<ul class="summary-list"><li>In April 1982, <keyword id="11935753" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="argentina" source="Orion">Argentina</keyword> seized the <keyword id="11894874" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="falkland-islands" source="Orion">Falkland Islands</keyword> from the UK, starting a war in the Atlantic.</li><li><keyword id="12018460" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="royal-navy" source="Orion">Royal Navy</keyword> ships steamed south to recapture the islands, and the Argentine navy sailed to meet them.</li></ul><p>Just before 3 a.m. on May 2, 1982, the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano was hit by two torpedoes fired by a British nuclear-powered attack submarine, HMS Conqueror.</p><p>The cruiser's electrical system was damaged and it was unable to send a distress signal. Within 45 minutes it sank to the bottom of the South Atlantic, taking 323 of its crew members with it.</p><p>At the time, Britain was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-learns-lessons-about-seizing-taiwan-from-the-falklands-war-2021-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">at war</a> with Argentina. That April, Argentina had seized the Falklands Islands, prompting the British to send a naval task force to retake the islands it had controlled since 1833.</p><div type="image" title="Sea Harrier jump jets on British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes" height="1295" width="2000" msid="92047713" hostid="261"></div><p>The sinking of the Belgrano was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2-submarines-sunk-warships-in-combat-since-world-war-ii-2021-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only the second time since World War II</a> in which a submarine sank an enemy warship, and it is one of the war's best-remembered moments.</p><p>While the Conqueror was firing on the Belgrano, another major naval encounter was unfolding a few hundred miles to the north. Argentina's only <keyword id="11898296" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="aircraft-carrier" source="Orion">aircraft carrier</keyword>, <keyword id="14131092" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ara-veinticinco-de-mayo" source="Orion">ARA Veinticinco de Mayo</keyword>, was trying to find the British aircraft carriers accompanying the incoming task force.</p><p>The Argentines were unaware they were being <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Carrier-Risk-Argentinean-Anti-Submarine-Operations/dp/1911628704" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hunted</a> by two more British nuclear-powered attack subs.</p><h2>An old carrier</h2><div type="image" title="Veinticinco de Mayo aircraft carrier" height="480" width="850" msid="92047714" hostid="261"></div><p>Named after the date of Argentina's 1810 revolution, Veinticinco de Mayo was a Colossus-class fleet carrier built by the British and commissioned into service in 1945 as HMS Venerable.</p><p>It served with the British Pacific Fleet until 1947 and was sold to the Netherlands in 1948. In the 1950s, it was refitted with an angled deck and a steam catapult. After a mostly uneventful tenure with the Dutch navy, the carrier was knocked out of service by a boiler-room fire in 1968.</p><p>It was then sold to Argentina, which repaired and upgraded the carrier, commissioning it as the ARA Veinticinco de Mayo in 1969. At 630 feet long and 80 feet wide, it could carry up to 24 aircraft and had a crew of 1,300.</p><p>Veinticinco de Mayo supported the Argentine invasion of the Falklands on April 2, 1982, with an air wing of eight A-4Q Skyhawk combat aircraft, four S-2E Tracker anti-submarine aircraft, and two SH-3 Sea King helicopters.</p><div type="image" title="Falkland Islands map" height="1070" width="1427" msid="92062509" hostid="261"></div><p>Shortly after Britain announced its intention to retake the Falklands, Argentina's navy made plans to intercept the Royal Navy as it arrived in the South Atlantic.</p><p>Argentine ships were deployed in a pincer movement, swinging 200 miles to the north and south of the Falklands.</p><p>Veinticinco de Mayo, along with the Type 42 destroyers Hércules and Santísima Trinidad (also built in Britain) and the Gearing-class destroyer Comodoro Py, formed the northern part of the pincer. <keyword id="14131091" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ara-general-belgrano" source="Orion">ARA General Belgrano</keyword> and its two escorts formed the southern one.</p><p>A third Argentine task force of three Drummond-class corvettes, armed with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/oct/15/exocet-missile-how-sinking-hms-sheffield-made-famous" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Exocet</a> anti-ship missiles, was also operating in the north, though farther away from Veinticinco de Mayo and its escorts.</p><p>On the night of May 1, aircraft from Veinticinco de Mayo detected the British fleet and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/falklands-war-almost-had-first-aircraft-carrier-battle-since-wwii-2021-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prepared for an attack</a>.