Exocet missile: how the sinking of HMS Sheffield made it famous, South Georgia recaptured in first skirmish of Falklands campaign - archive, 26 April 1982, Work starts to identify Argentinian Falklands war dead. The ship’s company were unable to bring the blaze under control and Salt gave the order to abandon it. Instead, Fieldhouse decided, he or one of his staff officers would speak to each officer, to “ensure that each fully understands the situation”. The catalogue of errors and failings that ended in the sinking of a Royal Navy destroyer during the Falklands war has been disclosed after being covered up for 35 years. D.K Brown wrote all about this long ago, as did Norman Friedman and Dennis Brown. Tag: HMS Sheffield. Welcome to Forces Reunited the place where you can find information and friends from HMS Sheffield.. We are the largest and fastest growing community of UK forces veterans on the web with over 500,000 members! Crew members did not believe the Sheffield was in range of the warplanes hurtling towards them. Menu. At this point, he began an unprompted reminiscence about the day HMS Sheffield was hit … Dsc, HMS SHEFFIELD. Later they were airlifted to a supportship and their voyage home... On this day in 1982 HMS Sheffield was hit by an Argentine missile during the Falklands conflict, 20 of the 268 crew died. ck k j williams. hms sheffield . British sources say that Argentina has five Super Etendards. The anti-air warfare officer had left the ship’s operations room and was having a coffee in the wardroom when the Argentinian navy launched the attack, while his assistant had left “to visit the heads” (relieve himself). Royal Navy chiefs were said last night to be "totally stunned" by the loss of Sheffield, which is believed to have sunk as the fire worked through her. ck n a goodall. PO K S Casey, Lt Cdr G W J Batt. In 2003, the vessel was acquired by the Chilean Navy and renamed Almirante … Brian Jones was just 21 when HMS Sheffield was hit by an Argentinian missile 30 years ago during the Falklands War, but like countless other veterans he … 23 Nov 1939 Her nickname, the "Shiny Sheff", stemmed from this. At this point, he began an unprompted reminiscence about the day HMS Sheffield was hit by the Argentinian Exocet missile. The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a … The ship sank on 10 May, the first British Navy vessel lost since the Second World War. Within days the Royal Navy was too to feel a profound shock as it took its first casualties. Welcome to Forces Reunited the place where you can find information and friends from HMS Sheffield.. We are the largest and fastest growing community of UK forces veterans on the web with over 500,000 members! The Neptune kept the British ships under surveillance, verifying Sheffield's position again at 08:14 and 08:43. HMS HERMES. HMS Sheffield had already been detached on the 9th with orders to patrol in the Denmark Strait. Thirty-eight years ago, HMS Coventry sank during the Falklands War. HMS Sheffield was one of the Southampton sub class of the Town-class cruisers of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. wea1 k r f sullivan. The officers and crew of the Sheffield were always aware there had been serious errors and failings before the sinking of the ship. Casualties from HMS Sheffield, taken from a helicopter on landing aboard HMS Hermes. Alexander Alec. It was the first British ship to be lost in … Yes, there were failings. An immediate concern is that if one Exocet can get through the British defences there is no reason why others should not do so. In 1982, Bob Mullen was a 23-year-old sailor on HMS Sheffield. The only defensive weapon the Royal Navy has which is designed to take on a sea skimmer of this deadly kind is the Seawolf anti-missile missile, mounted on the two Type 22 frigates, Broadsword and Brilliant which seem to have been keeping close guard on the carriers for this reason. 77 Wells Street London, W1T 3QJ Tel. Lt Cdr D I Balfour, PO. His ship did not go to “action stations”, did not fire off any clouds of chaff in an attempt to deflect the Exocets, and did not turn towards the incoming missiles in order to narrow the Sheffield’s profile. As with so many ships in the Royal Navy, HMS Sheffield had been designed with the Cold War very much in mind. However, the Guardian has heard claims that the MoD had previously developed an electronic countermeasure that could switch off the Exocet’s fusing mechanism once the missile’s radar locked on to a warship. I was still at secondary school when HMS Sheffield was hit and remember being in a design and technology lesson the day after the news broke. Deze klasse staat ook bekend als Type 42.. Achtergrond. Last night's communiqué from the Ministry of Defence in London stated: "In the course of its duties within the total exclusion zone around the Falkland Islands, HMS Sheffield, a Type 42 destroyer, was attacked and hit late this afternoon by an Argentine missile. 