![]() 4 Throughout the fleet, visually aimed, manually operated machine guns were lashed to ship railings as a last-ditch point-defense against the missile and aircraft threats. Ironically, it was credited with downing only five of the 117 Argentine aircraft lost during the war, whereas naval cannon and small-arms fire accounted for seven shoot-downs. Only two British warships in the battle group carried the Sea Wolf missile system, which had been designed to shoot down low-flying high-speed targets. This would have fatal repercussions that reverberated throughout the upcoming land campaign. It could be argued that the transport was one of the most important ships in the fleet when it came to providing fighting capacity however, she was not fitted with any self-defense capabilities. These were the only British fixed-wing aircraft available for carrier operations during the war. The two Royal Navy aircraft carriers together embarked only 20 Harriers the additional 14 transported in the Atlantic Conveyor increased their numbers by 70 percent. Also packed on board were tents for several thousand troops along with their associated kitchens and sanitary facilities, desalination supplies, portable fuel bladders, small boats, matériel-handling equipment, generators, metal matting for the creation of a land base for the Harriers, missiles, ammunition, and numerous other vital supplies. In the end, she was loaded with 14 Harriers (8 Fleet Air Arm Sea Harriers and 6 Royal Air Force Harrier GR.3s), 5 Chinook HC.1 heavy-lift helicopters, 6 Wessex HU.5 helicopters, several hundred aircraft cluster bombs, and 80 tons of kerosene. However, it soon was determined that her holds would be needed for the massive logistical supply operation required to fight a war in the South Atlantic. The Board of Inquiry into her loss would shed light on hard lessons that are still significant for present-day naval forces.Īfter war broke out, the Atlantic Conveyor initially was retrofitted to function as an additional flight deck for helicopters and Harrier vertical take-off and landing jets. One of them, the Atlantic Conveyor, a 12-year-old, 15,000-ton civilian container ship, was to play an important role in the effort. 2 Cargo capacity also was limited, and several dozen merchant ships were drawn into service to join the fleet sent to retake the Falklands. 1 Indeed, of the service’s two aircraft carriers, one (HMS Invincible) had already been sold to Australia though not yet transferred and the other (HMS Hermes) was slated to be scrapped. The Royal Navy had been stripped of significant carrier-based aircraft and airborne early warning (AEW) components during the 1960s and 1970s. When the ship was stricken, three of the large Chinooks, six Wessex helos, and valuable supplies and equipment for troops ashore were lost. Shielded by stacked cargo containers, eight Fleet Air Arm and six Royal Air Force Harrier jets as well as Chinook and Wessex helicopters pack the deck of the Atlantic Conveyor en route to the Falklands.
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