fernando andrés A
May 25 1982
HMS Coventry, hit and sunk by Fuerza Aérea Argentina
Islas Malvinas war, Argentina, 25 May 1982
On 25 May 1982 (one of Argentina's national days: el Día de la Revolución de Mayo Spanish: May Revolution Day), Coventry was ordered to take up position in Estrecho De San Carlos, accompanied by HMS Broadsword. There she would act as a decoy to draw Argentinian aircraft away from other ships at Estrecho De San Carlos. In this position, close to land, with not enough open sea between her and the land, her Sea Dart missiles would be less effective. Broadsword was armed with the Sea Wolf missile, which is for short range anti-aircraft and anti-missile use.
At first, the trap worked, with FAA A-4B Skyhawk C-244 of Grupo 5 shot down north of Isla De Borbón by a Sea Dart. Pilot Capitán Hugo Angel del Valle Palaver was killed. Later a FAA A-4C Skyhawk coded C-304 of Grupo 4 de Caza deployed to San Julian was shot down north east of Isla De Borbón by another Sea Dart while returning from a mission to San Carlos water. Capitán Jorge Osvaldo García successfully ejected but was not recovered from the water. Garcia's wingman, Teniente Ricardo Lucero, was also shot down during the raid on San Carlos by a Sea Cat from HMS Yarmouth (also claimed by various others in the area including a Rapier battery), but he was luckier, and ejected into captivity, in front of waiting news crews.
The two ships then came under attack by two waves of two Argentine A-4 Skyhawks, with each aircraft carrying three 1000 lb bombs. This load was possible due to the extreme proximity of Malvinas Islands to the Argentine mainland. The four Skyhawks flew so low that Coventry's targeting radar could not distinguish between them and the land and failed to lock on. Broadsword attempted to target the first pair of attackers (Capitán Pablo Carballo and Teniente Carlos Rinke) with her Sea Wolf missile system, but her own tracking system locked down during the attack and could not be reset before the aircraft released their bombs. Of the bombs released, one bounced off the sea and struck Broadsword's flight deck and, though it failed to explode, wrecked the ship's Lynx helicopter. Coventry claimed to have hit the second Skyhawk (Capitán P. Marcos Carballo) in the tail with small arms fire, although he did return safely to Argentina. In fact, Carballo's plane was hit under the right wing by a piece of shrapnel on his way in, that pierced his aircraft's right fuel tank.
The second pair of Skyhawks (Primer Teniente Mariano A. Velasco and Ensign Alférez Leonardo Barrionuevo), headed for Coventry 90 seconds later at a 20-degree angle to her port bow. Still unable to gain a missile lock, Coventry launched a Sea Dart in an attempt to distract them and turned hard to starboard to reduce her profile. On Broadsword the Sea Wolf system had been reset and successfully acquired the attacking aircraft, but was unable to fire as Coventry's turn took her directly into the line of fire.
Coventry used her 4.5-inch gun and small arms against the attacking aircraft. The port Oerlikon 20 mm cannon jammed, leaving the ship with only rifles and machine guns to defend herself. Coventry was struck by two bombs just above the water line on the port side. One of the bombs exploded beneath the computer room, destroying it and the nearby operations room, incapacitating almost all senior officers. The other entered the Forward Engine Room, exploding beneath the Junior Ratings Dining Room where the First Aid Party was stationed and the ship immediately began listing to port. The latter hit caused critical damage as it breached the bulkhead between the forward and aft engine rooms, exposing the largest open space in the ship to uncontrollable flooding. Given the design of the ship, with multiple watertight compartments, two hits virtually anywhere else may have been just survivable.
Within 20 minutes Coventry had been abandoned and had completely capsized. Nineteen of her crew were lost and a further thirty injured. Coventry sank shortly after.
Also on 25 May 1982: HMS Broadsword and HMS Sir Lancelot were hit and taken out of service. HMS Alacrity and HMS Yarmouth were hit with moderate damage. A Lynx helicopter and three Harriers were shot down and two additional Lynx helicopters were damaged.
We thank and honor those who served and those who died fighting for our sovereignty. Malvinas Islands, Georgias & Sandwich del Sur will FOREVER be Argentine.
