereby break the crippling blockade of German ports.

The Royal Navy similarly wanted to draw out the High Seas Fleet and destroy it.

With that in mind Scheer dispatched Vice-Admiral Franz Hipper’s Battlecruiser squadron to locate the Grand Fleet and its’ own scouting force of Cruisers. Recon Planes were still in their infancy at this point and could not cover the North Sea effectively, hence the use of the fast and well-armed Cruisers.

Enigma this! –Ok so the Germans weren’t using enigma yet but “Naval Communication Encryption This!” didn’t sound nearly as good!

The Royal Navy, true to form, had previously decrypted German Naval Communications with the help of a codebook captured by the Russians from the SMS Magdeburg. Intercepting the German signals they were alerted to the dispatch of Hipper’s Battlecruiser squadron and the Grand Fleet was ordered to make sail and engage.

The Grand Fleet composed of 24 Dreadnought Battleships, 3 Battlecruisers, accompanied by 8 Armoured Cruisers, 4 Scout Cruisers, 51 Destroyers, 1 Destroyer-Minelayer and one of the first Aircraft Carriers operational. The Reconnaissance Cruiser Squadron was made up of 4 Fast Queen Elizabeth Class Dreadnoughts, 6 Battlescruisers, 14 Light Cruisers and 27 Destroyers – Are we sure this force was for scouting?

The German High Seas Fleet was numerically smaller and composed of some outdated vessels. The main force consisted of 16 Dreadnought Battleships and 6 Pre-Dreadnought Battleships accompanied by 6 Light Cruisers and 31 Torpedo Boats. The German Scouting Force under Vice Admiral Hipper consisted of 5 Battlecruisers, 5 Light Cruisers and 30 Torpedo Boats.

At 15:48 on 31st May 1916, The Grand Fleet’s reconnaissance squadron commanded by Vice Admiral Sir David Beatty, received the first fire from the High Seas Fleet Reconnaissance squadron. Poor visibility resulted in the British return fire falling far beyond the attacking German Squadrons. At 16.00 Beatty’s flagship HMS Lion was struck by a salvo of 12 Inch shells that destroyed one of her turrets and very nearly detonated her magazine if not for the timely intervention of the turret commander, Major Francis Harvey of the Royal Marines to seal the doors and flood the magazine.

The First of Many

HMS Indefatigable, not to be confused with Horatio Hornblower’s HMS Indefatigable, was less lucky, at 16.02 she was hit aft by three 11 Inch shells from SMS Von Der Tann detonating her aft magazine, soon after at maximum range Von Der Tann fired again putting a single shot through her forward magazine. The resulting explosion was devastating and the ship sunk immediately with almost all of her crew. Only 2 Survived.

At 16.25 despite the increasingly desperate position of the Germans, HMS Queen Mary was struck by combined fire from Defflinger and Seydlitz, this again detonated the magazines of the British Warship resulting in her rapid sinking and all but 9 of her 1275 man crew lost.

Just a minute later HMS Princess Royal was struck by a salvo from the German guns prompting Beatty to utter the famous phrase “Chatfield, there seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today!”

At 16.40 the vanguard of the main German force had been sighted and Beatty ordered his squadron to turn North and draw the German fleet towards Admiral Jellicoe and the RN Grand Fleet.

At 18.30 with both fleets converging and heavily engaged, HMS Invincible was identified as a lone target and singled out by the Lutzow and Derfflinger. A 12 Inch shell struck one of her turrets amidships and detonated the magazine. She sank quickly; all but six of her 1032 crew were killed.

Don’t mess with the Shark

As the fleets converged Scheer and the German battle line were taken completely by surprise when they exited from mist and smoke facing the entire Grand Fleet’s main battle line. The lead German Dreadnought SMS Konig was hit several times before the Germans were able to execute a “Battle About Turn to Starboard” a well-practiced emergency 180˚ turn.

HMS Shark a destroyer disabled in the opening action was continuing to engage 4 German destroyers and was able to disabled SMS V98 before succumbing to a Torpedo hit and sinking. Her captain Loftus Jones would be awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroism in continuing to fight despite the odds.

As the night crept in the Germans began to withdraw, coupled with the indecisiveness of the Grand Fleet due to night fighting deficiencies the Germans were able to disengage.

Several German ships were damaged or destroyed during the disengagement. Lutzow, Admiral Scheer’s flagship was actually sunk under Scheer’s orders by a German Destroyer; SMS G38 . The Pre-Dreadnought Battleship SMS Pommem was sunk after being hit by torpedoes fired by HMS Onslaught. These detonated her magazines resulting in a large explosion, breaking the ship in half and killing the entire crew.

