An Invitation
If you were a Veteran of the Falklands - Malvinas War, from either
England or Argentina, I would like to hear your story and see your
pictures. Please send them to the Webmaster. Thank you very much
Click on Pictures Below for Much Larger
Views
HMS Active
Type 21 Frigate 3,200 tons
HMS Alacrity
Damaged by Bomb
Type 21 Frigate 3,200 tons
Slightly damaged by bomb near misses May 1st.
HMS Ambuscade
Type 21 Frigate 3,200 tons
HMS Andromeda
Leander Class Frigate 3,200 tons
HMS Antelope Sunk May 23rd
Type 21 Frigate 3,200 tons
Damaged in San Carlos Waters by two unexploded bombs dropped by A-4
Skyhawks from Group 5 of the Argentine Air Force. One of the
bombs did not explode until it was being defused. The Antelope
Sunk the Next Day, May 23rd.
HMS Antrim
Damaged by UXBs
Country Class Destroyer 6,200 tons
Was seriously damaged in the Falkland Islands Sound, outside of San
Carlos Waters, by an unexploded bomb which was dropped by the
Daggers of Group 6 of the Argentinean Air Force May 21st.
HMS Ardent Sunk by Bombs
Type 21 Frigate 3,200 tons
Was badly damaged in the Grantham Sound by bombs and near misses
dropped by the Daggers of Group 6 of the Argentinean Air Force.
Then it was hit by bombs from A-4 Skyhawks of CANA 3 Esc on May 23rd
off of North West Island and sank on May 24th.
HMS Argonaut
Damaged by Rockets and UXBs
Leander Class Frigate 3,200 tons
21st May it was slightly damaged outside of San Carlos Waters by
rockets and cannon fire and then seriously damaged by two unexploded
bombs dropped by A-4 Skyhawks of Argentinean Air Force Group 5 after
days of repair it sailed for the United Kingdom.
HMS Arrow
Damaged by Bombs
Type 21 Frigate 3,200 tons
1st of May it was slightly damaged by bomb near misses.
HMS Avenger
Type 21 Frigate 3,200 tons
Atlantic Conveyor
Sunk by Exocet Missile
May 25th it was mortally damaged north east of the Falkland Islands
by an Exocet missile which was fired by French Built Super Etendard
jet fighter of CANA 2 Esc. It was burnt out and then later
sank while it was in tow.
HMS Brilliant
Type 22 Frigate
HMS Bristol
Type 82 Destroyer 7,100 tons
HMS Broadsword
Damaged by UXB
Type 22 Frigate
May 25th it was damaged north of Pebble island by a bomb from an A-4
Skyhawk of Group 5, which bounced up through her stern and out again
landing in the sea.
HMS Coventry
Sunk by Bombs
Type 42 Destroyer 4,100 tons
May 25th it was sunk north of Pebble Island by three bombs by
Mariano Velascoflying an A-4 Skyhawk
HMS Cardiff
Type 42 Destroyer 4,100 tons
HMS Dumbarton Castle
Dispatch Vessel 1,450 tons
HMS Exeter
Type 42 Destroyer 4,100 tons
HMS Fearless
Sunk
Assault Ship 12,100 tons
June 8th lost a landing craft from a direct hit in the Choiseul Sound by a bomb from an A-4
Skyhawk from Group 5.
I'm looking for more
information on this, I have conflicting information from different
sources, one source said that Fearless was sunk, if you know the
answer, please send me a letter at the bottom of the page.
HMS Glamorgan
Damaged by Exocet Missile
Country Class Destroyer 6,200 tons
June 12th it was damaged off of Port Stanley by a Land based French
Built Exocet Missile.
HMS Glasgow Damaged by UXBs
Type 42 Destroyer 4,100 tons
May 12th it was moderately damaged off of Port Stanley by unexploded
bombs dropped by A-4 Skyhawks from Group . The bombs passed
through the hull but the damage took days to repair. She
shortly returned to the UK.
HMS Plymouth Damaged by UXBs
Rothesay Class Frigate 2,800 tons
June 8th it was damaged in the Falklands Sound off of San Carlos
Waters by four unexploded bombs from the Daggers of Group 6.
HMS Sheffield Sunk May 10th.
Type 42 Destroyer 4,100 tons
May 4th it was mortally damaged south east of the Falkland Islands
by an Exocet missile fired by a French Built Super Etendard jet
fighter of CANA 2 Esc. She burnt out in tow.
RFA Sir Galahad Damaged by UXB
She was damaged by an unexploded bomb on May 24th
RFA Sir Lancelot Damaged by UXB
She was damaged by an unexploded bomb on May 24th and repairs took
almost three weeks to get the ship fully operational.