</p><div type="image" title="Royal Navy crewmen aboard aircraft carrier HMS Hermes" height="1278" width="2000" msid="92047716" hostid="261"></div><p>The most important targets were the two British carriers leading the flotilla, HMS Invincible and <keyword id="13638258" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hms-hermes" source="Orion">HMS Hermes</keyword>, which carried about 20 Sea Harrier jump jets that were critical to the British operation.</p><p>But Veinticinco de Mayo's Skyhawks were unable to attack. When fully loaded with fuel and weapons, they needed wind to launch from the carrier, and there would not be any wind for at least 12 hours — a rarity in that part of the Atlantic.</p><p>The Argentines couldn't afford to wait and called off their attack. At midnight, a British Sea Harrier found Veinticinco de Mayo and its escorts. A few hours later, the Belgrano was sunk.</p><p>With the sinking of the Belgrano, Argentine commanders realized just how vulnerable their ships were — especially their carrier. They ordered their ships back to port. Unbeknownst to them, the British were already in pursuit.</p><h2>9 days of high-seas cat and mouse</h2><div type="image" title="Royal Navy submarine HMS Conqueror" height="1332" width="2000" msid="92047718" hostid="261"></div><p>The British made it a top priority to knock Argentina's navy, especially Veinticinco de Mayo, out of the fight. Three nuclear-powered attack submarines of Task Force 324 were tracking the Argentines as the rest of the British fleet sailed south.</p><p>The task force consisted of HMS Conqueror, a Churchill-class attack sub, which was assigned to patrol south of the Falklands, and the Swiftsure-class attack subs Splendid and Spartan, which were assigned the northwest and northeast sectors, respectively.</p><p>The British, now aware of Veinticinco de Mayo's location, sent HMS Splendid after it, starting a nine-day chase.</p><p>Because of its lingering boiler problems, Veinticinco de Mayo was slower than the sub's top speed, but the carrier's zig-zag course through shallower waters forced the Splendid to slow down.</p><p>The Argentine ships also kicked their anti-submarine operations into high gear.</p><div type="image" title="S-2 Tracker Veinticinco de Mayo aircraft carrier" height="1333" width="2000" msid="92047719" hostid="261"></div><p>The carrier's escorts took up position 5 miles off its port, bow, and starboard. The four S-2E Trackers flew six-hour missions, flying as far as 100 miles from the carrier to drop sonobuoys and use their surface-search radars. They also used electromagnetic sensors to listen for radio signals going to or from the Splendid.</p><p>The two Sea King helicopters patrolled closer to the carrier, using dipping sonars that could detect submarines within 3 miles.</p><p>When the Argentines detected what they thought was a sub, they attacked with Mark 44 torpedoes or Mk 54 depth charges dropped from the Trackers.</p><p>Despite the Argentine defenses, Splendid closed in. On May 3, it was close enough to make visual contact with Veinticinco de Mayo's escorts. A day later, though it had to dive deep to avoid the Trackers, its sonar had acquired the carrier and its escorts.</p><p>By the time Splendid was within torpedo range, however, the carrier and its escorts had entered Argentine waters and continued sailing north.</p><div type="image" title="Argentina A-4 Skyhawk Veinticinco de Mayo aircraft carrier" height="1333" width="2000" msid="92047720" hostid="261"></div><p>The British wanted to portray their actions as purely defensive and decided not to attack Argentine forces in their own waters. Splendid broke off its pursuit and headed south, leaving the job of tracking the carrier to HMS Spartan.</p><p>On May 5, one of Veinticinco de Mayo's Trackers detected signs of a submarine. Numerous Mark 44s were fired but made no hits. Neither Splendid nor Spartan was in the area at the time, suggesting the Argentines had misidentified the contact or had instead detected a US, Soviet, or Chilean sub.</p><p>The hunt for Veinticinco de Mayo finally ended May 9, when the carrier entered the port of Viedma. It never sortied again during the war, but its Skyhawks, flying from land, helped sink the British frigate Ardent.</p><p>The naval clashes of the <keyword id="11894875" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="falklands-war" source="Orion">Falklands War</keyword> were a glimpse at modern high-seas warfare and its toll.</p><p>Two days after Belgrano was sunk, the British destroyer Sheffield was sunk by an Exocet missile, becoming the first Royal Navy ship <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/falklands-war-still-has-military-lessons-for-china-other-countries-2022-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sunk in combat since World War II</a>. While the main carriers escaped unscathed, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/british-navy-used-impromptu-aircraft-carriers-to-recapture-falklands-2021-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a freighter the British converted to carry aircraft</a> was sunk, also by Argentine anti-ship missiles.</p>