020 7393 1500 E-mail: ask@bufvc.ac.uk Twitter: @LearnonScreen Reviews. ca d cope. • This article was amended on 18 October 2017. In the event, nobody called the captain. A C Eggington, Sub Lt. R C Emly ; PO. The missile which hit HMS Sheffield on Tuesday 4 May 1982 caused the deaths of 20 men. lck a marshall. HMS Sheffield (Navy Photos/Ben Titheridge, click to enlarge) return to Contents List : SOUTHAMPTON-Class Cruiser ordered from Vickers Armstrong at Newcastle on 17th December 1934 and laid down on 31st January 1935. The attack took place on 4 May, 1982, at the height of the Falklands War in the South Atlantic. On 4 May 1982, HMS Sheffield was sunk off the coast of the Falkland Islands, killing 20 men - Britain's first major casualties in the war with Argentina. The radar on board the ship that could have detected incoming Super Étendard fighter aircraft had been blanked out by a transmission being made to another vessel. Monday, November 26th 2018 - 01:48 UTC Iconic HMS Sheffield, will become Royal Navy's fifth state of the art Type 26 frigate. Dsm, C.A. Even though the Northern Irish Troubles had made the public used to a steady trickle of casualties among the armed forces there had not been a conventional sea fight since WWII and the scale of the thing was something new. I was still at secondary school when HMS Sheffield was hit and remember being in a design and technology lesson the day after the news broke. ck d e osborne. I recall that a student in our class cracked a sick joke in relation to a burnt object in the class resembling HMS Sheffield; the teacher and a good many of us reacted in a demonstrably angry way to his flippant comment. D Cope, Wea. In September 1982 he informed the MoD – in a letter that has also been declassified – that although both men had “prima facie demonstrated negligence”, they would not face courts martial, disciplinary action or any form of formal administrative proceedings. The Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas) was a 10-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 result of the war was a British victory. HMS Sheffield was fitted with the Type 965 radar system. Sea Lion Island. Two Argentine Navy Super Étendards, both armed with AM39 Exocets, took off from Río Grande naval air base at 09:45 and met with an … Ponting was arrested in 1984 after he exposed another of the war’s secrets: that the Argentinian cruiser General Belgrano had been sailing away from the Falkland Islands when it was sunk by a Royal Navy submarine, resulting in the loss of 323 lives, and that ministers had misled parliament and the public about the episode. Twenty people died and 26 were injured when HMS Sheffield was hit by an Argentinian Exocet missile during the early days of the 1982 conflict. But she also described her anxiety when HMS Sheffield received a missile attack and was destroyed, and 20 men died and 24 more were terribly injured as fires ripped through the ship. Falklands War, casualties from HMS Sheffield are taken on board HMS Hermes by helicopter. Twenty people died and 26 were injured when HMS Sheffield was hit by an Argentinian Exocet missile during the early days of the 1982 conflict. The advance then slowed despite inflicting many German casualties. Although crew members were convinced it had detonated, the board’s five members eventually concluded that it had not, and reported that the fire had been caused by the missile’s propellant, only 40% of which had been used during its flight. He recalls what happened when the ship and 20 of its men became the first British victims of an Argentinian Exocet missile. British forces in the South Atlantic suffered their first serious losses yesterday afternoon when the destroyer HMS Sheffield was hit and destroyed by an Argentinian missile and a Sea Harrier was shot down while attacking an airstrip on the Falklands. The British task force carries it and so do nine of Argentina's destroyers and frigates almost certainly including the two destroyers that were escorting the cruiser General Belgrano when she was attacked and sunk by the British nuclear powered hunter-killer submarine Conqueror on Sunday night with heavy loss of life. Famous for the production of steel, Sheffield still has a substantial steel industry. Sheffield had assessed the Exocet threat overrated for the previous two days, and assessed another as a false alarm (as did HMS