24 NAVY NEWS, MAY 2007
Dr Rick Jolly
In an extract from his expand- was done to the Leander Class frig- positioned at the southern end of
ed and revised book The Red ate on this occasion, it all came as the defensive barrier, about half
and Green Life Machine, Dr Rick a very unpleasant surprise to those way down Falkland Sound – where
Jolly gives a vivid eye-witness concerned. it widens into Grantham Sound.
account of the night of May 21, More worryingly, it was also a sig- Then it was Antrim’s turn to
as Argentine aircraft and British nificant warning to the British about receive punishment.
forces battled in the waters of the the fighting spirit of Argentine avia- The Wessex crew were now sit-
Falklands: tors – as displayed in this instance ting on Fanning Head, with rotors
by Teniente (Lieutenant) Guillermo stopped. They watched as four
S
hortly after midnight, HMS
Crippa. Dagger fighter-bombers swept in
Yarmouth (Cdr Tony Morton)
HMS Sheffield had already from the north and dived in line
penetrated the northern end
foundered under tow, and the astern on the big destroyer.
of Falkland Sound, luckily without
patched-up HMS Glasgow was on She fired a Sea Slug missile at
incident, and the other transports,
her way home. How much more them, without deterrent effect. A
logistic vessels and command ships
attrition might there be on this 1,000lb bomb then passed through
followed.
day? the Fighter Controller’s worksta-
HMS Antrim (Capt Brian Young)
Argonaut called for help with tion in the ops room, before ending
started bombarding Fanning Head.
casualty evacuation, then contin- up in the adjacent heads.
The bright muzzle flashes from
ued with her rather exposed radar The helicopter hangar was also
her twin turrets lit up the night
picket duties off Jersey Point. wrecked by cannon fire, with the
sky, with the thunderous impact
A Wessex helicopter (carry- senior maintenance rating blinded
of the 4.5 inch shells rolling back
ing the author) launched from SS
and several other men injured.
unchecked across the water.
Canberra, by now anchored in the
H-Hour came and went as 3
relative safety of San Carlos Water,
Commando Brigade RM’s landing
but was waved off as it positioned
A
serious gap that had devel-
oped in the air defence pic-
ture as a result of the disa-
plan was activated.
above Argonaut’s stern.
bling attack on Antrim was then
The bulk of two Airborne bat-
Clouds of chaff suddenly filled
plugged by Brilliant. By blessed
talions and two Commando units
the air as six A4 Skyhawks came
coincidence, her First Lieutenant
had already been delivered ashore
barrelling in. Two Argentine bombs
was a former Fighter Direction
by landing craft as the first fingers
struck the ship and disabled her
School instructor.
of light began to appear in the
steering and engine controls, but
Brushing aside the anxieties
east, but everyone involved knew
skilful handling and emergency
expressed from the carriers off-
just how tenuous these very first
anchor release by the forecastle
shore, Lt Cdr Laon Hulme now
footholds on the Falkland Islands
party, led by S/Lt Peter Morgan,
took charge of the orbiting SHARs,
would be.
saved her from running aground.
and cleverly exploited the Type 22’s
As the paratroopers and marines
She then became a static anti-
powerful pulse Doppler radar that
began to dig in and consolidate
aircraft gun platform lying under
could ‘see’ clearly over the land all
their defensive positions, their com-
Fanning Head, while an unimaginably-
around him, integrating this elec-
manders looked up anxiously at a
dangerous task began.
tronic ‘picture’ with what was being
clear blue sky. It took Lt Cdr Brian Dutton
reported to him visually from the
No-one was more concerned seven days of hard work to remove
Gun Director platforms above the
than the man responsible for an unexploded bomb lodged in a
ops room.
getting them all ashore. As a completely dark and flooded mis-
The author and his colleagues
former Buccaneer Observer, the sile magazine that also contained
then saw another Dagger running
Commodore Amphibious Warfare two bodies.
from south to north for an attack
(Cdre Mike Clapp – COMAW) had Antrim prowled in wide figure-
on HMS Plymouth.
spent his early career specializing in of-eight circles at the entrance to
The two bombs that were
ship attack. San Carlos Water. The two Type
dropped bracketed her hull perfect-
He knew exactly what a well- 12 frigates Yarmouth and Plymouth
ly, but to port and starboard. The
● (Top) ‘Vengeance is ours...’
handled and hostile fast jet force (Capt David Pentreath) steamed
old lady emerged unscathed from
Vectored in to their target by the stand-in Fighter Controller position
was capable of, especially in a set- around near her.
the twin pillars of spouting water,
Hermes spotted a trio of Argentine Navy A4Q fighter-bombers as they
ting like this… An affectionate description of
but the Dagger was not so lucky.
