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 operation, a subsidiary of the main Operation Corporate—recapture of the Falkland Islands from Argentina—was successful, leading to the island being restored to British control on 25 April 1982.
Officially named "Operation Paraquet", an alternative spelling of parakeet, it was known among British troops as "Paraquat", after the industrial weedkiller.[3]
Background
Prompted by the British war cabinet who needed a demonstration of political resolve, the operation was ordered by Admiral John Fieldhouse at Northwood Headquarters and planned by staff at 3 Commando Brigade. Major General Jeremy Moore of the Royal Marines was told to provide a Commando company group for a secret mission. Originally selecting 45 Commando who had recently completed jungle warfare training, the final selection was 42 Commando who had recently been on a winter deployment to Norway. The second-in-command of 42 Commando, Major Guy Sheridan, an experienced mountaineer, was selected to be Landing Force Commander. M Company of 42 Commando, commanded by Captain Chris Nunn, was augmented by specialists from the Reconnaissance Troop, the Support Company, signals and medics; a total of 132 men.[4]
Sheridan requested the support of the Royal Marine Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre, but was instead given 19 (Mountain) Troop from D Squadron Special Air Service (SAS) from Ascension Island. In the event, the whole of D Squadron comprising not only the Mountain Troop, but also 16 (Mobility) Troop, 18 (Air) Troop and 17 (Boat) Troop along with the Squadron HQ all joined the force at Ascension. Finally, 2 Troop, Special Boat Squadron (2 SBS) and, as requested by Sheridan, two Naval Gunfire Forward Observation Parties (NGFOs) also joined the task group.[5]
The already crowded accommodations in available ships became difficult with the inclusion of additional troops. The task group sailed from Ascension on 11 April, pausing to redistribute the SAS troops between ships on 13 April. The final disposition was that M Company were on the tanker RFATidespring, 2 SBS, and the Mountain and Boat Troops SAS on the frigate, HMSPlymouth, with the rest of D Squadron on HMSAntrim.[5] Finally, 6 SBS were embarked in the submarine HMSConqueror. This group, known as CTG 317.9 or Task Force South Georgia, was commanded by Captain Brian Young of Antrim.[3][6]
The task group met with HMSEndurance on 14 April and on the following day, received written orders (dropped by an RAF Nimrod aircraft) for the operation from Admiral Fieldhouse dated 12 April and giving a landing date of 21 April.[5]
Conqueror was first on the scene, arriving off South Georgia on 18 April and carrying out a survey of key areas of the coast. She then withdrew to the northwest of the island to guard against any potential threats from the Argentine navy.[7]
For the British, the first order of business was to carry out reconnaissance of Argentinian positions, whose forces and dispositions were unknown, though there was no evidence to suggest they had been reinforced since the initial occupation of the island on 3 April. The plan called for insertion of 3 SBS patrols at Hound Bay, who would then travel by land and Gemini inflatable boat across Cumberland East Bay and set up an OP at Brown Mountain overlooking Grytviken. The SAS plan was more ambitious, and called for a helicopter insertion of Mountain Troop, D squadron, on Fortuna Glacier, 8 miles west of Stromness. From there the unit would travel across the glacier, and reconnoitre Leith, Husvik, Stromness and East Fortuna bay. The SAS chose Fortuna glacier as the point of entry as it was sufficiently far from expected enemy positions so as to preclude detection, and the Argentines would not expect an attack from that direction. This choice was opposed by officers who had knowledge of local conditions, such as Captain Nick Barker of Endurance and members of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), who felt that the difficulties of travelling on the glacier were being underestimated. However, Major Cedric Delves, officer commanding D squadron, overruled their objections, and as the SAS had strong political backing within the British government, the plan was eventually put into action.[8]
On 20 April, an RAFVictor based on Ascension carried out a radar reconnaissance of 150,000 square miles of South Atlantic, including South Georgia, remaining in flight for 14 hours and 45 minutes. On the same day, the Task Force arrived at its destination, and Endurance moved into Saint Andrews Bay to make contact with isolated BAS field parties.