Invincible). About. Located on a southern cliff on Sea Lion Island in the southeast of the archipelago, a large cross commemorates the sinking of the destroyer, HMS Sheffield, hit by an Exocet missile on 4th May 1982. The wounded were evacuated to HMS Hermes while the Captain and remaining crew fought to save Sheffield but early in the afternoon the order was given to abandon ship; the frigate Arrow took off most of the 260 survivors.Sheffield finally sank on Sunday 9 May not far from where the … Sheffield is: A city in The People's Republic of South Yorkshire; The name of a Royal Navy warship HMS Sheffield; The City of Sheffield. Members who served with HMS Sheffield. Clive Ponting, then a senior civil servant in the MoD, said the loss of the Sheffield was too great a catastrophe for the full facts to be made public. Some members of the crew were “bored and a little frustrated by inactivity” and the ship was “not fully prepared” for an attack. The missile is launched in the general direction of the target and then homes in on the biggest object its radar can detect. In fact, it appears that later in the Falklands war, some were successfully deflected with chaff. The missile which hit HMS Sheffield on Tuesday 4 May 1982 caused the deaths of 20 men. The Exocet is a "fire and forget" sea skimming anti-ship missile designed and built by the French. Awards: DSM (Distinguished Service Medal) [London Gazette 8 October 1982 Page 9] Petty Officer Marine Engineering Mechanic (M) David Richard BRIGGS D1348157 A Defence Ministry statement said the other three Sea Harriers flying with Lt Taylor returned safely. This was an attempt to reduce the amount of cleaning required on the part of the crew. What's new. Fourteen naval cooks were among the dead, the largest number from any one branch in the Royal Navy. A heavily censored summary of the board’s findings was released by the Ministry of Defence in 2006, but the redaction concealed all the board’s key conclusions and criticisms, including the findings of negligence. The wounded were evacuated to HMS Hermes while the Captain and remaining crew fought to save Sheffield but early in the afternoon the order was given to abandon ship; the frigate Arrow took off most of the 260 survivors.Sheffield finally sank on Sunday 9 May not far from where the … The raid followed a night bombing raid on the main airfield at Port Stanley by a Vulcan V-bomber flying from Ascension Island. E. de F. Renouf, CVO, RN). The number of deaths on the Sheffield may be as high as 30, according to the Defence Secretary, Mr John Nott, who gave details of casualties in a statement to the House of Commons late last night. Monday, November 26th 2018 - 01:48 UTC Iconic HMS Sheffield, will become Royal Navy's fifth state of the art Type 26 frigate. He explained to me how, as a member of the mess staff, his role in combat was to control fires and to take casualties to the sick bay. Located on a southern cliff on Sea Lion Island in the southeast of the archipelago, a large cross commemorates the sinking of the destroyer, HMS Sheffield, hit by an Exocet missile on 4th May 1982. No, none could have been foreseen without hindsight. Sheffield apparently did not hear the incoming aircraft and missiles, detect them on its electronic support measures (ESM) sets, or see a radar contact on its screens swept by its own radar. Also hidden was the board’s warning that there were “critical deficiencies” in the firefighting equipment then aboard type 42 destroyers such as the Sheffield. Mr Nott told the House that nearly all the ship's company and captain were accounted for but after originally saying that 12 sailors were missing, he updated it to 30. The Guardian has learned that it may have been scuttled. She was guarding the outer perimeter of the Task Force which made her vulnerable to attack. The captain of HMS Sheffield, Sam Salt, on board the HMS Hermes after the loss of his ship. All who abandoned her were picked up. Old news, for old hands. lmem(m) a j knowles. R Fagan, Ck. wemn2 b j wallis. Tag: HMS Sheffield. On May 4th, 1982, HMS Sheffield relieved her sister ship, HMS Coventry, from defence watch. pomem(m) d r briggs. It was the day of the invasion when we found out. It had ordered 14 but the remainder have been held in France because of the arms embargo which followed the Argentine invasion of the Falklands. Raus ordered no retreat and that Soviet attacks were to be counter-attacked, despite this exposing the German infantry to Russian artillery-fire. In 2001, facing accusations of a cover-up, the MoD issued a statement confirming that the anti-air warfare officer had not been in the ops room before the attack warning, but insisted this was