Bluff Cove air attacks

Coordinates: 51°47′57″S 58°13′08″W / 51.79917°S 58.21889°W / -51.79917; -58.21889
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Bluff Cove air attacks
Part of Falklands War
RFA Sir Tristram after the Argentine air attack
RFA Sir Tristram after the Argentine air attack
Date8 June 1982
Location
Port Pleasant
Falkland Islands
51°47′57″S 58°13′08″W / 51.79917°S 58.21889°W / -51.79917; -58.21889
Result

Argentine victory

  • British ground attack on Stanley delayed by two days[1]
Belligerents
 United Kingdom  Argentina
Commanders and leaders
Tony Wilson
Mario Menendez
Argentina Juan Lombardo
Casualties and losses
56 killed[2]
150 wounded
1 landing ship lost
1 LCU sunk
1 helicopter written off
1 landing ship badly damaged
1 frigate damaged
3 killed
3 aircraft lost

The Bluff Cove air attacks occurred 8 June 1982, during the

British troop transport ships were bombed by the Argentine Air Force (FAA) while unloading at Bluff Cove
, with significant damage and casualties.

Background

By 1 June, British forces on the Falkland Islands were bolstered by the arrival of 5,000 new troops of the 5th Infantry Brigade. Major General Jeremy Moore now had sufficient force to start planning a full-scale assault on Port Stanley.

Advance parties of the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment moved forward and occupied Fitzroy and Bluff Cove, when it was discovered to be clear of Argentine forces. The 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards and 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards were to be sent in to support them. After the sinking of the transport Atlantic Conveyor there was only one British heavy-lift helicopter available, an RAF CH-47 Chinook, Bravo November.[3] Therefore, supplies and reinforcements would have to be transported by ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary,[4] which were crewed by civilian sailors.[5]

Air strikes

While unloading on 8 June, the British ships were attacked by two waves of Douglas A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft from the Argentine Air Force's 5th Air Brigade, each of them loaded with three 500 lb retarded-tail bombs of Spanish design.[6] The airstrikes had been called in by Argentine commandos of 602 Commando Company after they spotted the ships from their position on Mount Harriet.[7] The fighters departed from Río Gallegos airbase, which at the time was monitored by the British nuclear submarine HMS Splendid.[8] The first wave of attack, originally made of eight aircraft, was reduced to five when three Skyhawks returned to base due to refuelling problems.[9] On their way to Bluff Cove, the formation overflew a Scout helicopter from 656 Squadron AAC; the Scout, XR628, was forced to make a hard landing on McPhee Pond after experiencing mechanical failure while taking evasive action. The aircraft was eventually written off.[10][11] The helicopter was identified as a Lynx by the package leader, First Lieutenant Carlos Cachón.[12]

Six Argentine

ARA Santísima Trinidad broadcast interference signals to jam the frequencies used by the Royal Navy's air controllers directing Sea Harrier operations.[14] The nuclear submarine HMS Valiant, on picket duty off Río Grande, was able to track the six Dagger fighters that took off from the airbase there, but the report from the submarine failed to reach the British forces at Bluff Cove.[15]

First strike

Mk. 82/Snakeye I 500-lb bomb with tail retarding device

At approximately 14:00 local time the ships RFA Sir Tristram and RFA Sir Galahad were badly damaged[16] by five A-4Bs of Grupo 5. Three A-4s targeted Sir Galahad, which was hit by three bombs released from the Skyhawk flown by First Lieutenant Carlos Cachón. The second Skyhawk was unable to drop its bombs, and the third overshot the British ship.[15] The remaining two aircraft attacked Sir Tristram, which was struck by two bombs released by package leader Lieutenant Daniel Gálvez; the bombs of the last A-4 fell short.[15] The explosions and subsequent fires killed 48 men aboard Sir Galahad, of whom 32 were soldiers from the Welsh Guards, 11 were other army personnel, and five were crewmen of the Sir Galahad, among them two Hong Kong Chinese sailors. The attack on Sir Tristram killed two crewmen, both of them also Hong Kong Chinese sailors.[17][18]

Second strike

At 16:50 a second wave, composed by four A-4Bs of Grupo 5 hit and sank the Landing Craft Utility (LCU) Foxtrot-4 from HMS Fearless in Choiseul Sound.[19] The landing craft was transporting the vehicles and communications equipment and nine soldiers, of 5 Brigade's headquarters, from Darwin to Bluff Cove. Six crew on board were killed, Colour Sergeant Brian Johnston, Sergeant R. J. Rotherham, Marine R. D. Griffin, Marine A. J. Rundle, Royal Navy MEA A. S. James and LMEM D. Miller. However, this time the Sea Harrier combat air patrol was already on scene and responded; three Skyhawks were shot down and their pilots, First Lieutenant Danilo Bolzan, Lieutenant Juan Arrarás, and Ensign Alfredo Vazquez were killed.[20]

