List of 6 British Ships Sunk During the Falklands War

[Vergennes]

Six British ships (and one LCU craft) were sunk during the Falklands War that was fought between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the Falklands Islands and South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands in 1982. That figure could have been higher but many Argentine bombs, after hitting their targets, didn't explode. Below is a list of the six British ships that went down in South Atlantic during the 10-week war.

HMS Sheffield

A Type 42 Guided Missile Destroyer became the first British ship to be sunk during the Falklands War. She was guarding the outer perimeter of the Task Force which made her vulnerable to attack. On May 4, Sheffield was detected by Argentine Super Etendard which launched its Exocet missile, hitting the ship above the waterline and causing a fierce fire that killed 20 crewmen. Others were evacuated, while the ship was then towed out to the sea and scuttled to become a war grave. In 1986, the site of her sinking was declared a protected place by the Military Remains Act.


HMS Ardent

A Type 21 Frigate was tasked with protecting the ships deploying ground troops in the bay of San Carlos. On May 21, she was struck by nine bombs dropped by the Argentine Air Force. Three exploded and caused severe damage. Though the crew did their best to repair the damage, Ardent soon came under another aircraft attack. The ship managed to sail to shallow waters of Grantham Sound Bay where she sank the next day.

HMS Antelope

A Type 21 Frigate was protecting the entrance to San Carlos Bay when she was bombed by Argentine Skyhawks on May 23. A 1000 pound bomb crashed through Antelopes’ starboard side but didn’t explode. More Skyhawks attacked, another bomb penetrated the ship’s side, again, not exploding. Then one of the Skyhawks was hit by gunfire from Antelope and crashed into the ship’s mast. The ship then sailed to sheltered waters and while defusing the bombs, one of them exploded. The crew were ordered to abandon the ship and just minutes later, the missile magazines exploded. The next day the ship broke in two and sank.


HMS Coventry

A Type 42 Destroyer was assigned an anti-aircraft role. On May 25, she and HMS Broadsword took position north west of Falkland Sound to divert the attention of the Argentine Air Force away from San Carlos. On the same day, the two ships came under attack by Skyhawks. Coventry was hit by three bombs of which two exploded on her port side. The ship immediately headed to the port but severe flooding forced the crew to abandon the ship. In less than half an hour, she turned over and sank north of the Pebble Island.

SS Atlantic Conveyor

A roll-on/roll-off type container ship was tasked with carrying helicopters and other war supplies for the Task Force heading to the Falklands. On May 25, she was struck on her port quarter by two Exocet missiles launched by Super Etendard fighter. A major fire broke out, causing ammunition to explode and killing 12 crewmen. Of one Lynx, six Wessex and five Chinook helicopters on board, only one Chinook survived (it left the Conveyor a few days earlier). The ship sank on May 28 while being towed. The site of her sinking north of the Pebble Island has been protected by the Military Remains Act in 1986.

RFA Sir Galahad

On June 8, the Round Table class LSL ship was waiting to deploy soldiers in Port Pleasant near Fitzroy when it was attacked by Argentine Skyhawks. She was hit by several bombs and caught on fire, killing 48 crewmen and soldiers. Others were evacuated with life rafts and helicopters. After the end of the war on June 21, she was towed out to open sea and sunk by the Royal Navy. Just like the site of the Atlantic Conveyor’s sinking, the site of Sir Galahad’s sinking is an official war grave, protected by the Military Remains Act.

https://www.historylists.org/other/list-of-6-british-ships-sunk-during-the-falklands-war.html

 

[Indus Pakistan]

HMS Sheffield

Strangely I was living in Sheffield [my cop brother still does] in Sheffield when HMS Sheffield was sunk.

 

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

Oh the Falklands War!!! It took the "Iron Lady" Thatcher to a star status!!! Although there're other means to do the job, but she preferred to do it the old way!!! I like that part of the British - they love traditions...

 

[Akasa]

Six functional Spanish fuzes and the British would've lost.

 

[Path-Finder]

did France give the codes for the anti ship missiles? or is it a myth!

 

[khansaheeb]

did France give the codes for the anti ship missiles? or is it a myth!

We know France/NATO/US gave help.
What I also do know was that HMS Sheffield used to be on the advertisements for recruitment for the Royal Navy in the mainstream newspapers where it was claimed that it was most advance ship that could detect and destroy multiple aircraft , hunt and destroy enemy subs, and attack surface ships all at the same time. Not sure what happened but it was sad demise to a warship I could have served on and the British public were never told what went terribly wrong against a third rate opposition and why the ships were so easily sunk. It seems the sales pitch was out of sync with reality in terms of the capability of the ships. How the RN would fare against more adversaries is certainly worrying.

 

[untitled]

Antelope and Ardent probably would have served in PN had they not been sunk

 

[Nein]

Argentina so incompetent that I laugh when I look into the Falkland Wars. Britain smashed them hard.

I highly doubt Argentina will ever get the Islands back as the Falklanders dont want them and the Argentinian armed forces of today is in such a pathetic state. Neither does Argentina have the politics or backing to get the Islands.

They just going to stay butthurt and do nothing.

 

[Vergennes]

did France give the codes for the anti ship missiles? or is it a myth!

I believe it's more like a myth,although the French briefed the UK about the exocet missile. Argentina was in possession of a handful number of exocet when the conflict started. (If I remember,it was 5 missiles)

Although Mitterand stopped the delivery of more of these missiles to Argentina,French instructors were still in Argentina to supervise the pilots of the Rio Grande air base....

France also delayed the deliveries of similar missiles to Peru,the UK fearing they could be ppassed to Argentina,given Peru was an ally.

The consequences for the Royal Navy would have probably been even worse if Argentina had more exocets in their possessions.

 

[Viking 63]

Another interesting fact about this war is That Argentina was running out of Exocet missiles and they approached France to obtain few more but the French did not have them in stock but they opened a line of for them to ask Pakistan if it can provide them from their PN stocks, Pakistan refused. In my opinion had the Argentinians got hold of 12-15 missiles the British Armada would have been doomed !!

 

[Vergennes]

Another interesting fact about this war is That Argentina was running out of Exocet missiles and they approached France to obtain few more but the French did not have them in stock but they opened a line of for them to ask Pakistan if it can provide them from their PN stocks, Pakistan refused. In my opinion had the Argentinians got hold of 12-15 missiles the British Armada would have been doomed !!

Actually,Mitterand announced an embargo on delivery of military hardware to Argentina,it had nothing to do with stocks. Argentina did try to acquire more missiles in a way or another,but didn't succeed.

 

[Cybernetics]

Actually,Mitterand announced an embargo on delivery of military hardware to Argentina,it had nothing to do with stocks. Argentina did try to acquire more missiles in a way or another,but didn't succeed.

Goes to show that without an independent military industry, it would be physically impossible to transition to a war time economy.

With increasing complexity of high end weapon systems, vertical integration of the supply chain becomes harder. Only countries that are able to produce the core components of its weapon systems are able to maintain its military technology level during a transition to a war time economy. In the future only a few industrial heavy weights and trans-national blocs would have the capacity to transition into a war time economy.