A high-seas chase in the South Atlantic 40 years ago almost ended with the first aircraft carrier sunk in combat since World War II

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="12500522" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="aircraft-carriers" source="Orion">Aircraft carriers</keyword> have been a dominant naval asset for nearly a century.</li><li>Their high cost and sturdy construction means those flattops often serve for decades.</li></ul><p>Since World War II, aircraft carriers have been one of the most important weapons in a military's arsenal.</p><p>A nation with flattops can influence affairs far from its shores, and the more of them it can deploy, the farther it can project force around the world.</p><p>The financial and technological requirements to build and deploy carriers means only a few countries can develop and maintain them. That barrier to entry means only few countries can field even one carrier.</p><p>The US can deploy <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-us-navy-aircraft-carriers-supercarriers-to-ford-class-2020-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers</a>, reflecting its superpower status. China is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-chinas-aircraft-carriers-compare-to-us-navy-flattops-2020-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">building or testing three flattops</a>, and the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-uk-aircraft-carrier-ends-first-deployment-with-milestones-2021-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UK has two new carriers</a>. Several other countries, including France, Russia, and India, have at least one.</p><p>But carriers, once built, can serve for a long time. One of the longest-serving was <keyword id="13638258" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hms-hermes" source="Orion">HMS Hermes</keyword>, which spent a total of 58 years in the British and Indian navies.</p><h2>HMS Hermes</h2><div type="image" title="UK British aircraft carrier Hermes" height="1371" width="1828" msid="90901032" hostid="261"></div><p>HMS Hermes was a conventionally powered Centaur-class flattop that was laid down in 1944. Construction was paused for several years and the carrier wasn't launched until 1953. It entered service with the <keyword id="12018460" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="royal-navy" source="Orion">Royal Navy</keyword> in 1959.</p><p>The flattop began its career as a CATOBAR <keyword id="11898296" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="aircraft-carrier" source="Orion">aircraft carrier</keyword> and could carry up to five fixed- and rotary-wing squadrons.</p><p>Catapult Assisted Take-Off Barrier Arrested Recovery, or CATOBAR, carriers use catapults to launch aircraft and arresting wires to recover them, allowing planes to take off and land on a deck that's only a few hundred feet long instead of a mile or longer.</p><p>But in the early 1970s, the Royal Navy decided to convert Hermes to support operations by Royal Marine Commandos — like the amphibious assault ships of the US Navy. Berthing space for 800 troops was added, and helicopters became Hermes' primary aircraft.</p><p>Hermes was refit again in the early 1980s, when the threat from Soviet submarines prompted the Royal Navy to repurpose the ship for anti-submarine warfare. This modification also converted Hermes into a Short Take-Off, Barrier Arrested Recovery, or STOBAR, carrier.</p><p>A ski jump was added to Hermes' bow and it once more hosted fighter jets, namely the Sea Harrier, which was designed for short and vertical takeoffs and landings.</p><div type="image" title="Royal Navy crewmen aboard aircraft carrier HMS Hermes" height="1278" width="2000" msid="90901033" hostid="261"></div><p>During the Falklands War in 1982, the HMS Hermes was the flagship of the British armada, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/falklands-war-almost-had-first-aircraft-carrier-battle-since-wwii-2021-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leading more than 100 ships to the South Atlantic</a> to reclaim the islands from the Argentines.</p><p>Hermes' sister ship and fellow STOBAR carrier, HMS Invincible, were crucial to the UK's success. Sea Harrier fighter jets operating from the two flattops gave the British air dominance and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sas-revisited-wwii-roots-in-daring-raid-during-falklands-war-2021-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ensured that ground troops could land on</a> and retake the Falklands.</p><p>The Argentines recognized the importance of the British aircraft carriers and tried to sink them multiple times with daring air attacks. They sunk several escort ships and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/31/world/argentines-assert-they-hit-a-carrier.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed to have hit</a> Invincible, but the flattops emerged from the conflict unscathed. (The British armada <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/british-navy-used-impromptu-aircraft-carriers-to-recapture-falklands-2021-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">included two improvised carriers</a>, one of which was sunk.)