On the next day, the 15 men of Mountain troop, led by Captain Gavin Hamilton, were airlifted onto Fortuna glacier by two Wessex helicopters. They were immediately confronted with extreme conditions including 100 mph winds and freezing temperatures. Deep crevasses slowed the advance, and when the men attempted to set up camp and wait out the storm, their tents were swept away by the wind. Finally, after 15 hours on the glacier, Captain Hamilton requested evacuation, with the message "Unable to move. Environmental casualties imminent." Three Wessex helicopters were dispatched from the Task Force: two Wessex Mk5s from Tidespring and one Mk3 from Antrim. After one failed attempt, they managed to locate and embark the stranded SAS men, but in whiteout conditions, one pilot became disorientated and his aircraft crashed. The passengers were loaded onto the two remaining helicopters, but soon afterwards one of these hit a ridge and crashed, though once again without any serious casualties. The last Wessex, Antrim′s Mk3, after having offloaded its troops on board the destroyer returned to the glacier and after two failed attempts managed to retrieve the downed SAS and aircrew, though their equipment had to be abandoned. The pilot, Lieutenant Commander Ian Stanley, managed to nurse his overloaded aircraft back to Antrim and make an emergency landing on her flight deck, for which he was later awarded the Distinguished Service Order.[9][10]
Meanwhile, the SBS insertion fared little better. On 22 April, four men of 2 SBS were landed from Endurance by Wasp helicopter at Hound Bay, where the local BAS team informed them that no Argentines were in the area. On the next day, an attempt to insert reinforcements by helicopter was foiled by strong winds, and Endurance had to approach within 800 yards of the coast in order to land the remaining SBS in Gemini inflatable boats. After having spent a night at Dartmouth Point, the troop moved on foot through Sörling Valley to the foot of Nordenskjöld Glacier.[9] Here a Wasp helicopter airlifted in two Geminis, but one was found to have been damaged during transport. The remaining boat was used to ferry half of the unit across Cumberland Bay East, but the crossing was thwarted by strong headwinds and accumulating drift ice from the nearby glacier. With the weather deteriorating, the mission was called off, but the SBS had to wait another day to be evacuated.[11]
On 22 April, Young's Task Force was joined by the tanker RFA Brambleleaf, which had travelled past the Cape of Good Hope and originally arrived in the TEZ on 19 April, meeting HMS Endurance, before leaving again to wait to rendezvous with the other ships in the Task Force. The tanker had suffered heavy damage in a severe storm, and it was decided to transfer as much fuel as possible onto Tidespring, under cover of Plymouth, before she could begin her journey back to the UK for repairs. The long process began on the same day, but was momentarily interrupted when the three ships were spotted by an Argentine C-130 flying a maritime reconnaissance mission.[12] The fuel transfer from Brambleleaf to Tidespring ended prematurely due to the suspected presence of Argentine submarine Santa Fe in the area.
The Gemini boats
Despite earlier setbacks, Young remained committed to completing his intelligence-gathering mission, and on the night of 22/23 April Antrim entered Stromness Bay in order to insert another SAS force. This time, Boat Troop, D squadron, led by Captain Tim Burls, were to be inserted in five Gemini boats. The attempt almost ended in disaster when two boats' engines refused to start and they were swept out to sea by an unexpected gale. One boat was rescued the following morning by Antrim's Wessex, while the other managed to restart their engine and reach the shore on the Busen Peninsula.[13] After towing another boat to shore, Tommy Turtle went back to search for the others.[14] The three remaining Geminis reached their intended objective on Grass Island, where an observation post was set up,[13] after the men of 17 Troop had scaled a cliff in freezing conditions. They reported no Argentine activity in the Stromness area and signalled an SOS to HMS Endurance, which the next day was able to airlift them out by her Westland Wasp. After this operation, 17 Troop took to calling itself "The South Georgia Boating Club".[14]
Attack on Santa Fe
The Argentine submarine ARA Santa Fe while still in US Navy service as the USS Catfish
On 23 April, the British learned through radio intercepts that an Argentinian submarine was approaching South Georgia. This was the GUPPY II–converted Balao classARASanta Fe, the former USS Catfish, part of Argentina's submarine fleet of four boats. On 9 April Santa Fe, commanded by Corvette Captain Horacio Bicain, left Mar del Plata with eleven technicians to restore utility services on New Georgia and nine marines with Bantam anti-tank missiles to reinforce the original invading force, which was armed only with rifles and machine guns.[15] The mission was launched by Vice-Admiral Juan Lombardo, following a request for reinforcements by Captain Trombetta shortly after the Argentine invasion of South Georgia.
