The Vulcan has just bombed Port Stanley airfield, causing significant damage and the Argentinians on the Falklands were about to experience a wave of attacks by Sea Harriers. 

While this was happening, Argentina’s most powerful warship the General Belgrano was steaming into the Atlantic for the last time as it turn out. 

To the north east, Vice-Admiral Woodward’s battle group of thirteen ships had entered the exclusion zone in the early hours of the 1st May and the flight-deck crews on board the carriers were prepping the sea Harriers for the next blow. 

Invincible had modern radar and the smaller air group and was designated as the air-defence ship, concentrating on providing combat air patrols to fly cover for the fleet.

The twelve Harriers on board Hermes were going to fly to the Falklands. The planes led by Lieutenant Commander Andy Auld of 800 squadron took off from the Hermes at first light, assembled over the fleet, then turned towards the Falklands’ Coast. Balancing the fuel against the bomb payloads had been a mathematical challenge, but Woodward made this easier by bringing his carriers closer than 70 miles off the coast to give the Harriers an opportunity to carry heavier bomb loads and less fuel. The 12 flew in low and fast, three aircraft detached to attack the Goose Green Argentinian base, the rest were aiming at Stanley runway and anti-aircraft defences. 

About 300 nautical miles west of the Total Exclusion Zone or TEZ, and close to the Argentine coast, two British submarines were venturing in search of the enemies boats. The Royal Navy knew that they had to find these before the largest and most dangerous entered the TEZ, particularly the General Belgrano. In early April 1982 the British War Cabinet had ordered the subs to keep away from the mainland lest they sink one of the more important ships and then damage the possible negotiations that but by the end of April, Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet changed their minds. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.