The history of the Falkland Islands goes back at least five hundred years, with active exploration and colonisation only taking place in the 18th century. Nonetheless, the Falkland Islands have been a matter of controversy, as they have been claimed by the French, British, Spaniards and Argentines at various points.
The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a First World War naval action between the British Royal Navy and Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 in the South Atlantic. The British, after their defeat at the Battle of Coronel on 1 November, sent a large force to track down and destroy the German cruiser squadron. The battle is commemorated every year on 8 December in the Falkland Islands as a public holiday.
HMS Kent was one of 10 Monmouth-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She was placed in reserve when completed in 1903, but was recommissioned for the China Station in 1906. She remained there until she returned home in 1913 for a lengthy refit.
TV Sir Tristram (L3505) formerly (RFA Sir Tristam), is a Round Table class logistics landing ship that was converted to Special Forces Training Vessel in 2008. She was launched in 1966, and accepted into British Army service in 1967. As with others of her class, she was transferred to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in 1970, and was crewed by British officers and Hong Kong Chinese sailors. The ship saw service in the Falklands War of 1982, and was badly damaged at Fitzroy on 8 June.
USS Franklin, nicknamed "Big Ben," was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy, and the fifth US Navy ship to bear the name. Commissioned in January 1944, she served in several campaigns in the Pacific War, earning four battle stars. In March 1945, while launching strikes against the Japanese mainland, she was badly damaged when a single Japanese dive bomber struck her with two bombs. The attack resulted in the loss of over 800 of her crew and Franklin became the most heavily-damaged United States aircraft carrier to survive the war. The complement of Franklin suffered 924 killed in action during the war, the worst for any surviving U.S. warship and second only to that of USS Arizona.
HMS Ardent was a Royal Navy Type 21 frigate. Built by Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland. She was completed with Exocet launchers in 'B' position. Ardent took part in the Falklands War, where she was sunk by Argentine aircraft in the Falkland Sound on 21 May 1982.
Pamir was a four-masted barque built for the German shipping company F. Laeisz. One of their famous Flying P-Liners, she was the last commercial sailing ship to round Cape Horn, in 1949. By 1957, she had been outmoded by modern bulk carriers and could not operate at a profit. Her shipping consortium's inability to finance much-needed repairs or to recruit sufficient sail-trained officers caused severe technical difficulties. On 21 September 1957, she was caught in Hurricane Carrie and sank off the Azores, with only six survivors rescued after an extensive search.
Picton Castle is a tall ship used for deep-ocean sail training and long distance education voyages. The ship was the subject of the television series Tall Ship Chronicles which documented her second voyage around the world in 2001. The ship has carried out seven world voyages to date - completing the seventh one in 2019. While flagged in the Cook Islands, the ship's unofficial home port is Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
Stanley Harbour is a large inlet on the east coast of East Falkland island. A strait called "the Narrows" leads into Port William.
Potosi was a five-masted steel barque built in 1895 by Joh. C. Tecklenborg ship yard in Geestemünde, Germany, for the sailing ship company F. Laeisz as a trading vessel. Its primary purpose was as a "nitrate clipper" collecting guano in South America for use in chemical companies in Germany. As its shipping route was between Germany and Chile, it was designed to be capable of withstanding the rough weather encountered around Cape Horn.
HMS Tiger Bay was a Z-28-class patrol boat operated by the British Royal Navy, previously the Argentine Coast Guard vessel PNA Islas Malvinas (GC-82), which was seized at Port Stanley by the crew of HMS Cardiff on 14 June 1982 following the Argentine surrender during the Falklands War.
Lady Elizabeth was a British ship built in 1869 by Robert Thompson Jr. of Sunderland. Robert Thompson Jr. was one of the sons of Robert Thompson Sr. who owned and operated the family ran shipyard J. L. Thompson & Sons. Thompson Jr. eventually left the family business in 1854 to start his own shipbuilding business in Southwick, Sunderland. She was 658 tons and was classified as a barque cargo sailing ship with one deck and three masts. She had a keel and outer planking made from American rock elm and a fore end made from English elm. The stem was made of teak and English oak with an iron floor as the deck. The ship also had copper and iron fastings. The ships was also registered in London under the name Wilson & Co. Messrs Wilson & Co. was based out of Sydney, Australia. The ship carried a comparative classification under American Lloyd's as "First class-third grade"
SS Imo was a merchant steamship that was built in 1889 to carry livestock and passengers, and converted in 1912 into a whaling factory ship. She was built as Runic, renamed Tampican in 1895, Imo in 1912 and Guvernøren in 1920.
Saladin was a British barque that made voyages between Britain and the coast of Peru, carrying shipments of guano. The ship is best known for its demise in an act of mutiny, murder and piracy which began with the murder of its captain and officers and ended with the ship being stranded off the coast of Nova Scotia on 21 May 1844, followed by the last major piracy trial in Canada.
Victory was built by Fenwick & Co, Sunderland in 1847 and owned by Willis, Gunn and Co and later owned by Wilson and Cook. She was a 578- or 579-ton barque that brought some of the first immigrants from England to Dunedin in July 1848. She also called at Wellington, New Zealand, in August 1848. There was an advertisement that gave her weight as 700 tons, but, given that her captain in 1851 was Mullens, it was unlikely to be another ship.
Bellubera was a ferry operated by the Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company on the Manly service. Launched in 1910, she was the third of six "Binngarra-type" vessels. Upon her 1936 conversion from steam power, she became the first diesel-electric vessel in Australia. She was decommissioned in 1973, and scuttled at sea in 1980.
The New Zealand Company was a 19th-century English company that played a key role in the colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principles of systematic colonisation devised by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of a new-model English society in the southern hemisphere. Under Wakefield's model, the colony would attract capitalists who would then have a ready supply of labour—migrant labourers who could not initially afford to be property owners, but who would have the expectation of one day buying land with their savings.
The Lyman D. Foster was an ocean-going, cargo-carrying, wooden sailing vessel named after the son of a provisions merchant who invested in vessels. Built at the Hall Brother's shipyard at Port Blakely, Washington (state), U.S.A. in 1892, she was 184 feet long with a 39-feet beam and 15.4 feet depth, and had a tonnage of 778 GRT.
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.