This contradicted the military junta's orders to not reinforce South Georgia, but when Admiral Jorge Anaya, Commander-in-Chief of the Argentine Navy, learned of the mission, he refused to disavow his subordinates and authorised it.[16] Storm conditions prevented use of the snorkel, which placed unexpected demands on the batteries and required remaining surfaced during part of the approach. Her sensors were unreliable, and the charge capacity of her aged batteries was much reduced from their original design. While undertaking her transport mission, Santa Fe's orders were to remain undetected, not to attack any ships and to break contact with any ship which might detect her.[15]
The arrival of the submarine posed a significant threat to the British Task Force, and Young was ordered to disperse his ships, except Endurance, outside the South Georgia total exclusion zone. The frigate HMSBrilliant, commanded by Captain John Coward, was diverted to South Georgia with her two Lynx helicopters to replace the aircraft lost on Fortuna Glacier, but she was not due to arrive until the morning of 25 April. Conqueror was assigned a new patrol area 70 miles to the west of South Georgia, however, a failure in her communications mast meant that she did not receive the order until 24 April, by which time Santa Fe was already approaching the island.[17]
The Argentinian submarine successfully landed her reinforcements at Grytviken, under moonless cloud cover in the pre-dawn hours of 25 April, and was underway by 0500.[15]Antrim′s aircrew, which included Lieutenant Chris Parry, anticipated that Santa Fe would unload her troops under the cover of darkness and would withdraw at first light through Cumberland Bay without submerging, due to the threat of icebergs. They suggested re-fitting their Wessex with radar, which had been removed to transport the SAS, and intercept Santa Fe as she left the bay. Captain Young thus brought his three warships some 25 miles north-east of Cumberland Bay and prepared his helicopter force for anti-submarine action.[18] He now had at his disposal, besides Antrim's Wessex, three Wasps (one aboard Plymouth and two on Endurance) and two Lynxes (aboard Brilliant). At 0855, the submarine was located by Antrim's Wessex using radar and engaged with depth charges. One charge bounced off the boat's deck, both exploded under and alongside, rupturing the port ballast tank and piercing an external fuel tank. Now unable to dive, Bicain was forced to reverse course towards Grytviken.[19]
The Wessex was then joined by a Lynx which launched a Mark 46 torpedo, but the weapon was configured to home on submerged submarines and passed harmlessly underneath its target. Wasps then joined the attack firing AS-12 missiles. As Endurance was much closer to the action, her Wasps were able to rearm and attack several times, while Plymouth's Wasp was able to carry out only one attack. As the submarine approached Grytviken, Argentine positions at King Edward Point opened fire with rifles and anti-tank rockets, and during the last Wasp attack, the crew attempted to defend themselves with small arms and at least one machine gun, but with no effect. Most of the missiles did not explode or passed through the submarines sail without exploding. The last missile fired caused minor damage, destroying the periscope standards and nearby pumps and injuring a sailor who was manning a machine gun. But the real damage was done by Antrim's Wessex and the depth charges. The Santa Fe had its engine wrested from the mount, bending the propeller shaft and making its fuel tank leak, thus making Sante Fe a constructive loss - the only submarine kill by helicopter in modern warfare. By 1100, the crippled Santa Fe was once again moored at Grytviken pier, where she was abandoned by her crew.[20]
Execution
With Santa Fe disabled, Major Sheridan judged that the Argentines would be demoralised and that an attack should be made immediately. However, his main force, M company, was still onboard Tidespring, 200 miles away. A scratch force was put together with various forces on board Antrim. These included M company's command element and mortar troop, 2 SAS troops and the 2 SBS command and signal elements, for a total of 79 men.[21]
There followed a helicopter[22] assault by an improvised group of Special Forces and Royal Marines, with two Royal Navy vessels (Antrim and Plymouth) conducting a naval bombardment demonstration on the low hills opposite Grytviken. The garrison at Grytviken and the crew of the disabled Santa Fe surrendered to M Company, 42 Commando, Royal Marines, after 15 minutes at 17.15 GMT, although the garrison at Leith Harbour, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Alfredo Astiz, surrendered the following day.[23]
The grave of Petty Officer Artuso in South Georgia
An Argentine prisoner of war, Navy Petty Officer Felix Artuso, a crewman of Santa Fe, was mistakenly shot dead on 26 April after a British marine thought he was sabotaging the submarine. He is buried at Grytviken Cemetery.[24][25]
A message that was widely publicised in the UK was made by the Task Group Commander, Captain Brian Young, after the surrender at Grytviken:[3]
Be pleased to inform Her Majesty that the White Ensign flies alongside the Union Jack in South Georgia. God save the Queen.[22]
Wildlife film-maker Cindy Buxton and her assistant Annie Price, who had been filming in an isolated part of the island before the invasion, were evacuated by a helicopter from HMSEndurance on 30 April.