RFA Sir Bedivere Damaged by Bombs
She was slightly damaged by glancing bombs in the San Carlos Waters,
possibly by A-4 Skyhawks from Group 4
HMS Yarmouth Rothesay Class Frigate 2,800 tons
Nuclear Submarines
Conqueror
Courageous
Spartan
Splended
Valiant
Diesel
Powered Submarines
Onyx
In all of the above damaged ships by unexploded bombs UXBs it was
because the Argentinean Air Force came in very low and close to the
ships before releasing the bombs. The United States knew the
reason that the bomb didn't explode but didn't relay the information
to Argentina. The reason that the bombs didn't explode was
because the arming propellers didn't have enough time to arm the
bomb. If the Argentinean Air Force knew this reason, all they
would have had to do would be to unscrew the propellers somewhat so
that the bombs would have armed themselves almost immediately after
their release. If this would have happened, the damage to the
British fleet would have been much worse and from all of the ships
that were hit by these UXBs, the war may have taken another course
or would have without a doubt been much longer. C. Jeff Dyrek,
Webmaster
I remember when we were having bombs not going
off and the great British press decided to print
an article about the fuses on the bombs not
being set right, the next day i think we lost
two ships! There were a lot more ships hit that
had lucky escapes, one of the bombs was on an
ammunition ship and it had not gone off, some
even went straight through there targets and
plopped into the sea.
We would have lost more men and equipment if
they had set everything correctly, but also they
went for the wrong ships. If they had gone for
the troop carriers instead of the first ship
they saw, which was usually frigates or
destroyers we would have lost the war. Things
change in wars, the balance of power shifts as
the war progresses and up to a certain point in
that war we were losing it, it was only good
fortune and luck that we were able to win it.
All the bigwigs came home and got military
medals galore, they all wrote books and cashed
in, but they didn't win the war, in fact some of
there stunts were totally foolish. But they
lived to tell the tale and become heroes in the
history books, the ordinary soldier and sailor
on the other hand who did most of the fighting
has to live with crap for the rest of his days.
The Intrepid used to have a dual role, one
trip it was an assault ship carrying marines the
other role was a training ship for young
officers, believe me these officers under
training were as thick as pig shit and as green
as the grass, but the normal sailor knew this,
the officers on the other hand used to think the
sun shone out of their arses. We used to have to
train them in seamanship and they would try and
take charge of situations, we would let them
enjoy their bit of superiority but we always got
the last laugh in with them.
Argentinean Ships of the
Malvinas War.
Hello Jeff:
I’m from Puerto Rico
in the Caribbean. Well I just found your site looking for more
stories of veterans of the
Falklands war (
Guerra de las Malvinas ). I wonder if you know about the old
submarine The S-21 Santa Fe from the Argentine
Navy. This submarine was previously THE CATFISH (SS-339) and
old ship from
WWII!! . In most of the site talks that they only have 1
submarine..but they really have 4:
Pedro Negron Rivera
“Santa
Fe” (S-21); The keel was laid on January 6th of 1944, launched on 19
November 1944 and Commissioned on 19 March of 1945. Built at
Electric Boat Company in Gronton, CT. and was formerly the USS
Catfish SS-339 of the Balao Class where there were 15 boats in the
Balao. The Sante Fe was 1526 tons empty and 2425 tons fully
loaded. The Santa Fe had a length of 311.5' and a width of 17
to 27'. It had 6 forward torpedoes and 4 aft torpedoes.
Argentinean Navy Sub, Sante
Fe,
formerly the USS Catfish
In 1971 the Catfish was sold to the Argentine Navy and renamed ARA
Santa Fe. In 1982 the Sante Fe took part in the Falklands War, also
called, in Spanish, the Guerra de las
Malvinas/Guerra del Atlántico Sur. The Sante Fe was badly
damaged by British ships and aircraft near South Georgia Island.
Later it was captured and then scuttled by the British in deep
waters April 28th 1982. The Following link tells the whole story.
ARA_Santa_Fe_(S-21)
La Fuerza de Submarinos de la Armada Argentina en la crisis de 1978
Spanish el Snorkel, Comunidad Submarinista Latinoamericana Hot Straight and Normal: A Submarine Bibliography
About the Author
Served in U.S. Navy in 1960 through 1968 and was a trained
electrical nuclear power plant operator and served on USS Catfish
SS-339 and USS Patrick Henry SSBN 599. Website on submarines is at:
www.rontini.com. Currently retired in
Sheridan, Wyoming.
Well Jeff I guess this is my share of history for the world.
Keep the good work with the website its awesome work.
I’m not a veteran, but my brother is. He was in Kosovo and in
the war on Iraq. (he is right know there for the 5th
time). My grandfather was sailing from training in Panama to
England in WWI then the war end. My father is veteran from
Korea. Even his neighbor was a POW in Korea. My uncle
almost died in Korea due to a mortar hit.
Well that’s some of my family background. I’m just a historian
kid of 32 years.
