Falklands War - San Carlos Gallery

This was probably the most critical aspect of the entire campaign. It was the responsibility of Captain Jeremy Larkin aboard the Fearless to ensure that the Commando Brigade get safely ashore at San Carlos before the Argentinian forces could react in strength.

HMS Fearless carried four Landing Craft in its bay that would be used to get much of the soldiers and equipment ashore. Additionally, it could ferry men and equipment using its helicopters and pads.

HMS Fearless was critical to the success of the Amphibious Assault at San Carlos Bay. It was imperative to get as many soldiers ashore as possible before the Argentinian Air Force reacted to the invasion.

The Royal Naval Air Defences were not as fully effective as originally hoped. Only two ships carried the Sea Wolf system and the Sea Dart missiles were only of much use against planes and missiles at high altitude. The old Sea Cat had to be relied upon, but it had severe limitations in reaction time. Argentinian pilots would fly at very low altitudes and hugging the terrain reducing any reaction time to an attack. Ironically, it was to be the machine guns and anti-aircraft guns that would prove their worth to a modern fleet. It had long been thought that they were anachronistic to a modern fleet and yet the tracers and volume of metal in the air could force pilots to dump their ordinance too early.

The Argentinian pilots flew with incredible skill and bravery. They were far more adept at hugging the terrain and flying at low level than the British had been expected. In some ways, they were flying so low that it did not always allow their ordinance to fully arm before hitting their targets, hence a series of unexploded bombs landing in the ships. The pilots also made the mistake of attacking the escort vessels rather than those carrying the troops.

On the 21st of May, Ardent was struck by no less than nine bombs. Three of which exploded. The first two blew up in the hangar, destroying the Westland Lynx helicopter and blowing the Sea Cat launcher into the air before it crashed back down onto the flight deck. The third smashed the aft Auxiliary Machinery Room. Remarkably it did still have some power to its engines. Twenty minutes later three more Skyhawks scored two more hits on the ship's port stern. The fires now spread out of control and Ardent began to slow. Three Mirage aircraft attacked her once more, but scored no hits. This picture show HMS Yarmouth helping evacuate the crew.

A land beachhead would allow the Sea-Harriers to be refuelled and rearmed on land which made it vastly improved the aircraft's range and time that it could spend providing air cover for the fleet and troops.

It was essential for the British to set up their Rapier Anti-aircraft batteries as soon as possible. Once up and running, they did afford significant protection, although the burning Antelope in the background shows that this was not always enough.