LOCATION: SOUTH ATLANTIC
DATE/TIME: 1 MAY 1982, 00:00:00
Located 7000nm from Britain and 300nm east of the Strait of Magellan, the Falkland Islands is the only major island group in the South Atlantic. In 1982 the islands had a population of approximately 1800, over 1000 of them staying in the capital, Port Stanley. Lying 900 miles east - south east of the Falklands, the 100 mile-long island of South Georgia was populated by twenty or so staff of the British Antarctic Survey.
Britain settled the Falkland Islands and formally declared colonial administration in 1842. Argentina had been laying claims to the previous colonial territories since her independence from Spain in 1916 and from the 1960s she pressed her claim with increasing vigour. The talks continued on and off for almost twenty years. But the position of both sides hardened, and in late 1980 the islanders rejected the one remaining solution of leaseback for a fixed period.
At about 4:30am on 2 April 1982 Argentine forces landed on the Falklands. Governor (later Sir) Rex Hunt surrendered after a brief defence by the detachment of Royal Marines. The next day British Prime Minister Thatcher announced the dispatch of the Task Force and the UN approved Resolution 502. But talks with the Argentine Junta ended without an acceptable conclusion on 16 April, and on 30 April the British task force entered the 200nm Total Exclusion Zone (TEZ) around the islands.
Saturday 1 May:
00:00:00: The CVBG (Carrier Battle Group) sails towards the Falklands and takes up position 70nm to the south east of Stanley. HMS Brilliant and HMS Broadsword stays close in with the carriers. Near them is a screen of RFAs, further out is four frigates and, twenty miles up-threat, three Type 42s as a picket line. Four Sea Harriers provide a continuous CAP (Combat Air Patrol) cover for the CVBG and Sea Kings search for enemy submarines.
04:40:00: Black Buck 1. A single Vulcan B.2 bomber based on the Ascension Island attacks the runway at Stanley airfield. The strike is timed so that the aircraft arrives over the target at 4:40am local time. The 21x 1000lb bombs are dropped from 8,000ft (3000m).
08:00:00: Nine Sea Harriers fly off Hermes to attack installations and stores at Stanley airfield. Four of the aircraft are armed with 1000lb GPBs (Genral Purpose Bombs) and the remaining five with BL.755 CBUs (Cluster Bomb Units). Three more Sea Harriers attack the small airfield at Goose Green with CBUs.
10:00:00: HMS Brilliant, HMS Yarmouth and three ASW Sea Kings from HMS Hermes search for the Argentine submarine San Luis that is suspected to be operating to the north east of the Falklands in the area marked by Ref Points 5-8. The search ends when the Sea Kings reach bingo fuel and all units head back to the CVBG.
16:00:00: HMS Glamorgan, HMS Alacrity and HMS Arrow arrive on station three nautical miles off Stanley to stage the first of many bombardments of the Stanley area. A single Lynx is used to provide naval gunfire spotting. Four Sea Harriers fly constant CAP over the group.
Sunday 2 May:
01:00:00: Three SAS teams land by Sea King HC.4s near Stanley under the covering fire from HMS Glamorgan, HMS Alacrity and HMS Arrow. Four more SAS teams land near Bluff Cove, Goose Green, Fox Bay and Port Howard to watch the Argentine garrisons based there.
01:30:00: The ships at the gunline near Stanley withdraw to the CVBG.
06:00:00: A RAF Canberra PR.9 reconnaissance plane operating from Chile starts searching for the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano. The ship is believed to be located 250nm south of the Falklands in the area marked by Ref Points 1-4. When she is located, the submarine HMS Conqueror closes in to shadow her.
16:00:00: Although outside the 200nm TEZ (Total Exclusion Zone) around the Falkland Islands, the British War Cabinet decides to remove General Belgrano from the theatre. HMS Conqueror attacks the cruiser and sinks her with three Mark 8 torpedoes.
22:00:00: HMS Glamorgan, HMS Alacrity and HMS Arrow launch the second round of bombardments of the Stanley area.
Monday 3 May:
00:00:00: The gun-line ships withdraw to the CVBG.
01:00:00: Sea Kings search for and locate two Argentine patrol boats to the north of the Falkland Islands. Coventry's and Glasgow's Lynx helicopters attack both boats with Sea Skua missiles.
Tuesday 4 May:
04:30:00: Black Buck 2. A single Vulcan bomber attacks the runway at Stanley airfield. The bombs are dropped from 16,000ft (5000m).
12:00:00: The carriers move to a new station 100nm east of the islands.
13:00:00: Three Sea Harriers attack the Goose Green airstrip with CBUs.
Wednesday 5 - Friday 7 May:
Bad weather, no operations.
Saturday 8 May:
00:00:00: The TEZ is widened from 200nm around the Falklands to within 12nm of Argentina's coast. The CVBG sails to a new patrol area 60nm due east of Stanley.
16:00:00: HMS Alacrity bombards the Stanley area. HMS Brilliant and her Lynx sails to the north of the Falklands and pass through the Falkland Sound in an attempt to intercept enemy supply ships.
17:00:00: HMS Coventry and HMS Broadsword move to within 10nm of Stanley to enforce the air blockade and lure out Argentine aircraft.
Sunday 9 May:
02:00:00: HMS Alacrity and HMS Brilliant return to the CVBG.
11:30:00: Two Sea Harriers set out to bomb Stanley. However the Argentine intelligence trawler Narwhal is detected on the way to the target and the aircraft are cleared to attack this ship instead. If the Sea Harriers fail to sink her, use two Sea Kings to land a SBS boarding party.
22:00:00: HMS Coventry and HMS Broadsword return to the CVBG.
Monday 10 May:
00:00:00: Bad weather restricts fixed-wing flying operations.
08:00:00: HMS Glasgow and HMS Brilliant replace HMS Coventry and HMS Broadsword in the radar picket and bombardment duties of Stanley.
16:00:00: HMS Arrow moves around the Falklands to the north end of the Falkland Sound while her sister ship HMS Alacrity enters from the south and sails right through to flush out any enemy supply ships and to check for sea mines. Attack and sink any enemy ships encountered. The two warships then join up and head back around the island to join the CVBG again on Tuesday morning.
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