Won or Lost?

The outcome of the battle is the subject of some debate amongst historians. While the German High Seas fleet sank significantly more ships and tonnage than the Grand Fleet did, the damage inflicted on them was enough to put the fleet out of action for the rest of the war. The German high command realised that the attrition rate could not be maintained to a favourable end and the High Seas Fleet would be exhausted long before the Royal Navy.

The battle is also the subject of controversy notably around Jellicoe’s action and the state of safety procedures regarding ammunition handling in the Royal Navy. Jellicoe was criticised for being indecisive and missing the chance to destroy the High Seas fleet. However, as Winston Churchill commented “Jellicoe was the only man on either side who could have lost the war in an afternoon.” If he had thrown the Grand Fleet against the High Seas fleet even with its’ numerical advantage there was no guarantee of success and had the Grand Fleet failed and in turn been destroyed the story of World War One would have been much different.

The Losses

6,784 British Sailors were killed in the battle, the magazine explosions of several large ships contributing significantly to that total. They gave their lives in an effort to bring about a quick end to the war. The crippling longevity of the British Blockade of German ports was one of the contributing factors to the German surrender in November 1918. Had the blockade been broken, potentially the war could have lasted longer with the German Fleet being able to challenge Allied Merchant and Supply ships.

We must also remember the 3,039 German Sailors killed as well. They too fought just as hard as their British counterparts for a cause they believed in.

We pay our respects to the 9,823 who laid down their lives in the pursuit of their duty.

03/06/2013 08:47:22

REMEMBER GOOSE GREEN

Goose Green was a battle that should not have been. Around Goose Green and Darwin Hill was arrayed a 1,200 Strong Argentine force consisting of two Rifle Regiments and their supporting elements. Entrenched and equipped with a variety of Mortars, Machine Guns and Cannons, the position had been identified early by the British and recognised as a static position which would not interfere with their landing.

It was decided therefore, that any attempts to push in land would simply bypass this “pocket” of resistance.

That all changed with the successive and successful Argentine Air Attacks on the Royal Navy Task Force. Within a matter of weeks, 2 Type 42 Destroyers and 2 Type 21 Frigates had been sunk along with the SS Atlantic Conveyor bringing, vital supplies and equipment, including Helicopter transport for the British ground troops.

With these losses, momentum was slipping away from the British Task Force and had to be recovered. Lt Colonel Herbert ‘H’ Jones, commanding the British Ground Forces was ordered to attack the Argentine positions around Goose Green and Darwin.

The British Force consisted of three rifle companies, one patrol company, one support company, and the HQ company of Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert ‘H’ Jones’ 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment (2 Para) which had the following support: three 105 mm artillery pieces with 960 shells from 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery; one MILAN anti-tank missile platoon and Scout helicopters.

These were supplemented by an SAS Patrol which had infiltrated the Argentine operational area and reported positions. Another patrol would simulate a battalion sized attack on Darwin to help the British Ground forces secure San Carlos.

Royal Navy Sea Harriers also commenced Bombing Operations, supplemented by fire from Royal Navy Warships, in and around Goose Green.

2 Para, were ready to attack on 28 May while waiting for the “Go” order, the British Force were astonished to see a BBC report indicating that they were poised to attack Goose Green in the morning. Lt Colonel Jones was infuriated by the incompetence and threatened to sue the BBC, Whitehall and the War Cabinet.

At 2.30am on 28 May, 2 Para were ordered to launch their attack. The First Ground battle of the Falklands War had begun.

A Company, 2 Para clashed with Argentina’s A Company 12th Regiment over Burntside House and Burntside Hill, before pulling back to Darwin Ridge to form a new defence line.

D Company, 2 Para, were initially held up by a well sighted Argentine position equipped with a machine gun near Coronation Ridge. Two Men, Lance Corporal Bingley and Private Grayling, heroically charged the machine gun, killing the crew and allowing the rest of D Company to clear up the defenders. Lance Corporal Gary Bingley was sadly killed in the action and posthumously awarded the Military Medal for his actions. Private Barry Grayling, was wounded in the hip and later awarded the Gallantry medal for his part.

A and B Companies pushed forward, encountering resistance from the remnants of A Company, 12th Infantry Regiment, retreating from Darwin Ridge.

The first British Assault towards Goose Green itself stalled, broken up by fire from the other elements of the 12th Infantry Regiment.

Seeing his force stall in the face of the Argentine defensive postions, Lt Colonel Jones led an attack up the hill above the Gorse line, where A Company had been pinned down by machine gun positions. Lt Colonel Jones was shot and killed.

