If there's one thing #southampton does well, it's celebrations!
ABP Southampton & Svitzer Global did a great job welcoming cunardline #QueenAnne into her home port, and the fireworks for the
#maidenvoyage were spectacular.
Fair seas and following winds...

#cruise #cun4rd

May 4th 1982: The Argentine Super Etendard pilots land back at base. Already there is an announcement that an Argentine Exocet has hit a British Destroyer. 'What about the other one?' asks one of the pilots. For good measure, the junta decides to announce Hermes as hit as well...

May 4th 1982: As HMS Yarmouth fights fires on Sheffield, a torpedo sails past her, narrowly missing, but the crew on deck see the bubbles as it passes by...

(continues)

Lieutenant Paul Miller takes off in Yarmouth's helicopter and sees a submarine below the surface, fleeing the scene. He radios back the contact, but everyone is too busy... It isn't Argentine, and is presumed to have been Soviet, maybe Cuban... who knows?

May 4th 1982: As HMS Sheffield is abandoned and the fire spreads towards the Sea Dart ammunition. The remaining crew gather on the foredeck singing 'Always look on the bright side of life'.

May 4th 1982: HMS Yarmouth joins in the rescue and over 200 sailors clamber to safety, as every effort is made to save the ship, with many resorting to buckets of water. Captain Sam Salt recalled that it was 'something I'll never forget. A pathetic attempt but marvellous spirit'.

May 4th: HMS Arrow is quickly on the scene to help fight the fires on Sheffield. It is obvious that she has taken a serious hit. The fires are raging and black, poisonous smoke is filling the ship as the crew are taken off...

May 4th 1982: The Exocet's remaining fuel erupts into flames, and the missile has struck the vital nerve centre of the ship, knocking out damage control & fire suppression systems, as thick smoke from melting cables becomes unbreathable, but the crew still fight the raging fires.

May 4th 1982: A fascinating map (in German, but you can work it out) showing in purple, the route of the Argentine Neptune spotter simulating search & rescue patterns, and in green, the Super Etendards. The British ships are marked by an X.

May 4th 1982: The two Super Etendards fly at just 50 feet from the sea for 200 miles, then 'pop-up' to switch on tracking radar, selecting a large contact. At twelve miles out, the pilots select their targets and prepare to fire... The Falklands war has entered the missile age...

May 4th 1982: Argentine pilots keep their radars locked on. Out front of the British ships are Type 42 Destroyers HMS Sheffield, Glasgow and Coventry. One Argentine pilot takes an easy shot, the other aims for the biggest blip, Hermes, but knows it's only a half chance at best...

May 4th 1982: The position of the British ships facing the Argentine attack... The first Exocet was fired at the biggest target, HMS Hermes, the second at the closest, HMS Sheffield, so as to at least get one hit...

The day in 1982 when the #falklands conflict became real for everyone back in the #UK .
#lestweforget anyone involved in any war...

Cartoon Rick here closing May 4th and Argentina has struck back, albeit at the cost of 40% of its Exocet missile stock and only a destroyer hit. To win the war, they need t knock out an aircraft carrier... and they will keep trying to do so... thank you as ever for following!

Meep meep!

I just want to add that the Argentine perspective and a whole lot of this day and more is covered extensively in 'Last Letters from Stanley' as meanwhile, there is now only one book on the Belgrano worth reading... the others being somewhat redundant. All on Amazon.

May 2nd 1982: Throughout the morning, HMS Conqueror watches Belgrano alter course, zig-zagging closer to the TEZ. At 06.45Z Conqueror receives fresh intel that Belgrano will move north to attack the task force. Commander Chris Wreford-Brown says, 'They won't make it'.

May 2nd 1982: Captain Hector Bonzo orders abandon ship, and finds himself impressed at how well his crew carry it out, calmly and without panic. Men swim to the life rafts, although one is sunk by a falling hoist, and several are torn apart on the jagged hull...

(continues)

May 2nd 1982: The death of Belgrano: a sequence of photos showing the great ship rolling over to the bottom. The sailor who took the photos of the sinking was Lt. Martin Sgut, who gave them to a Naval Intelligence officer to help determine what had happened...

(continues)

#operationblackbuck was a phenomenal mission - the #logistics & execution were astonishing...