The Submarine Construction - 1955 United States Navy Educational

The Falklands War - The Sub War

During the Falklands war, British submarines were the first warships to reach the islands and began to enforce the Exclusion Zone around them. Of these vessels, H.M.S. Conqueror (Arrived 16th April) was the one to gain fame, becoming the first nuclear powered submarine to sink an enemy ship in combat. The diesel powered Oberon/Porpoise class H.M.S. Onyx (Arrived 28th May) served in a patrol area along with the two Swiftsure submarines: H.M.S. Spartan (Arrived 12th April) and H.M.S. Splendid (Arrived 19th April). As well as patrolling against Argentine submarines, these warships kept the Argentine carrier in dock, along with most of the Argentine Navy. Of those ships and submarines which made sorties against the Task Force, the British submarines prowled for Argentine ships outside the Total Exclusion Zone.

On 12th April, a 200-mile Maritime Exclusion Zone came into operation around the Falklands, this being changed to a Total Exclusion Zone on 30th April. Any Argentine vessels found within the zone were liable to be sunk without warning. The 26th April saw helicopters from the destroyer Antrim, the frigates Brilliant and Plymouth attack, damage and force the Argentinean submarine Santa Fe to run aground and surrender.

H.M.S. ConquerorOn the afternoon of the 1st May, H.M.S. Conqueror sighted the cruiser General Belgrano, a World War 2 US-built warship lacking sonar, and its escort of two Exocet-equipped destroyers, which were a pre-eminent threat to the task force. The 2nd of May saw the War Cabinet clear the Conqueror to remove the Belgrano from the theatre. H.M.S. Conqueror fired a pattern of torpedoes from around 2,000 yards and scored two hits. The Argentine cruiser sank rapidly thereafter, although her escort did try to sink the Conqueror with depth-charges they were unsuccessful. The loss of one of its most prestigious units probably caused the Argentine Navy to recall its other units, including their only aircraft carrier, the Veinticinco de Mayo to port.

Argentine submarines continued to pose a threat to the task force, but no successful attacks were carried out. Although some confusion during the landings did include sightings of possible torpedo tracks, no attacks were confirmed. The fleet's helicopters provided constant anti-submarine cover; a task for which they were designed with the Royal Navy's anti-submarine role being pre-eminent within NATO..

April 7th - On This Date - RN Submarine History

1909	C37	Submarine HMS C37 laid down
1909	C38	Submarine HMS C38 laid down
1915	E17	Submarine HMS E17 completed
1915	G12	Submarine HMS G12 laid down
1945	Tarn	Submarine HMS Tarn completed
1978	Spartan	Submarine HMS Spartan launched
1942	HMS Turbulent	HMS Turbulent sinks the Italian merchant Rosa M. with gunfire south of Cattaro, Yugoslavia.
1943	HMS Tuna	The German submarine U-644 was sunk in the North Sea north-west of Narvik, Norway, by torpedoes from the British submarine HMS Tuna.
1943	HMS Artful	Ordered from Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Co Ltd, Greenock
1944	HMS Ultor	HMS Ultor torpedoes and sinks a large sailing vessel off Monemvassia, Greece.
1944	Unshaken	HMS Unshaken torpedoes and sinks the German merchant Asien off Lista, Norway.
1945	HMS Statesman	HMS Statesman sinks a Japanese sailing vessel with gunfire in the Strait of Malacca.
1989	Komosomolets	42 crew members died when the Soviet Komosomolets submarine sank in the Norwegian Sea following a fire. The submarine, called the "Golden Fish" among the Northern fleet's officers, was the only of the Mike-class, a unique titanium-hulled submarine commissioned in 1984. Komsomolets could go deep, very deep. Able to dive down to 1,000 meter (3,000 feet) under the surface she was impossible to spot from any American satellites or underwater sound-detections systems.

SAB

Jimmy Burns updated edition of how Argentina lost the Falklands war

On the 30th anniversary of the invasion of the Falkland Islands Jimmy Burns launches an updated edition of “The Land that lost its Heroes” , How Argentina lost the Falklands war, which draws on unique access to military, diplomatic and intelligence sources in Argetina, the US and the UK plus other key players.

The new edition gives a detailed account of the military planning behind the Argentine invasion  

The prize-winning author and journalist Jimmy Burns was the only full time British foreign correspondent to be based in Argentina when the invasion of the Falkland Islands took place on 2 April 1982.

Graham Greene described it as a book “for everyone who wishes to understand the Argentine situation before and after the Falklands war”.

The updated edition of the book winner of the 1987 Somerset Maugham Award for non fiction is fascinating on many levels, plus including eyewitness accounts from the front line.

The new edition gives a detailed account of the military planning behind the Argentine invasion; reveals the inadequate reactions of British diplomacy and the failings of British and US intelligence; exposes the international intrigue and covert military operations of the war on both sides; recounts the personal experiences of British and Argentine soldiers and the inhabitants of the islands; includes  the first ever inside story of the secret missile program which Argentina tried to develop after the war with the help of Middle Eastern countries, and how, once discovered,  it was scuppered by US and British intelligence and finally provides a unique insight into why successive British and Argentine governments have failed to reach agreement over the future of the disputed Islands.

Finally it analyzes a new prescript why in 2012 the government of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner launched a new diplomatic and trade offensive over Las Malvinas as the thirtieth anniversary of the war approached.