because he was not required and was “attending duties elsewhere”. A fresh MoD reassessment made public in 2015 concluded that the warhead had exploded. The board found that two officers were guilty of negligence, but they escaped courts martial and did not face disciplinary action, apparently in order to avoid undermining the euphoria that gripped much of the UK at the end of the war. As with so many ships in the Royal Navy, HMS Sheffield had been designed with the Cold War very much in mind. Of the 86 Royal Navy personnel, 22 were lost in HMS Ardent, 19 + 1 lost in HMS Sheffield, 19 + 1 lost in HMS Coventry and 13 lost in HMS Glamorgan. pock r fagan. The ship sank on 10 May, the first British Navy vessel lost since the Second World War. The report notes that 12 minutes after impact, this officer was still insisting the ship had not been struck by a missile. The sinking has shocked the British nation and foiled any possible diplomatic solution to the current dispute over the Falkland Islands between Britain and Argentina. The anti-air warfare officer was recalled to the ops room, but did not believe the Sheffield was within range of Argentina’s Super Étendard aircraft that carried the missiles. lt cdr d i balfour. HMS Sheffield: Service: Royal Navy: Date of Death: Between 4 and 10 May 1982: Manner of Death: Died when his ship was hit by an Exocet missile 4th May; sank 10th May. One of the Exocets slammed into the Sheffield’s starboard side about 8ft (2.4 metres) above the waterline, ripping a hole 4ft high and 15ft long. The ship, which had been hit … He was charged under the Official Secrets Act, but acquitted by an Old Bailey jury. HMS Glamorgan’s casualties to be honoured at long last IT is known as the “forgotten ship” of the Falklands, despite the death of 14 crew members just before the … While the ship’s company were aware of the threat posed by Exocet missiles, some appear to have thought the Sheffield was beyond the range of the Super Étendard aircraft, because they were unaware the planes could refuel in mid-air. Crew Of Sheffield HMS Twenty crew members of the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Sheffield (D80) died when it was hit by an Argentinian air strike. The Sea Harrier is believed to have been shot down during an attack on the Argentinians' secondary airstrip at Goose Green. 020 7393 1500 E-mail: ask@bufvc.ac.uk Twitter: @LearnonScreen Six days after the attack, according to the official account, the ship sank while being towed. HMS Sheffield. Even two months after the attack, the board of inquiry was uncertain whether the Exocet’s warhead had detonated. HMS Sheffield Memorial. She was also, therefore, the first in line for attack when she was on this so-called picket duty. When the incoming missiles came into view, officers on the bridge were “mesmerised” by the sight and did not broadcast a warning to the ship’s company. Forums. Despite its failure to explode the airbourne missile drove a massive hole in the ship's side and within seconds the ship was covered in thick acrid smoke. Remembering the Fallen: On this day in 1982, HMS Sheffield, a Royal Navy Type 42 destroyer, was attacked. She was the fifth ship to proudly bear the name of the city and her loss sent shockwaves through Coventry and the … Only one body was recovered from the vessel. The main pipe through which water was pumped for firefighting had been ruptured, while several pumps failed and forward escape hatches were found to be too narrow for people wearing breathing apparatus. Lost Crew of HMS Sheffield (D80) Roll Call. What actually happened is that in order to use her SCOT satellite communications, HMS Sheffield had to shut down the radars as their proximity created massive electronic interference with the satcoms and at least one other comms and the ECM systems, … D R Briggs. This was an old system that was due to be upgraded to the Type 1022 system. Twenty crew members of the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Sheffield (D80) died when it was hit by an Argentinian air strike. It is also important to note however, that again through luck, much higher casualties were avoided by the failure of the missile to detonate. Members who served with HMS Sheffield. Casualties HMS Invincible (R05) 1 HMS Sheffield (D80) 20 Sea King: 1+22 HMS Ardent (F184) 22 Sea Harrier: 3 HMS Argonaut (F56) 2 HMS Coventry (D118) 18 MV Atlantic Conveyor: 12 LC Foxtrot 4 of HMS Fearless (L10) 6 Bluff Cove: 54 HMS Glamorgan (D19) 13 She took part in actions against several major German warships. HMS SHEFFIELD - Town-type Light Cruiser including Convoy Escort Movements. This was an old system that was due to be upgraded to the Type 1022 system. Declassified report into disaster reveals officers ‘mesmerised’ by sight of incoming missiles failed to raise alarm, Last modified on Mon 27 Nov 2017 10.24 EST. Later they were airlifted to a supportship and their voyage home... On this day in 1982 HMS Sheffield was hit by an Argentine missile during the Falklands conflict, 20 of the 268 crew died. In London on the evening of the attack, 4 May 1982, the defence secretary, John Nott, told the Commons that the Argentinian fighter had probably flown in under the navy’s radar. "They just can't believe it," said one Defence Ministry official. It is also claimed the anti-aircraft officer was “having a coffee” at the moment the missiles struck. 