RAF Falkland Islands bombing mission - never knew about this mission

Creepy Green Light

Don't mistake lack of talent for genius
This was terrific IMO. I knew about the Falkland Islands War - but had no idea about this particular mission to bomb the runway. It's amazing it ever happened once you see what the flight crews had to go through & the outdated equipment they had.

 

Fen Star

Honorable
I remember the Falklands war, Argentina underestimated the resolve of the British to protect their people.
 

AD1184

Celestial
I remember the Falklands war, Argentina underestimated the resolve of the British to protect their people.
The biggest mistake the Argentines made was in invading too soon. If they had bothered to keep an eye on British domestic politics, they would have known that a defence spending review ordered by the Thatcher government recommended sweeping cuts to the British military (much like the defence spending review which happened at the beginning of this decade). If they had just waited until those cuts had come into effect, Britain would not have had the military resources to take back the Falkland Islands, and they would have remained Argentinian. As it was, Thatcher and her government were celebrated for the Falklands victory, despite the fact that they had come so close to scuppering the British armed forces into complete ineffectiveness.
 

AD1184

Celestial
This was terrific IMO. I knew about the Falkland Islands War - but had no idea about this particular mission to bomb the runway. It's amazing it ever happened once you see what the flight crews had to go through & the outdated equipment they had.


The Avro Vulcan is my favourite aeroplane.

 

AD1184

Celestial
My favourite summing-up of the Black Buck missions is in the Avro Vulcan book by Alfred Price, Tony Blackman and Andrew Edmondson and published by Haynes, wherein they say of them:

"The effort expended in delivering the attack had been out of all proportion to the physical damage inflicted -- the single crater on the runway at Port Stanley and other relatively minor damage at the airfield. Yet the psychological effect of that raid on the enemy was also out of all proportion to the physical damage it had caused."
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
The biggest mistake the Argentines made was in invading too soon. If they had bothered to keep an eye on British domestic politics, they would have known that a defence spending review ordered by the Thatcher government recommended sweeping cuts to the British military (much like the defence spending review which happened at the beginning of this decade). If they had just waited until those cuts had come into effect, Britain would not have had the military resources to take back the Falkland Islands, and they would have remained Argentinian. As it was, Thatcher and her government were celebrated for the Falklands victory, despite the fact that they had come so close to scuppering the British armed forces into complete ineffectiveness.

You might like Dan Snow's History Hit podcast episodes from 5/31/2018 and 6/1/2018 The Falklands Airdrop Ursula parts 1 & 2
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Obscure things I remember about that conflict ( I think) are that the - Exocet? - missiles the Argentines were using caused the lightweight alloys used in ship construction to burn wildly out of control, so that ships constructed later had to be redesigned with better materials.

I also remember the ARA General Belgrano. They were warned and I don't think they were 'returning to port' as claimed. This is one of those odd times when two different generations of technology meet, and like when two cultures meet it's usually the one less advanced that gets the short end of the stick. The nuclear powered HMS Conqueror sank that light cruiser with relative ease from a distance.

ARA Belgrano

300px-ARA_General_Belgrano_underway.jpg


...was a WW2 US Pacific Fleet veteran of many engagements. It used to be the USS Phoenix
300px-USS_Phoenix_%28CL-46%29_underway_at_sea_in_1944.gif


It was a gunfighter caught up in a war that used missles.
 

AD1184

Celestial
Cool. I never saw one but have heard that the Tupolev Tu-95 is obnoxiously loud and deafens the air crews even while they're wearing protection.
The Bear is loud in a deeply unpleasant, obnoxious way, in contrast to the Vulcan, whose howl and rumble are pleasing to the ear, and the noise is not very dangerous. The exhaust has a low register, which is safer than loud, high-pitched tones. The howl from the intakes has a higher register, but is not loud enough by itself to be dangerous. The Vulcan is frightening to small children, however. I first saw it fly when I was three years old, and it made me cry.

The Bear was made into an airliner version, the Tu-114, and the passenger experience was by all accounts abysmally awful, with the loudest interior volume of any airliner.

Being in proximity to a Harrier in hover mode is also quite an unpleasant experience. I recommend using ear protection if you are ever going to see one hovering, as there is a lot of dangerous, high-frequency noise which for me is above the pain barrier.
 

