german warships sunk by the royal naval and air forces

The carriers Hermes and Invincible, originally scheduled to be sold, had been alerted on April 1, when the invasion appeared imminent. But before night had fallen on occupied Port Stanley, Operation Corporate, the British counterthrust, was under way. Before noon, the small detachment of Royal Marines had surrendered, and the Argentine colors fluttered over Government House. Fought hundreds of miles from the nearest mainland, the war was decided in the air, and 20 years later, the pilots still remember every violent minute.Īrgentina invaded the Falklands’ capital, Port Stanley, early on Friday, April 2. Neither of the combatants was prepared for a winter war in the far south Atlantic, and the sudden, unexpected conflict, though brief, was both improvised and lethal: In just two months of hostilities, 891 men died, 132 aircraft were lost, and 11 ships were sunk. Argentina’s claim, centuries old but fanned by nationalism since the Juan Peron era, would be vindicated half the world away, the British would do nothing. No one thought this was the beginning of a war.Īs Argentina urged the United Nations to review the case of the Malvinas, the name by which the Falklands are known in much of Latin America, Operation Rosario, a plan to invade and capture the islands, took form in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. HMS Endurance immediately brought 21 Royal Marines from East Falkland to eject the intruders, with harumphing all around.

IN DECEMBER 1981, AN ARGENTINE SCRAP METAL salvage team landed on the island of South Georgia, a dependency of the British Falkland Islands, and ran up the Argentine flag.

German warships sunk by the royal naval and air forces