</p><p>Hermes' post-Falklands life was brief. After a refit and an exercise, the carrier was decommissioned in 1984, but that wasn't the end of its career.</p><p>The British had previously tried to offload Hermes — including a mid-1960s offer to Australia that fell through because of the high cost to man and operate the carrier — and in 1983, they again offered to sell it to Australia, which once more turned them down.</p><div type="image" title="Indian navy sailor on aircraft carrier Viraat" height="1154" width="2000" msid="90901034" hostid="261"></div><p>The carrier was sold to India in 1986. After undergoing a refit, the carrier was commissioned into the <keyword id="11895652" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="indian-navy" source="Orion">Indian navy</keyword> as <keyword id="13638259" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ins-viraat" source="Orion">INS Viraat</keyword> in a ceremony held in the UK in May 1987.</p><p>It became the flagship of the Indian Navy and participated in a number of operations, including in the Indian peacekeeping mission in Sri Lanka in 1989 and in the Indian blockade of Pakistani ports during the Kargil War in 1999. Viraat als took part in exercise Malabar, an annual exercise involving the US, India, and other navies.</p><p>After almost six decades in service, the Hermes was finally decommissioned by the Indian Navy in 2017. In 2019, the Indian government <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/economy-politics/story/goodbye-ins-viraat-after-33-years-of-serving-indian-navy-warship-put-to-rest-274220-2020-09-29" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decided</a> to scrap the carrier.</p><p>After years of attempts by state governments and private actors to preserve the carrier as a museum, including a last-minute <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ins-viraat-now-private-property-sc/article34244872.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legal effort</a> to prevent it from being totally dismantled, the carrier was broken up in 2021.</p><p><em>Stavros Atlamazoglou is a defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate.</em></p>

58 years, 2 navies, one war: A short history of one of the world's longest-serving aircraft carriers

<ul class="summary-list"><li>In November 1941, a German U-boat sank <keyword id="13066527" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hms-ark-royal" source="Orion">HMS Ark Royal</keyword>, a British <keyword id="11898296" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="aircraft-carrier" source="Orion">aircraft carrier</keyword>.</li><li>Ark Royal had been a thorn in the side of the German navy during the early years of <keyword id="11938566" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="world-war-ii" source="Orion">World War II</keyword>.</li></ul><p>In December, as the British <keyword id="12018460" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="royal-navy" source="Orion">Royal Navy</keyword> destroyer Dragon sailed through the Mediterranean, its crew <a href="https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2021/december/01/211201-hms-dragon-ark-royal" target="_top">paused</a> for a moment of silence to pay tribute to HMS Ark Royal, a British aircraft carrier sunk by a German U-boat during World War II.</p><p>The ceremony, done a month after the 80th anniversary of Ark Royal's sinking on November 14, 1941, included Dragon's commanding officer, Cmdr. George Storton, casting a wreath into the water to remember the carrier, which is respected as one of the Royal Navy's most legendary ships.</p><p>Despite being in service for just over two years, Ark Royal — named for the flagship of the fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588 — played a pivotal role in some of the most important actions in the early years of the war.</p><h2><strong>A modern design</strong></h2><div type="image" title="British Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal" height="1249" width="2000" msid="89232549" hostid="261"></div><p>Laid down in September 1935, launched in April 1937, and commissioned in December 1938, HMS Ark Royal represented a modern approach to carrier design at the time.</p><p>It was Britain's first purpose-built fleet carrier. Apart from HMS Hermes, which had just about half the displacement of Ark Royal, the Royal Navy's previous carriers had all been converted from other vessels.</p><p>It was the first carrier in which the hangars and flight deck were an integral part of the ship's hull — rather than added onto the hull after its construction — and the flight deck was equipped with catapults and arresting cables to launch and recover aircraft.</p><p>Ark Royal was armed with 16 4.5-inch dual-purpose guns in eight double turrets (four on each side), six eight-barreled "pom-pom" guns, and eight four-barreled .50-caliber machine guns.</p><p>The carrier was designed to carry up to 70 aircraft, but during its construction the biplanes in use on carriers began being replaced by larger, heavier aircraft. By the time World War II started, Ark Royal's air wing numbered between 50 and 60 planes.