Creepy Green Light

Don't mistake lack of talent for genius
Obscure things I remember about that conflict ( I think) are that the - Exocet? - missiles the Argentines were using caused the lightweight alloys used in ship construction to burn wildly out of control, so that ships constructed later had to be redesigned with better materials.

I also remember the ARA General Belgrano. They were warned and I don't think they were 'returning to port' as claimed. This is one of those odd times when two different generations of technology meet, and like when two cultures meet it's usually the one less advanced that gets the short end of the stick. The nuclear powered HMS Conqueror sank that light cruiser with relative ease from a distance.

ARA Belgrano

300px-ARA_General_Belgrano_underway.jpg


...was a WW2 US Pacific Fleet veteran of many engagements. It used to be the USS Phoenix
300px-USS_Phoenix_%28CL-46%29_underway_at_sea_in_1944.gif


It was a gunfighter caught up in a war that used missles.
Since I've lived back in NJ, I haven't gone to visit the USS New Jersey in Camden. I'm thinking of taking my kids there to check it out. The only other battleship I've been on is the USS Alabama.

In other news, I didn't even realize to the other day that the new USS New Jersey is presently being built - a Virginia Class attack submarine;

A lot of firepower with a $2.7 billion price tag...
The new USS New Jersey will be 377 feet long, with a hull diameter of 34 feet and an announced top speed of more than 25 knots.

It will carry Tomahawk cruise missiles and Mark 48 advanced capability torpedoes, and can be equipped to conduct covert intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, as well as deliver special operations forces. She'll be delivered in late 2021.

Its final price tag: about $2.7 billion.

Random cool pic of the USS Washington sailing towards two aircraft carriers in the background :)

washington-sea-trails-from-tug-7470ef41cf6d2ce3.jpg
 

Creepy Green Light

Don't mistake lack of talent for genius
Great documentary about the largest submarine ever built by man. Even has a small pool inside :) I was dying to see/track one of these while in the Navy but that never happened.


And the most decorated battleship of the United States - USS New Jersey;

 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
I've been to USS Wisconsin in Norfolk and USS North Carolina in Wilmington, DE. The former is only a topside visit because believe it or not, they keep that thing at a low level of readiness - or they did ten years ago when I was there anyway. I guess in case something needs to get blown up reeeeeeeal good. The latter is still in it's original kit and is damned fascinating to crawl around inside of. Never been to Camden but it's on my list - I think you can do overnights there with kids.
 

Creepy Green Light

Don't mistake lack of talent for genius
I think you can do overnights there with kids.
You are absolutely correct. I've watched a few vids of what the bunk situation looks like. As a kid, that would have been the coolest thing ever & actually still cool as an adult. I believe the New Jersey was commissioned & decommissioned three different times - the last being to shell Lebanon. She looks pretty cool with the Tomahawk missile launchers on her.

Speaking of battleships & 16 inch guns - do you remember when this mishap happened?
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
You are absolutely correct. I've watched a few vids of what the bunk situation looks like. As a kid, that would have been the coolest thing ever & actually still cool as an adult. I believe the New Jersey was commissioned & decommissioned three different times - the last being to shell Lebanon. She looks pretty cool with the Tomahawk missile launchers on her.

Speaking of battleships & 16 inch guns - do you remember when this mishap happened?


Yeah, they blamed it on a gay crew member as I remember. In reality that old technology reminded us that it's still perfectly lethal in a number of respects.

As those old battleships go I think they really, finally are just museum pieces. On the tour of USS Wisconsin they mentioned that they were using early drones to spot for the big guns. Park that thing off shore and it can reach over twenty miles inland with quite a bit of high explosive all at once without even dirtying it's more modern weapons. The drone looked like a big remote control plane (because that's all it was) that a crew member actually threw into the air. Not much different than the amphibians they used to launch & recover with cranes for the same purpose. The various militias quickly realized that where the little plane went that absolutely nothing good would follow. Somewhere out there is video of them surrendering to the drone.

IJN Yamato
and Musashi - which were even bigger with more formidable armament - were obsolete before their brand new paint was dry. As stupid as the movie was, I loved Battleship and Under Siege (Segal would be too fat to fit through the watertight doors now .... )

As for overnights, the USS Cobia is one of the last pacific fleet subs left in its original form and has a functioning WW2 era radar system. It's up in Manitowoc, WI. Saw it years ago but it's been restored since and it's something else on my list.
 
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