Falklands War - May 21st 1982 - War Diary of Crew member of HMS Yarmouth

21st May
0000 ARDENT into Falkland Sound NGS at Goose Green
0100 Action stations
0123 Sea King dropped 1 depth charge possible submarine reclassified non sub
0148 PLYMOUTH with ELK-CANBERRA-NORLAND, South East of us FEARLESS I/C
0152 EUROPIC FERRY told to break out ammo
0210 FEARLESS and INTREPID pass through the gap
0240 PLYMOUTH group into San Carlos
0240 Defence stations all threats white
0410 Pass into Falkland Sound
0430 ANTRIM air red, action stations
0450 ANTRIM - NGS
0453 Fall out defence stations
0630 Start landings
0840 Sea king dropped 1 depth charge
0930 Joined by ARGOUNAUT and BROADSWORD with LSL’s and EUROPIC FERRY pass through the gap
1206 Air yellow
1230 Cap at 200° - 42 miles 4xSHAR
050 - 42 miles 2xSHAR
Around the force 1x SHAR
1232 Entendard 270°
1232 Enemy tanker hit by ARDENT gun fire
1235 Air red
1247 4.5 inch engage Pucaras at 8 miles
1249 4.5 inch jammed right gun ½ cocked
1254 Cap destroys 2 x A4’s, earlier shot down 2 Puma’s and one Bell helo, at 0815 SHAR shot down a Chinook helo (army) with 30mm cannon fire Flight Lieutenant Hare No 1 Squadron, 1st Puma Flight Lieutenant Hare, 2nd Puma Squadron Leader Pook No 1 Squadron
1315 Contact 258° - 80 miles strength 2
1321 Possible Handbrake 270° supper entendards
1325 Possible raid - CAP intercepting low bogeys 230° closing overland 10 miles
1327 Alarm aircraft Mirages (3)
1335 ANTRIM has unexploded bomb on board, (Captain Moreno)
1337 Sea Cat alarm aircraft red 160° low
1339 Confirmed Mirage dropped load overland
1340 210° hostiles closing fast - low from ANTRIM
1341 Red 090 Mirage lost in cloud
1349 Explosion on land forward of ALACRITY
1355 ANTRIM closing BROADSWORD for protection weapon systems out of action
1358 Hostile 250° - 80 miles
1359 Possible Mirage 142° - 80 miles (4) closing
1403 Hostile 120° - 8 miles from ANTRIM
1425 3 aircraft 50 miles
1435 BROADSWORD hit 8 hurt splinter damage (Major Martinez)
1457 6 aircraft from the West
1503 4.5 inch aircraft
1506 2 mirage tracking left to right
1509 2 Pucaras splashed by CAP. One of the kills went to Lieutenant Ward.

Other aircraft shot down so far
0930 Pucara Grupo 3 Captain Benitz (stinger).
1016 Dagger Grupo 6 Lieutenant Bean shot down by ARGONAUT /PLYMOUTH sea cat.
1210 Pucara Grupo 3 Major Tomba 30mm cannon by Lieutenant Ward.
1304 2 Skyhawks Grupo 4 Lieutenant Lopez and Lieutenant Manzotti (sidewinder) by Lieutenant Commander Blissett and Lieutenant Commander Thomas.
1420 Dagger Grupo 6 Lieutenant Launa (Sidewinder ) by Lieutenant Commander Frederiksen.
1453 3 Daggers Grupo 6 Major Piuma - Captain Donadille - Lieutenant Senn (Sidewinder) 2 to Lieutenant Thomas, 1 to Lieutenant Ward.

1511 2 Skyhawk’s from 3rd Naval Attack Squadron splashed both by Sidewinder Lieutenant Commander Philippi and Lieutenant Márquez, kills to Lieutenant Morell and Flight Lieutenant Leeming
1520 ARGOUNAT splashed 1 Mirage
1541 320° 1½ miles from BROADSWORD person in water
1555 ARDENT attacked by bombs from Mirage
1609 Air yellow
1714 Air red
1717 Unknown 250° - 120 miles
1725 YARMOUTH under attack - we don’t know where from
1727 250° strength, many aircraft 40 miles
1728 Classified Entendards CAP engaging
1732 260° - 18 miles possibly 4 aircraft
1733 4.5 inch aircraft blind Skyhawks
1734 Green 140 alarm aircraft
1735 270° - 6 miles
1735 4.5 cease fire
1735 ARGONAUT hit - 2 unexploded bombs onboard, ARGONAUT fires her Sea Cat and splashes one aircraft. Lieutenant Guillermo Lower Grippa in a Macchi 339. Two Skyhawks dropped 10 bombs, two entered the ship - one in the boiler room , second bomb hit forward below the waterline, passed through a fuel tank and into the Seacat magazine. The two ratings in the Seacat magazine killed instantly. YARMOUTH’s Wasp starts taking off ARGONAUT’s wounded, PLYMOUTH towed ARGONAUT into San Carlos.
1744 Two A 4’s splashed by CAP, ARDENT hit by Captain Robles - Captain Gonzalezs - Lieutenant Bernhardt, 456 fired at.
1747 270° - 40 miles unknown, 4.5 aircraft green 30 ceased firing
1748 BRILLIANT has damage ops-room , splinter damage
1752 Two Mirages splashed by CAP, CO of 801 Squadron and Lieutenant Thomas, they downed a third
1753 290° - 8 miles strength 3 bogies assumed CAP
1756 Hostile 230° - 20 miles opening
1758 4.5 aircraft alarm open fire
1759 Aircraft fly over YARMOUTH towards ARDENT
1800 ARDENT hit a second time, stand by to assist her
1800 1 CAP splashed, from No 1 Squadron a GR 3
1804 4.5 aircraft ships head 3 in number, aircraft which carried out 2nd attack on ARDENT, pilot’s Lieutenant Commander Alberto - Jose Arca, they put three bombs in the same place as the first attack
1808 Bootlace 281
1815 2 at 100 range 40 miles, Bootlace 250°
1816 YARMOUTH under attack aircraft red 30
1817 Pan fire on a machine gun, 315° - 15 miles
1819 Going to assist ARDENT
1820 ARDENT abandoning ship. YARMOUTH going alongside her port side, under attack - fire 4.5 and Seacat
1845 All survivors onboard
1855 Fouled ARDENTS port anchor cable on our starboard screw
1900 Air yellow
1903 Both shafts now clear -a very long 3 minutes; and so we leave yet another sad sight
1910 Casualties stand by to transfer to CANBERRA, some by helo for immediate medical attention. ARDENT has twenty four killed and thirty wounded
1915 1 stretcher casualties to CANBERRA by 456
1922 Air red
1932 Handbrake 310°
1934 Air yellow
1935 Air red
2002 Casualties for transfer flight deck
2011 Air yellow
2039 ARDENT survivors muster on flight deck for transfer by LCVP to CANBERRA.
Saying goodbye to ARDENT survivors is very moving; we put them into the LCVP’s and they leave us, some giving us 3 cheers, some crying with relief and others simply standing silently watching
2024 Fall out. YARMOUTH had been at action stations for 19½ hours