The Falklands war: the Bluff Cove disaster

Military Review, Nov-Dec, 2004 by Robert S. Bolia

Although the Daggers never reached Port Pleasant, the Skyhawks did. Three of the Skyhawks, including those of the two flight leaders, could not refuel and had to return to Rio Gallegos. Five remaining planes formed a single squadron and flew in low over East Falkland, taking small arms fire from the Scots Guards as they passed Fitzroy and Bluff Cove. They then turned back and attacked the LSLs moving out to sea. The lead Skyhawk hit Sir Galahad with two bombs, both of which exploded. The second plane's bombs went long, but the third found its mark, dropping another 250-kg bomb into the ship. Seeing the explosions, the other two Skyhawks dropped their bombs on the nearby Sir Tristam. All five Skyhawks made it safely back to the mainland. (25)

Where were British air defenses? For all intents and purposes, there were none. LPDs Fearless and Intrepid, forbidden by Northwood from participating in the operation, mounted four Seacat surface-to-air missile systems and two 40-millimeter (mm) Bofors guns, but the LSLs had only the Bofors. (26) The Mirages had drawn off the Harrier CAP, so the CAP had no chance of intercepting or pursuing the Skyhawks. (27) As if this were not bad enough, the Rapier battery was not working properly.

Rapier was a surface-to-air missile system designed for point defense against low-flying aircraft and should have been effective against the Skyhawks. Unfortunately, the launchers the detachment had brought to Fitzroy and quickly set up were faulty and would not fire. Before they embarked on the LSL, the soldiers knew two of the four launchers had problems, but Rapiers were available in limited numbers, and the defense of the San Carlos anchorage was deemed more important than Fitzroy's defense. One "cloudpuncher" said, "I pressed the fire button but nothing happened. I had to sit there and watch Sir Galahad explode like watching a movie, only it was real. It was the most sickening moment of my young life." (28)

HMS Exeter broadcast air raid warning "red" a few minutes before the attack, but neither LSL heard the warning. (29) The only warning the sailors and Welsh Guards received was when they saw the planes coming in. Nothing could be done to prevent the subsequent carnage. The explosions that rocked Sir Galahad ignited stores of fuel and ammunition, creating an inferno that left 48 dead and more than a hundred wounded, many severely burned. Casualties on Sir Tristam were fewer because the ship was mostly empty, but both vessels were immediately abandoned. The heroic assistance of four Sea Kings and one Wessex helicopter prevented further loss of life. It was by far the costliest day of the war for the British, and it was not over. (30)

The Argentines sent out two more flights of four Skyhawks. The first flight caused no British casualties, and all four Skyhawks were damaged by small arms fire and just made it back to the mainland. The second flight was more successful, but it lost three of the Skyhawks. During the skirmish, two planes attacked a lone LCU ferrying 5 Brigade's communications equipment through Choiseul Sound, sinking it, killing six of the men aboard, and destroying brigade radios. Despite this success, two Harriers shot down three of the four Skyhawks with Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. (31)