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 1982, 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.
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 Tidespring (A75) was a Tide-class replenishment oiler of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. As a replenishment oiler, her main purpose was to refuel other ships. The ship had a long career in the RFA, entering service in the early 1960s, and finally being decommissioned in 1991.
The Battle of Two Sisters was an engagement of the Falklands War during the British advance towards the capital, Port Stanley. It took place from 11 to 12 June 1982 and was one of three battles in a Brigade-size operation all on the same night, the other two being the Battle of Mount Longdon and the Battle of Mount Harriet. It was fought mainly between an assaulting British force consisting of Royal Marines of 45 Commando and an Argentine Company drawn from 4th Infantry Regiment.
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.
Fortuna Glacier is a tidewater glacier at the mouth of Cumberland Bay on the island of South Georgia. It flows in a northeast direction to its terminus just west of Cape Best, with an eastern distributary almost reaching the west side of Fortuna Bay, on the north coast of South Georgia. It was named in about 1912, presumably after the whale catcher Fortuna, and is notable for two major events in the 20th century.
HMS Endurance was a Royal Navy ice patrol vessel that served from 1967 to 1991. She came to public notice when she was involved in the Falklands War of 1982. The final surrender of the war, in the South Sandwich Islands, took place aboard Endurance.
The Skirmish at Top Malo House took place on 31 May 1982 during the Falklands War between Argentine special forces from 602 Commando Company and the British Royal Marines of the Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre (M&AWC). Top Malo House was the only planned daylight action of the war, although it was intended to take place in darkness. The Argentine commandos were part of an attempt to establish a screen of observation posts. A section that occupied Top Malo House was sighted by a British observation post of the Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre that was screening the British breakout from the lodgement around San Carlos. The action at Top Malo House was one of a series of mishaps and misfortunes that afflicted the Argentine effort.
Ellerbeck Peak is a peak rising to 685 m on the south side of Sörling Valley, South Georgia. It was named by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) in 1987 after Lieutenant Commander John A. Ellerbeck DSC, Royal Navy. During the Falklands War, he was the pilot in command of the helicopter from HMS Endurance that attacked and disabled the Argentine submarine Santa Fe during the retaking of Grytviken on April 25, 1982.
The 1982 British military campaign to recapture the Falkland Islands depended on complex logistical arrangements. The logistical difficulties of operating 7,000 nautical miles from home were formidable. The Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands came at a time when the Royal Navy was experiencing a reduction in its amphibious capability, but it still possessed the aircraft carriers HMS Hermes and Invincible, the landing platform dock (LPD) ships HMS Fearless and Intrepid, and six landing ship logistics (LSL) ships. To provide the necessary logistic support, the Royal Navy's ships were augmented by ships taken up from trade (STUFT).
Captain Gavin John Hamilton, MC was a British Army infantry soldier. He was educated at The Royal Masonic School, Bushey. He was the Officer Commanding 19 (Mountain) Troop, D Squadron, 22 Special Air Service during the Falklands War when he was killed in action behind enemy lines on West Falkland.
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.
829 Naval Air Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. Before it was decommissioned in March 2018, it operated the AgustaWestland Merlin HM2 helicopter.
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.
The Battle of Mount Kent was a series of engagements during the Falklands War, primarily between British and Argentine special forces.
The 25th Mechanized Infantry Regiment is an infantry unit of the Argentine Army belonging to the 9th Mechanized Brigade, 3rd Army Division, and based at Sarmiento, Chubut, Argentina. This Regiment was the first army unit to land in the Falkland Islands on 2 April 1982 and fought in the Falklands War.
737 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was initially active during 1943 as an amphibious Bomber Reconnaissance Training Squadron. Reactivated in 1944 it operated as an ASV Training Unit until 1945. It was active again between 1949 and 1957. From 1959 it was the Anti-Submarine Warfare school at RNAS Portland. It operated Westland Wessex HAS.3 rescue helicopters from their land base at RNAS Portland, Dorset.
Thomas James Turtle BEM, known as Touché or Tommy Turtle, was a British Army soldier originally from Ireland who took part in many special forces campaigns, including the Falklands War and the Bosnian War.
References
Rossiter, Mike (2007). Sink the Belgrano. Bantam Press. ISBN978-0593058428.
Brown, David (1987). The Royal Navy and the Falklands War. Pen & Sword. ISBN978-0850520590.
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