The warship was built as USS Phoenix, the sixth ship of the Brooklyn-class cruiser design, in Camden, New Jersey, by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation starting in 1935, and launched in March 1938. On May 4, Sheffield was detected by Argentine Super Etendard which launched its Exocet missile, hitting the ship above the waterline and causing a fierce fire that killed 20 crewmen. [39] Diana Gould died in December 2011,[40] just a few weeks before the existence of the report was made public. [38] She added that "One day, all of the facts, in about 30 years time, will be published", apparently a reference to a classified report prepared by intelligence officer Major David Thorp for Thatcher after the incident. Others were evacuated, while the ship was then towed out to the sea and scuttled to become a war grave. By April 30 the Argentine navy had completed its own final combat dispositions. As a result, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her War Cabinet, meeting at Chequers the following day, agreed to a request from Admiral Terence Lewin, the Chief of the Defence Staff, to alter the rules of engagement and allow an attack on General Belgrano outside the exclusion zone. [23], Following the loss of General Belgrano, the Argentinian fleet returned to its bases and played no major role in the rest of the conflict. Rescue operations for survivors are being carried out. The sinking occurred 14 hours after President of Peru Fernando Belaúnde proposed a comprehensive peace plan and called for regional unity, although Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and diplomats in London did not see this document until after the sinking of General Belgrano. The General Belgrano, an Argentine cruiser, was sunk during the Falklands War on May 2nd 1982. Figaro SENIOR MEMBER. That at 17 hours on 2 May, the cruiser ARA General Belgrano was attacked and sunk by a British submarine in a point at 55° 24' south latitude and 61° 32' west longitude. Combat was confined to the area around and on the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. The Argentine Navy (ARA), particularly its commander-in-chief and Junta member, Admiral Jorge Anaya, was the main architect and supporter of a military solution to resolve the long-standing claim of sovereignty over the islands. ARGENTINE AIRCRAFT LOST. First division league is named after General … Saturday 29th May . [19] Though the forward bulkheads held, water was rushing in through the hole created by the second torpedo and could not be pumped out because of the electrical power failure. France placed embargo on Argentina when war started. General Belgrano had left Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego on 26 April. The submarine approached over the following day. [57] Captain Bonzo also wrote his memories about the sinking in the book 1093 Tripulantes del Crucero ARA General Belgrano, published in 1992. General Belgrano, which was outside and to the south-west of the exclusion zone, was ordered south-east. There are 1,042 men aboard the ship. ARA GENERAL BELGRANO SUNK. On 1 May 1982, Admiral Juan Lombardo ordered all Argentine naval units to seek out the British task force around the Falklands and launch a "massive attack" the following day. The ARA General Belgrano was sunk by the Royal Navy submarine Conqueror during the Falklands war, killing 323 Argentine sailors. [24] A further effect was that the Argentinian Navy's carrier-borne aircraft had to operate from land bases at the limit of their range, rather than from an aircraft carrier at sea. The ship … [6], Interviews conducted by Martin Middlebrook for his book Argentine Fight for the Falklands indicated that Argentine naval officers understood that the intent of the message was to indicate that any ships operating near the exclusion zone could be attacked. It carries helicopters and Seacat missiles. [12], At 15:57 (Falkland Islands Time)[N 1] on 2 May, Conqueror fired three 21-inch Mk 8 mod 4 torpedoes[13] (conventional, non-guided, torpedoes), each with an 805-pound (363 kg) Torpex warhead. Destroyer HMS Coventry put up a spirited fight against Argentine aircraft, downing two in company with HMS Broadsword in a trap set for the enemy north of Falkland Sound. The two ships continued on their course westward. The Belgrano was sunk by the hunter-killer submarine HMS Conqueror with considerable loss of life. A sad end for HMS Active, which survived Falklands War battles, only to be used as target practice and sunk in Pakistan navy drill HMS Active is a Type … General Galtieri, acting president, agreed in his intention to mount a quick, symbolic occupation, followed rapidly by a withdrawal, leaving only a small garrison to support the new military governor and force the UK to begin talks on the long-delayed sovereignty claim. Because they couldn’t. In the fighting that followed, 655 Argentine and 255 British servicemen lost their lives, as did three Falkland Islanders. Argentina only had 4 Exocet missiles. The vessel was the second to have been named after the Argentine founding father Manuel Belgrano (1770–1820). She was guarding the outer perimeter of the Task Force which made her vulnerable to attack. Task Force 79 was charged with defending the Falklands and controlled three subordinate task groups. Many people, both inside and outside the British Parliament said it was an unnecessary use of force - the ship was outside the exclusion zone and apparently sailing away from the Falklands. The sinking also became a cause célèbre for anti-war campaigners such as Labour MP Tam Dalyell. Lombardo's signal was intercepted by British Intelligence. Whilst the military junta was redeploying the assault units back to their home bases they found the British responded with a large-scale mobilisation to organise a naval task force and ground forces to retake the islands by force. [27] Captain Bonzo stated that any suggestion that HMS Conqueror's actions were a "betrayal" was utterly wrong; rather, the submarine carried out its duties according to the accepted rules of war.[28]. On 30 April, General Belgrano was detected by the British nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarine Conqueror. 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