Warfare in News
Posted on Friday 4th May
On 4 May 1982, the British ship HMS Sheffield was hit by an Argentine Exocet missile deep into her control room.
The Exocet missile is designed to skim the sea to avoid radar detection. It has its own radar that guides it to its intended target.
A major rescue operation was launched to save as many of the ship's 268 crew as possible.
Sheffield was a Type 42 guided missile destroyer designed to provide a naval fleet with defences against an attack from the air. During the Falklands War, Sheffield and other ships like her provided protection for the larger ships such as the Hermes and Invincible.
The Exocet missile that hit Sheffield had been fired from a French-built Super Étendard, at a range of only 6 miles and caused great damage. 20 people were killed and 24 were injured as a result of the attack.
Sheffield sunk on 10 May whilst being towed by HMS Yarmouth. She was the first of five British ships to be sunk by the Argentine Air Force during the conflict.
The Exocet missile is designed to skim the sea to avoid radar detection. It has its own radar that guides it to its intended target.
A major rescue operation was launched to save as many of the ship's 268 crew as possible.
Sheffield was a Type 42 guided missile destroyer designed to provide a naval fleet with defences against an attack from the air. During the Falklands War, Sheffield and other ships like her provided protection for the larger ships such as the Hermes and Invincible.
The Exocet missile that hit Sheffield had been fired from a French-built Super Étendard, at a range of only 6 miles and caused great damage. 20 people were killed and 24 were injured as a result of the attack.
Sheffield sunk on 10 May whilst being towed by HMS Yarmouth. She was the first of five British ships to be sunk by the Argentine Air Force during the conflict.
Further Reading
Only £16.99
Argentine Fight for the Falklands
(Paperback - 321 pages)by Martin Middlebrook
Martin Middlebrook is the only British historian to have been granted open access to the Argentines who planned and fought the Falklands War. It ranks with Liddell Hart's The Other Side of the Hill in analysing and understanding the military thinking and strategies of Britain's sometime enemy, and is essential reading for all who wish to understand the workings of military minds.
The author has managed to avoid becoming involved in the… Read more...
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