Research by Pedro Negron Rivera
I think one of the most heart breaking sights
for me, was sitting in my gun watching HMS Antelope explode!
That then brought it all home to us and it was a very tearful
moment, watching one of your own ships explode, when hours earlier
it had sailed past us.
We lost many ships and many good men, but so
did they too. War is not just about two or three nations going on a
battle field and killing each other, people seem to forget the
aftermath and the people who have lost loved ones, the younger
generation (although taught it in schools) don't fully appreciate
what the armed forces of the world achieve. Neil Wilkinson.
HMS Antelope
Photo from Neil Wilkinson
HMS Antelope Cruising into the Falkland
Island Straights
HMS Antelope
Photo from Neil Wilkinson
I think one of the most heart breaking sights
for me, was sitting in my gun watching HMS Antelope explode!
That then brought it all home to us and it was a very tearful
moment, watching one of your own ships explode, when hours earlier
it had sailed past us.
We lost many ships and many good men, but so
did they too. War is not just about two or three nations going on a
battle field and killing each other, people seem to forget the
aftermath and the people who have lost loved ones, the younger
generation (although taught it in schools) don't fully appreciate
what the armed forces of the world achieve.
HMS Antelope
Photo from Neil Wilkinson
Sinking of the HMS Antelope
HMS Antelope
Photo from Neil Wilkinson
Atlantic Conveyor the Exocet Victim
Photo from Neil Wilkinson
HMS
Sheffield
The HMS Sheffield, a type 42 Destroyer, was sunk by an
Exocet Missile.
The HMS Sheffield sank at 53º04'S, 56º56' W on 10 May 1982
HMS
Sheffield
British Navy Ships
Photo from Neil Wilkinson
British Navy Ships, fog is moving in.
Photo from Neil Wilkinson
These Pictures show you how
the weather could easily be sunny one day and the next, blowing a storm. It was still very cold and
3 pairs of socks didn't do any good!
The HMS Intrepid was classified as a LPD (Landing
Platform Dock)
The Intrepid was around 12,500 tons when fully loaded with troops and tanks.
On the night of 19th May 1982, this was to be
a very sad evening indeed onboard HMS Intrepid. That night I was
on watch on the bridge, it wasn't a particularly nice night
weather wise, but it never was in the South Atlantic, the waves
were massive and the ships ploughed into the swell. The Intrepid
was sailing southwards and we were cross decking troops from the
Hermes. It is thought that while crossdecking a Seeking
helicopter from Hermes hit an Albatross, causing the helo to
ditch into the dark waters of the South Atlantic. All attempts
were made to try and recover/rescue any survivors from the helo,
sadly we lost 18 SAS men that night, 22 men in total, 9
survivors were miraculously pulled out of the icy water. I
remember I was stood on the bridge wing, we had spot lights
trained on the water searching for anything. It was indeed a
very sad night.
HMS
Intrepid
A 40/60mm Bofors from Intrepid, I think
it is the Port Bofors,
I was on the starboard side, but they were very similar in
appearance.
7-6-2008 Hi Jeff,
Back in the Falklands and in every war your training and
expertise takes you to another level. Although you
are an individual, you have a massive team around you,
from medics to chefs, gunners to signal men. My
job onboard intrepid was to protect that team. I
lost sight of this fact and was reminded of it some
years ago by an ex SAS member, thanks to him I started
on my road to understanding me.
Thanks.
Regards
Neil
HMS
Intrepid
Photo from Neil Wilkinson
The next picture is of a Seacat missile being fired
from Intrepid,
I'm not sure when it was fired though.
The main bunch of pictures were all taken by the ships photographer
HMS
Intrepid
HMS Intrepid Video
HMS Intrepid Memorial Video Part 1
HMS Intrepid Memorial Video Part 2
Painting of the HMS Intrepid in battle in the Falklands War
Please find attached a picture I
have lifted off our site, donated by "Pusser Hill", it is of a
painting done by one of our Officers in '82, of HMS INTREPID under
attack. The picture depicts day 4, and our friend Neil's gun is
firing at the aircraft on the starboard bridge wing. We are seeking
who can supply a copy or copies of this and such artwork, hope we
can get hold of one.
Also, are there any Veterans
with Pearl Harbor
veterans, or Navy veterans involved in air battles with ships that
would like to share their stories? If so please send them to
the Webmaster.
