The Falkland Islands are a British overseas territory and, as such, rely on the United Kingdom for the guarantee of their security. The other UK territories in the South Atlantic, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, fall under the protection of British Forces South Atlantic Islands (BFSAI), formerly known as British Forces Falkland Islands (BFFI), which includes commitments from the British Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. They are headed by the Commander, British Forces South Atlantic Islands (CBFSAI), a brigadier-equivalent appointment that rotates among all three services.
The Falklands War was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial dependency, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The conflict began on 2 April, when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, followed by the invasion of South Georgia the next day. On 5 April, the British government dispatched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force before making an amphibious assault on the islands. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with an Argentine surrender on 14 June, returning the islands to British control. In total, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders were killed during the hostilities.
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) is a British Overseas Territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote and inhospitable collection of islands, consisting of South Georgia and a chain of smaller islands known as the South Sandwich Islands. South Georgia is 165 kilometres (103 mi) long and 35 kilometres (22 mi) wide and is by far the largest island in the territory. The South Sandwich Islands lie about 700 kilometres (430 mi) southeast of South Georgia. The territory's total land area is 3,903 km2 (1,507 sq mi). The Falkland Islands are about 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) west from its nearest point.
Operation Keyhole was a British special operation to recapture Thule Island in the South Sandwich Islands during the Falklands War. The operation took place from 19 to 20 June 1982.
Grytviken is a hamlet on South Georgia in the South Atlantic and formerly a whaling station and the largest settlement on the island. It is located at the head of King Edward Cove within the larger Cumberland East Bay, considered the best harbour on the island. The location's name, meaning "pot bay", was coined in 1902 by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition and documented by the surveyor Johan Gunnar Andersson, after the expedition found old English try pots used to render seal oil at the site. Settlement was re-established on 16 November 1904 by Norwegian Antarctic explorer Carl Anton Larsen on the long-used site of former whaling settlements.
HMS Antrim was a County-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy launched on 19 October 1967. In the Falklands War, she was the flagship for the recovery of South Georgia, participating in the first ever anti-submarine operation successfully conducted exclusively by helicopters. In 1984, she was commissioned into the Chilean Navy, and renamed Almirante Cochrane.
RFA Olmeda (A124) was an Ol-class "fast fleet tanker" of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. The ship was renamed from Oleander after two years in operation.
ARA Santa Fe was an Argentine Balao-class submarine that was lost during the Falklands War. Built by the US during the Second World War, the ship operated in the United States Navy as USS Catfish (SS-339) until 1971 when she was transferred to the Argentine Navy. She served until 1982 when she was captured by the British at South Georgia after being seriously damaged and subsequently sank along a pier, with just her conning tower (sail) visible above the waterline. The submarine was raised, towed out of the bay and scuttled in deep water in 1985.
HMS Plymouth was a Royal Navy Rothesay-class frigate. In 1982, Plymouth was one of the first Royal Navy ships to arrive in the South Atlantic during the Falklands War.
HMS Yarmouth was the first modified Type 12 frigate of the Rothesay class to enter service with the Royal Navy.
Corbeta Uruguay base was an Argentine military outpost established in November 1976 on Thule Island, Southern Thule, in the South Sandwich Islands. It was vacated and mostly demolished in 1982 following Britain's victory against Argentina in the Falklands War.
ARA Bahía Buen Suceso (B-6) was a Bahía Aguirre-class 5,000-ton fleet transport that served in the Argentine Navy from 1950 to 1982. She took part in the Falklands War as a logistics ship tasked with resupplying the Argentine garrisons scattered around the Falkland Islands. Captured by British forces on 15 June after running aground at Fox Bay, she sank in deep waters while being used as target practice by the Royal Navy on 21 October 1982.
Operation Paraquet was the code name for the British military operation to recapture the island of South Georgia from Argentine military control in April 1982 at the start of the Falklands War.
The history of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is relatively recent. When European explorers discovered the islands, they were uninhabited, and their hostile climate, mountainous terrain, and remoteness made subsequent settlement difficult. Due to these conditions, human activity in the islands has largely consisted of sealing, whaling, and scientific surveys and research, interrupted by World War II and the Falklands War.
There were many events leading to the 1982 Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina over possession of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.
The Falkland Islands Dependencies was the constitutional arrangement from 1843 until 1985 for administering the various British territories in Sub-Antarctica and Antarctica which were governed from the Falkland Islands and its capital Port Stanley.
British sovereignty of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is disputed by Argentina. The United Kingdom claimed South Georgia in 1775, annexed the islands in 1908, and has exercised de facto control with the exception of a brief period during the Falklands War in 1982, when the islands were partially controlled by Argentina. The dispute started in 1927 when Argentina claimed sovereignty over South Georgia, and subsequently expanded in scope with Argentina claiming the South Sandwich Islands in 1938. The islands have no indigenous population, and currently only have about 30 inhabitants.
The invasion of South Georgia, also known as the Battle of Grytviken or Operation Georgias, took place on 3 April 1982, when Argentine Navy forces seized control of the east coast of South Georgia after overpowering a small group of Royal Marines at Grytviken. Though outnumbered, the Royal Marines shot down a helicopter and hit the Argentine corvette ARA Guerrico several times before being forced to surrender. It was one of the first episodes of the Falklands War, immediately succeeding the invasion on the Falkland Islands the day before.
HMS Cordella was a Royal Navy auxiliary mine countermeasures vessel that served during the Falklands War as part of 11th MCM Squadron.
Junella was a fishing trawler, best known for her service with the Royal Navy during the Falklands War. She was built in 1975 for J Marr & Son, a Hull-based fishing company. On 11 April 1982 she was taken up from trade by the British government and commissioned into the Royal Navy. She was fitted with Second World War era minesweeping gear at Rosyth Dockyard, manned by Royal Navy sailors and allocated to the 11th Mine Countermeasures Squadron. She sailed on 26 April but was unable to commence sweeping until after the 14 June Argentine surrender. In the meantime she was utilised to transfer troops and stores between ships and landed special forces troops at San Carlos. Demining operations commenced on 21 June. Junella returned to the United Kingdom on 11 August, carrying a defused Argentine mine.
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