A Company 2 Para, attempted further attacks but these were repulsed by the Argentine defenders who were eventually able to drive British Paratroopers back. Argentine Artillery then began to rain down on 2 Para. British Mortars returned in kind, firing over 1000 rounds of ammunition to keep the Argentines at bay.

It was almost noon by the time 2 Para launched their next assault. This time A Company were able to clear out the eastern end of the Argentine Position, opening the way forward. B Company overcame Argentine defenders at Boca Hill, led by the “cool” and “calm” leadership of Major John Crosland. A Company were then also able to assault and overcome defenders on Darwin Hill, finally taking the position that had cost them so much.

After clearing Darwin Hill, C and D Companies assaulted the small airfield, leaving A Company to secure Darwin Hill. During the advance, the Argentines turned their Anti-Aircraft batteries on the attacking Paratroopers with C Company suffering tremendous casualties.

D Company were also hit hard, with 12 Platoon being ambushed by a platoon of the 25th Infantry Regiment. They fought their way out of the ambush and successfully launched their attack in the Airfield.

The 25th Infantry Regiment defending the Airfield fled into the Darwin-Goose Green track and escaped.

With the argentine forces on the brink of defeat and 2 Para badly mauled by the intense fighting, terms of surrender were offered.

The following day Lieutenant-Colonel Piaggi surrendered all Argentine forces, approximately 1,000 men. He was later discharged from the army in disgrace. The fourteen-hour battle had cost the British 17 killed and 64 wounded, around 50 Argentines were killed and 120 wounded.

The 12th Regiment lost 32 killed and about 70 wounded. After the battle vast quantities of Argentine weapons and unused ammunition were deployed among ships of the Royal Navy still stationed at San Carlos Water.

The Battle of Goose Green is often remembered as one of the most significant engagements of the Falklands War, but also one of its’ most controversial. British Forces did not need to be diverted away from their key objective, Port Stanley, and the decision received much criticism.

Further criticism was levelled at the actions of Lt Colonel Jones. Opinions varied widely with him equally hailed as both a hero who inspired his men and an impetuous officer who deprived 2 Para of their Commanding Officer at a critical moment in the battle.

Nevertheless, Goose Green will be forever remembered as a shining example of the brutal efficiency of the British Military and 2 Para in particular. The determination and fighting spirit of the officers and men allowed the significantly outnumbered British force of 600 to assault and defeat an entrenched opposing force of 1,200.

It was a victory that galvanised the spirits of those back home beginning to doubt the ultimate success of the campaign, particularly after the significant losses the Royal navy had suffered.

With a sizeable force of Argentine soldiers defeated, as well as a good portion of their equipment, the battle of Goose Green did open the gates to Port Stanley and ultimately the defeat of the invading Argentine Forces. Within Two Weeks of the Battle of Goose Green, the war was over and Great Britain had retained control of the Islands.

03/06/2013 08:46:02

SALUTING ATLANTIC CONVEYOR

The Atlantic Conveyor was a merchant container and vehicle transport built in 1970 and owned by Cunard.

At 14,950 Tonnes she was a large vessel and ideally suited to carry large quantities of equipment long distance. Exactly what the Falklands Task Force required, sailing from the UK to the South Atlantic Islands.

She was requisitioned for use along with her sister Ship Atlantic Causeway on 14 April 1982 and hurriedly re-fitted for service at Devonport dockyard.

Following the refit she was loaded with 5 Chinook and 6 Wessex helicopters and departed Plymouth on 25 April 1982 for Ascension Island.

Arriving at Ascension on 05 May, she was loaded further with 6 RAF Harrier GR3s and 8 RN Sea Harriers. She departed Ascension a short few days later bearing her precious cargo with one Harrier kept on deck alert armed with Sidewinder Missiles in case of an Argentine Reconnaissance flight.

Atlantic Conveyor rendezvoused with the Falklands Task Force on 18th May and offloaded the Harriers to their assigned carriers. The GR3s were sent to HMS Hermes, while the Sea Harriers were divided amongst the squadrons on Hermes and HMS Invincible.

The Helicopters were retained, ready to be unloaded at San Carlos bay and Atlantic Conveyor remained with the Carrier Battle Group providing the use of 3 Wessex and 1 Chinook Helicopter operating off her deck.

25 May 1982

On 25 May, She received the signal to move to San Carlos water under cover of darkness to unload the helicopters which would allow the Ground Forces to move to Port Stanley.

While in transit two Argentinian Super Étendards approached from the North after refuelling from a Tanker.