Lt Clive Morell RN in XZ457 rolls into a diving attack during which he a
Just after sun up, an armed these elderly but able escorts had
As it banked steeply towards the
Leeming (on loan from the RAF) followed him down in XZ500 to achiev
reconnaissance patrol by a lone them as “two delightful old bits of
west and safety, a thin grey line
the beam, their interweaving flight It was like Portland and FOST
Argentine Navy Aermacchi jet fly- Ming china”!
joined Broadsword’s foredeck to its
paths caused her fire control radar revisited, but this time with live
ing from Stanley airfield detected Occupying centre stage were tail. There was a flash of light and a
to ‘break lock’ and lose track, quite ammunition. On seven warship
the British ships in and around the two Type 22 frigates HMS ball of greasy black smoke.
literally. bridges in the narrow passage of
Falkland Sound. Broadsword (Capt Bill Canning) Seawolf had ‘splashed’ another
The launcher returned to its Falkland Sound, the officers on
Having reported back his find- and HMS Brilliant (Capt John victim.
parked state; several strafing can- watch reflected on the bitter irony
ings (which were quickly relayed Coward). HMS Brilliant had achieved a
non shells then crossed the ops of Friday’s traditional toast in Royal
to the mainland), the young pilot Their powerful Seawolf missile good result two weeks earlier when
room, narrowly missing a number Navy wardrooms:
then unhesitatingly attacked HMS systems were much more appropri- a Seawolf volley fired at four attack-
of key personnel, including the new “Here’s to a willing foe – and
Argonaut (Capt Kit Layman) with ate for dealing with fast jet targets ing Skyhawks had shot two down
Fighter Controller. searoom…”
a mixture of cannon fire and pod- than the obsolescent Seacats car- and caused a third to fly into the
Six frigates and a destroyer – for
ded rockets. ried by the Type 12s and HMS sea.
COMAW it was a Hobson’s choice
Although two of the crew were Ardent (Cdr Alan West). Now, as yet another pair of
of mixed types that could hardly
wounded, and not much damage The latter was a Type 21 frigate Daggers ran in to attack her from
B
ut another match-winning
factor had by now come into
play. Sea Harrier FRS1s of
be described as ‘optimal’ for the
the augmented 800 and 801 squad-
Escort Group’s task of protecting
rons were launching at regular
the ground troops as they struggled
intervals from both HMS Hermes
to get established on shore.
and HMS Invincible.
The amphibious shipping might
The two carriers were positioned
well have been safe from Exocet
about a hundred miles to the east
attack in the closed confines of San
in order to protect themselves from
Carlos Water, but they were like
Argentine air attack.
ducks on a duck pond, and utterly
Pairs of SHARs had started to
dependent on their protectors out-
orbit continuously on their Combat
side in Falkland Sound. Air Patrol (CAP) stations, at 10,000
That thin grey line simply had feet to the north and south of
to hold, or early success would be Falkland Sound.
followed by failure... The fighters were throttled right
As the morning wore on into a back to save fuel, and only just in
bright and blustery afternoon, the wing-borne flight, but they were
gun crews out in the Sound took also at a high alert state – and ready
their ‘Action Snacks’ at their upper to pounce.
deck stations – and waited for the Quite sensibly, the Sea Harrier
next serial in this nightmare set of pilots refused to descend into the
evolutions. Air Defence Zone (ADZ) around
● (Left) ‘He Ain’t Heavy...’
Wessex 5 XT449 of E Flight, 845 Squadron, was employed on casu-
alty evacuation duties throughout the daylight hours, in the hands of
Lt Cdr Mike Crabtree and his co-pilot, Lt ‘Hector’ Heathcote. Their
crewman was Cpl Kevin Gleeson RM.
After a number of incidents, the aircraft was the first on scene
shortly after HMS Ardent had been bombed and set on fire in
Grantham Sound. The helicopter crew spotted two injured survivors
in the near-freezing water, but both men were weakened by exhaus-
tion and injury. The first, AB John Dillon, was unable to grasp the
rescue strop, so the helicopter’s passenger (Surg Cdr Rick Jolly)
volunteered to go down, and grabbed Dillon in a bear hug.
Despite not being dressed in immersion clothing, he then descend-
ed a second time, and hooked himself into CPO Ken Enticknap’s life-
jacket. These rather unorthodox techniques proved successful, and
both casualties were then recovered to the liner SS Canberra.
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