Bolzan and Vazquez were shot down by Flight Lieutenant

tanker. A third wave, by A-4Cs of Grupo 4, arrived minutes later and struck ground targets without visible success.[20]

Attack on HMS Plymouth

In a separate incident, the frigate HMS Plymouth, on her own passing through Falkland Sound. was attacked by the Daggers from Rio Grande, which struck her with four 1,000-pound bombs. The warship sustained severe damage, and five crewmen were injured. Although all the bombs were duds, the attack caused the explosion of at least one depth charge on her flight deck.[24]

Aftermath

A total of 56 British servicemen were killed, and 150 wounded.[2] The incident marked the greatest loss of life among British forces in a single incident since World War II, and accounted for one-fifth of British fatalities in the entire conflict.[25] Sir Galahad was damaged beyond repair and scuttled with torpedoes by submarine HMS Onyx on 21 June;[26] but her sister ship survived to be re-built post-war. American author Robert Bolia blames the disaster on the use of large LST ships instead of LCUs and other small vessels.[4]

Mario Menendez, commander of Argentine forces on the islands, was told that hundreds of men had been killed. He expected a drop in British morale and their advance to slacken.[28] Instead, the attacks delayed the scheduled British advance on Port Stanley by just two days, and Argentine forces on the islands surrendered six days after the incident.[29]

According to Brigadier Julian Thompson "[5 Brigade] actually hadn't seen the Argentine Air Force work, because for the five days they'd been there, the bad weather had kept the Argentine Air Force away; so they hadn't seen how deadly those guys could be. I can tell you, if I'd have been on board that ship I would have swum ashore rather than stay there."[30]

Among the wounded was

Bank of the Argentine Nation. Cachón was awarded the honorific title of "Illustrious Citizen" by the city council of Mar del Plata on 25 February 2010.[33]

Mike Rose has described the official investigation as a whitewash. In the TV documentary Falklands War: The Untold Story he says "the board of inquiry into the loss of the Tristram and the Galahad turned out to have been a complete whitewash, by saying it was necessary to open up a southern flank. Actually the opposite is true by 180 degrees. But that remains in the public record today."[34]

A memorial for the British servicemen killed in the attack was erected at Fitzroy,[35][36] along with a separate memorial to the ships' crew who lost their lives.

References

  1. Military Review (November–December 2004): 71. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 16 March 2012.
  2. ^ a b Hickman, Kennedy, "The Falklands War: An Overview", About.com, archived from the original on 13 March 2015, retrieved 25 January 2010
  3. ^ a b Bolia, p. 68
  4. .
  5. . (in Spanish)
  6. ^ "Foremny: "Vamos a recuperar Malvinas, aunque lleve décadas o generaciones"" [Foremny: "We are going to recover the Malvinas, even if it takes decades or generations"]. www.santotodigital.com.ar. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  7. ^ West, p. 38
  8. ^ "656 Sqn - British Army & Royal Marine Aviation". sites.google.com. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  9. .
  10. .
  11. ^ Bolia, pp 69-70
  12. ^ West, p. 37
  13. ^ a b c West, p. 39
  14. ^ "Task Force Falklands: Goose Green", National Army Museum, archived from the original on 19 July 2009, retrieved 20 January 2010
  15. ^ Casualty Lists of the Royal Navy, 1980–89 www.naval-history.net
  16. ^ "The war within". South China Morning Post. 10 June 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  17. ^ a b Moro, p. 465
  18. .
  19. ^ Posey, Carl A. "Air War in the Falklands". Air & Space Magazine. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  20. ^ "Fitzroy and the Welsh Guards". History Learning Site. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  21. ^ P. Hennessy & J Jinks. The Silent Deep. The RN Submarine Service since 1945. Allen Lane (2015) London, p 443-4 & 451-2
  22. ITN Source
    , 1982
  23. ^ "on-this-day/june-8-1982". Fibre Broadband, TV Packages, BT Sport & Mobile Deals | BT: home.bt.com). Archived from the original on 23 June 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  24. ^ Channel 5, "The Great Falklands Gamble: Revealed", 34:20
  25. .
  26. ^ "I'm honoured. I'm just a little fat bloke", by Rachel Tinniswood, Liverpool Echo, 7 September 2001
  27. ^ "El Concejo distinguirá a Carlos Cachón – mdphoy.com" (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  28. ^ Shute, Joe (27 March 2022). "The SAS commander who accepted Argentina's surrender in the Falklands". Daily Telegraph. London.
  29. ^ Belcher, John (2000), "After the Battle", britains-smallwars.com, archived from the original on 5 January 2010, retrieved 20 January 2010
  30. ^ Meersschaert, Hendrik, The South Atlantic Medal to Mark Gibby, archived from the original on 22 June 2009, retrieved 20 January 2010