The call “Handbrake” was received on board all ships indicating a ‘hard radar spike’ from Argentinian Aircraft and an Exocet attack.

The two Super Étendards had both launched Exocets intending to attack the Royal Navy warships moving to Port San Carlos.

A number of RN Warships including HMS Alacrity used their “Chaff” countermeasures which fired clouds of tin foil into the air to obscure radar tracking systems.

The Exocets, confused by the Chaff cloud, searched for a new target and acquired the Atlantic Conveyor which did not have any defensive counter measures.

According to the HMS Brilliant website, they detected both missiles and tracked them all the way to the Atlantic Conveyor but were unable to engage, their own missile system being out of range.

She was hit on the port quarter, approximately 11 feet above the water line, the missiles penetrated to C Cargo deck where they detonated. In addition to her complement of Aircraft, she had been carrying fuel and ammunition. In combination with the un-burnt propellant from the Missiles, these created an uncontrollable fire.

Despite efforts to dump fuel and ammunition overboard and bring the fires under control, the decision was made to abandon ship.

The complement of helicopters on board, crucial to the ground forces campaign and mission to take Port Stanley, were destroyed as was all the fuel and ammunition.

Abandoned, Atlantic Conveyor was towed away from the Islands but sunk while under tow on 28 May 1982.

Sadly, 12 Men also lost their lives, despite the best efforts of everyone aboard. 3 Were lost on board while the other 9 were lost in the water. 22 Were rescued from the forward deck using helicopters and the rest from lifeboats.

137 Had been saved, a testament to the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy crews conducting the evacuation.

The 12 men killed in the sinking of the Atlantic Conveyor were:



Merchant Navy

Bosun (Petty Officer I) John B. Dobson

Mechanic (Petty Officer I) Frank Foulkes

Assistant Steward David R. S. Hawkins

Mechanic (Petty Officer II) James Hughes

Captain Ian H. North, DSC

Mechanic (Petty Officer II) Ernest M. Vickers



Royal Fleet Auxiliary

First Radio Officer Ronald Hoole

Laundryman Ng Por

Laundryman Chan Chi Shing



Royal Navy

Chief Petty Officer Edmund Flanagan

Air Engineering Mechanic (R) Adrian J. Anslow

Leading Air Engineering Mechanic (L) Don L. Pryce

As the last resting place of the remains of those who died, the wreck is designated as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.

We remember and salute the sacrifice of the 12 Crew Members, and the heroic efforts of all those involved in fighting to save the ship and rescuing the survivors.

What questions can we ask about the sinking of Atlantic Conveyor and how it could be avoided? She was refitted in Devonport to allow her to receive the precious cargo of aircraft. Why were defensive countermeasures not part of that refit? There was some debate about the legality of arming a Merchant vessel but would Chaff Dispensers or some similar form of decoy to confuse incoming projectiles be against those rules?

Or was this underestimation of the Argentine capability to attack the Royal Navy task force and overestimation of the task force’s ability to defend itself? Certainly the Argentine use of Exocet Missiles was a wake up call to the Navy and new tactics were quickly devised to attempt to counter them. This even included some “wild” tactics such as the use of a helicopter to distract a missile. Sadly The countermeasures devised could not prevent the loss of HMS Coventry, Ardent or Antelope. But then as I have mentioned previously, these ships were designed and deployed to take the hits that the Argentine Aircraft could dish out.

What if they had bombed and sunk HMS Hermes or HMS Invincible? That would have been the end of the British effort to re-take the Falklands. It would have been such a serious loss as to force a humiliating retreat and we would now be calling the Falklands Islands, Las Malvinas…

I don’t personally think the sinking of Atlantic Conveyor could be avoided, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and it was unfortunate circumstance that the Exocet missiles, after being “defeated” by the countermeasures from the warships, were able to find her. We can only be thankful that such devastating weaponry did not take more lives and sink more of the Royal Navy’s ships.

The whole Falklands Conflict is a shining testament to the tenacity and determination of the British Armed Forces to get the job done. The Navy despite losing some of it’s best ships was still able to function and provide adequate protection for the Task Force. The Army and Royal Marines, despite losing all of their transport helicopters, faced the daunting task of walking to Port Stanley, which they did! Then they fought the Argentine Army as well! The Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm, fighting a more numerous air force that were operating closer to home, and could in certain areas out perform the Harrier and Sea Harrier. That didn’t stop them shooting down 18 Argentine Fighter Jets and Ground Attack aircraft.

Image: Timm Webb, via IWM

03/06/2013 08:44:36

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