LAS MALVINAS SON ARGENTINAS
May 25 1982
HMS Coventry, hit and sunk by Fuerza Aérea Argentina
Islas Malvinas war, Argentina, 25 May 1982
On 25 May 1982 (one of Argentina's national days: el Día de la Revolución de Mayo Spanish: May Revolution Day), Coventry was ordered to take up position in Estrecho De San Carlos, accompanied by HMS Broadsword. There she would act as a decoy to draw Argentinian aircraft away from other ships at Estrecho De San Carlos. In this position, close to land, with not enough open sea between her and the land, her Sea Dart missiles would be less effective. Broadsword was armed with the Sea Wolf missile, which is for short range anti-aircraft and anti-missile use.
At first, the trap worked, with FAA A-4B Skyhawk C-244 of Grupo 5 shot down north of Isla De Borbón by a Sea Dart. Pilot Capitán Hugo Angel del Valle Palaver was killed. Later a FAA A-4C Skyhawk coded C-304 of Grupo 4 de Caza deployed to San Julian was shot down north east of Isla De Borbón by another Sea Dart while returning from a mission to San Carlos water. Capitán Jorge Osvaldo García successfully ejected but was not recovered from the water. Garcia's wingman, Teniente Ricardo Lucero, was also shot down during the raid on San Carlos by a Sea Cat from HMS Yarmouth (also claimed by various others in the area including a Rapier battery), but he was luckier, and ejected into captivity, in front of waiting news crews.
The two ships then came under attack by two waves of two Argentine A-4 Skyhawks, with each aircraft carrying three 1000 lb bombs. This load was possible due to the extreme proximity of Malvinas Islands to the Argentine mainland. The four Skyhawks flew so low that Coventry's targeting radar could not distinguish between them and the land and failed to lock on. Broadsword attempted to target the first pair of attackers (Capitán Pablo Carballo and Teniente Carlos Rinke) with her Sea Wolf missile system, but her own tracking system locked down during the attack and could not be reset before the aircraft released their bombs. Of the bombs released, one bounced off the sea and struck Broadsword's flight deck and, though it failed to explode, wrecked the ship's Lynx helicopter. Coventry claimed to have hit the second Skyhawk (Capitán P. Marcos Carballo) in the tail with small arms fire, although he did return safely to Argentina. In fact, Carballo's plane was hit under the right wing by a piece of shrapnel on his way in, that pierced his aircraft's right fuel tank.
The second pair of Skyhawks (Primer Teniente Mariano A. Velasco and Ensign Alférez Leonardo Barrionuevo), headed for Coventry 90 seconds later at a 20-degree angle to her port bow. Still unable to gain a missile lock, Coventry launched a Sea Dart in an attempt to distract them and turned hard to starboard to reduce her profile. On Broadsword the Sea Wolf system had been reset and successfully acquired the attacking aircraft, but was unable to fire as Coventry's turn took her directly into the line of fire.
Coventry used her 4.5-inch gun and small arms against the attacking aircraft. The port Oerlikon 20 mm cannon jammed, leaving the ship with only rifles and machine guns to defend herself. Coventry was struck by two bombs just above the water line on the port side. One of the bombs exploded beneath the computer room, destroying it and the nearby operations room, incapacitating almost all senior officers. The other entered the Forward Engine Room, exploding beneath the Junior Ratings Dining Room where the First Aid Party was stationed and the ship immediately began listing to port. The latter hit caused critical damage as it breached the bulkhead between the forward and aft engine rooms, exposing the largest open space in the ship to uncontrollable flooding. Given the design of the ship, with multiple watertight compartments, two hits virtually anywhere else may have been just survivable.
Within 20 minutes Coventry had been abandoned and had completely capsized. Nineteen of her crew were lost and a further thirty injured. Coventry sank shortly after.
Also on 25 May 1982: HMS Broadsword and HMS Sir Lancelot were hit and taken out of service. HMS Alacrity and HMS Yarmouth were hit with moderate damage. A Lynx helicopter and three Harriers were shot down and two additional Lynx helicopters were damaged.
We thank and honor those who served and those who died fighting for our sovereignty. Malvinas Islands, Georgias & Sandwich del Sur will FOREVER be Argentine.
LAS MALVINAS SON ARGENTINAS