HMS Intrepid Badge
HMS Intrepid in Her Final Resting Place
HMS Hermes
Photo from Neil Wilkinson
HMS Hermes
Photo from Neil Wilkinson
HMS Hermes
HMS Plymouth
Photo by Neil Wilkinson
HMS Plymouth
Photo from Neil Wilkinson
HMS Plymouth Rescue
The ship in the foreground is the HMS Arrow,
the ship in the background is the HMS Plymouth
HMS Plymouth Rescue
Landing craft in the Falklands Sound
during the Falkland's War 1982
Ship on Fire in the Falklands -
Malvainas War 1982
Destroyer in the Falklands Sound 1982
Falklands War South Atlantic Tribute
Malvinas: 1982 task Force
Sinking of the HMS Coventry during the Malvinas War
showing Mariano Velasco
This was the Pilot that Neil Wilkinson Shot Down
P&O Cruise Ship Canberra Returns to Southampton Water after
Service in the Falklands War, July 1982
Queen Elizabeth on the HMS Brazen 1986
Photo by Neil Wilkinson
Neil Wilkinson meeting
Her Majesty the Queen onboard HMS Brazen back in 1986, The Brazen was my next draft after the Intrepid and while serving on her,
we had the Queens's son, Prince Andrew onboard as our helicopter pilot,
so we did a visit to London and the Queen and Princess Diana came
onboard and I met her, she was charming and everything
you would expect from a Queen. In 2007 I was honored to be invited to
Buckingham Palace, to the Queens garden party
A note from the Webmaster: Please take a good look
at this picture, Neil is talking and Queen Elizabeth is listening very
intently. She has a legitimate smile and she is enjoying what he is
saying. She is a good lady.
We had the Queens's son, Prince Andrew onboard the
HMS Intrepid as our helicopter pilot he was there
and he played as much a part as we all did when we were ready for battle.
The
Final Resting Place for the Aircraft Carrier HMS Intrepid 2008
The
veterans who attended the book launch, please note the exhibits in
the background. Neil Wilkinson our starboard gunner in the conflict
is 2nd from the right. I (Mike
Quinn - that's me- is on the 4th from the right at the
back).
Pictured
in Fareham Creek the next morning where we gathered to see our old
ship Intrepid, many of us for the first time in 25 years. The
veterans are from the left, Steve Dickinson, Rab Carrigan, Russell
Morgan, George Heron, Neil Wilkinson and Mike Quinn.
The Intrepid's final destination
in Liverpool, in September 2008, where she is being dismantled for
recycling, and is contracted by the owners Leavesley International.
The Leavesley company were very kind in allowing up 40 of our
veterans to gather for a final goodbye to HMS Intrepid, our former
home 25 years earlier. We had a fantastic day exploring our old ship
whilst the memories came flooding back.
The Leavesley company were very
kind in allowing up 40 of our veterans to gather for a final goodbye
to HMS Intrepid, our former home 25 years earlier. We had a
fantastic day exploring our old ship whilst the memories came
flooding back.
HMS Intrepid Berthing
This is the berthing inside the
HMS Intrepid after it was decommissioned and just shortly before it
was scrapped. It is now a ghost ship, as Neil describes it,
but this is where he used to live. Notice that there are three
bunks high. As a comparison to the USS Kitty Hawk, we too had
three bunks high, but the bunks had a locker underneath each one of
them. You had to get out of bed to lift the top of the locker.
The top of the locker was the bottom of the bed. In this
picture, you will notice that there are springs under the
mattresses. Also notice that the bunks are so close together
that you cannot sit up in bed without hitting your head on the bunk
above you or, for the top bunk, the ceiling.
HMS Intrepid Mess Deck
Looking around the HMS Intrepid
some more, here is a photo of the Mess Deck with all of the tables
removed. Just like other ships, the HMS Intrepid had to
operate twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, even in the very
worst of conditions that you can imagine. The mess hall was
probably open for four meals a day. In prolonged battle
conditions or even if the ship was severely damaged, the sailors
still had to eat so the cooks were one of the most important people
on the ship.
HMS Intrepid Serving Lines
Before you ate your food, you
had to go through the serving lines. In the lower right corner
are the plate dispensers. You would grab your plate and then
head for the food. On the right hand side you can see the
serving lines with the roll up doors pulled down.
HMS Intrepid Bofors Gun Mount
HMS Intrepid Bofors Gun Mount
Here are a couple of pictures of
the Bofors 40/60 Gun Mount on the HMS Intrepid. This is where
Neil Wilkinson's gun was mounted on the Starboard flying bridge.
Neil described how he only had a view of about 90 degrees from the
right to the left. This didn't give him very much room to see
planes coming or to prepare to shoot at them, yet Neil shot down a
Mirage and an A-4 Skyhawk jet fighter in just a couple of days.
This was good shooting.
Book, "HMS Intrepid Her Final Journey"
Here's a new book that will be
out in June of 2009 talking about Neil Wilkinson. The book is named
"HMS Intrepid, Her Final Journey" by George Heron. Click on
the picture above and you can see some real good pictures of Neil
Wilkinson and his gun.
Amazing Grace by Judy Collins and Her Majesty's
combined choirs of the Royal Navy and R.A.F (Royal Air Force)