77 Wells Street London, W1T 3QJ Tel. However, Fieldhouse ruled that the two officers would not face any sanction. Some of the wounded suffered serious burns. The ship was launched on 23rd July 1936 and was the 1st RN ship to bear this name. Falkland Islands War - Falkland Islands War - The course of the conflict: On April 25, while the British task force was steaming 8,000 miles (13,000 km) to the war zone via Ascension Island, a smaller British force retook South Georgia island, in the process capturing one of Argentina’s vintage U.S.-made diesel-electric submarines. Edited by Gordon Smith, Naval-History.Net. In June 1981 she participated in Exercise Roebuck, following which she fired five Sea Dart missiles. … Total fatal casualties during the war amounted to 85 for the Royal Navy, 26 for the Royal Marines, 58 for the Army, one for the RAF, and 18 civilians operating aboard vessels in the Total Exclusion Zone, for a total of 253. At the foot of the cross is a small wall protecting a glass-topped container with items of memorabilia. When there was no longer any hope of saving the ship, the ship's company abandoned ship. The number of deaths on the Sheffield may be as high as 30, according to the Defence Secretary, Mr John Nott, who gave details of casualties in a statement to the House of Commons late last night. An earlier version said HMS Sheffield was the first Royal Navy warship lost since the second world war. s/lt r c emly. Reporting in July 1982 to the navy’s commander-in-chief, Adm John Fieldhouse, the board of inquiry said it had concluded that the Sheffield’s on-watch principal warfare officer in the ops room had been negligent for failing to react in line with standard doctrine and training. Adm Sandy Woodward, who commanded the Royal Navy taskforce that had been sent to the Falkland Islands, noted in his book about the campaign that when the Sheffield had been attacked there had been “some kind of gap in her ops room and no action was taken”. Woodward added that Fieldhouse had decided there should be no courts martial, “to avoid, he told me, the more doubtful cases creating the wrong atmosphere in the press and souring the general euphoria”. On 4 May 1982, HMS Sheffield was sunk off the coast of the Falkland Islands, killing 20 men - Britain's first major casualties in the war with Argentina. Her commanding officer is Captain James "Sam" Salt, aged 42, who lives in Petersfield, Hampshire, with his wife Penelope. ... HMS Exeter, HMS Glasgow, and HMS Sheffield. Sheffield, destroyer, hit by Argentine Super Etendard-launched Exocet missile SE of Falklands, sank on 10 May BALFOUR, David I, Lieutenant Commander, C013406T. Twelve people were thought to have been overcome by fumes, including five who remained on duty in the Sheffield’s computer room until it was too late for them to attempt escape. BRIGGS, David R, Petty Officer Marine Mechanic, D1348157, posthumous DSM HMS Sheffield Memorial. maa b welsh. The Argentinians presumably intend to use it from their own elderly ex-British carrier, the Venti-cinco de Mayo, but the aircraft which destroyed HMS Sheffield probably operated from the mainland airbase at Rio Gallegos in southern Argentina. He was reported safe. Twenty crew members of the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Sheffield (D80) died when it was hit by an Argentinian air strike. Smoke billows from HMS Sheffield after it was hit by an Exocet missile in 1982. Sam Salt, captain of HMS Sheffield, on board HMS Hermes after the loss of his vessel Photograph: Martin Cleaver/PA Archive/ Long after the Falklands war was over, controversy continued to dog the sinking on 4 May 1982 of HMS Sheffield, whose captain, Sam Salt, has died of lung cancer, aged 69. HMS Sheffield (Navy Photos/Ben Titheridge, click to enlarge) return to Contents List : SOUTHAMPTON-Class Cruiser ordered from Vickers Armstrong at Newcastle on 17th December 1934 and laid down on 31st January 1935. 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