</p><h2>Early action</h2><div type="image" title="HMS Ark Royal under bomb attack at Battle of Cape Spartivento" height="549" width="800" msid="89232550" hostid="261"></div><p>Ark Royal's first task during the war was to hunt for German U-boats in the Atlantic as part of "hunter-killer" groups.</p><p>On September 14, 1939, the German U-boat U-39 unsuccessfully attacked the carrier and was then pounced on by the destroyers accompanying Ark Royal. It became the first U-boat kill of the war.</p><p>After an air attack a few weeks later, the Germans triumphantly claimed to have sunk Ark Royal — the first of many times the Germans would falsely claim to have sunk the carrier.</p><p>Ark Royal was also involved in the hunt for the imposing German "pocket battleship" Admiral <keyword id="13066528" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="graf-spee" source="Orion">Graf Spee</keyword> in December 1939. After cornering Graf Spee in Montevideo, Uruguay, the British <a href="https://taskandpurpose.com/history/admiral-graf-spee-battleship-sinking/" target="_top">spread a rumor</a> that the carrier was on the scene. It was still days away, but the German captain was convinced the British had a superior force and scuttled Graf Spee, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/british-navy-sinks-german-ship-graf-spee-in-first-naval-battle-of-wwii-2017-12" target="_top">giving the British a much-needed victory</a>.</p><p>In spring 1940, the carrier helped support the Norway campaign, which failed to stop the German invasion there. That summer, Ark Royal deployed to the Mediterranean as part of Force H, and its air wing joined the <a href="https://www.historynet.com/operation-catapult-naval-destruction-at-mers-el-kebir.htm" target="_top">attack on the French warships at Mers-el-Kébir</a> to prevent their capture by the Axis.</p><p>The carrier proved essential protecting supply convoys to Malta. It also participated in the <a href="https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/operation-menace.html" target="_top">failed attack</a> on Vichy-held Dakar, Senegal, and fought in the inconclusive Battle of Cape Spartivento, where it was attacked by Italian aircraft.</p><h2>Hunt for <keyword id="12532574" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="bismarck" source="Orion">Bismarck</keyword></h2><div type="image" title="Blackburn Skua fighter-bombers on HMS Ark Royal" height="559" width="840" msid="89232551" hostid="261"></div><p>Ark Royal's best-known action occurred in the Atlantic in mid-1941, when it helped <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hunt-for-battleship-bismarck-proved-uboats-were-nazis-best-weapon-2021-5" target="_top">hunt down and sink the fearsome German battleship Bismarck</a>.</p><p>As Bismarck and the cruiser Prinz Eugen set sail for a commerce-raiding mission in May 1941, the Royal Navy battlecruiser Hood and battleship Prince of Wales attempted to intercept them at the Denmark Strait.</p><p>The encounter was a disaster for the British, who lost Hood, then the pride of the Royal Navy, and all but three of its 1,418-man crew. Prince of Wales was also heavily damaged.</p><p>Shocked and enraged at Hood's loss, Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered all of the Royal Navy's capital ships in the area to hunt down the Bismarck.</p><div type="image" title="British Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal with Swordfish" height="1322" width="2000" msid="89232552" hostid="261"></div><p>Ark Royal and the other ships of Force H steamed north from Gibraltar and found Bismarck as it was sailing to France on May 26. Ark Royal quickly launched 15 Swordfish torpedo-bombers carrying new torpedoes with magnetic detonators.</p><p>After mistaking the British cruiser Sheffield for Bismarck and attacking it — fortunately the magnetic detonators failed — the Swordfish returned and rearmed with torpedoes that had more reliable contact detonators. They took off again and attacked Bismarck just before sunset.</p><p>Three torpedoes hit Bismarck. Two struck amidships and caused minor damage while one damaged the rudder, forcing Bismarck into a continuous turn.</p><p>With Bismarck unable to get away, British warships arrived the next morning and pummeled the battleship relentlessly. The Germans attempted to scuttle it, and a British heavy cruiser finished it off with torpedoes. Only 115 of Bismarck's 2,221-man crew survived.</p><h2>Sinking</h2><div type="image" title="British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal sinking" height="1527" width="2000" msid="89232553" hostid="261"></div><p>Ark Royal repeatedly embarrassed the Germans by disproving their claims about sinking the carrier. But in November 1941, its luck finally ran out.</p><p>In the afternoon on November 13, as Ark Royal returned to Gibraltar from a convoy mission to Malta, the German submarine U-81 successfully attacked the carrier. A single torpedo struck its starboard side, ripping a 130-foot-by-30-foot hole well below the waterline.</p><p>Within 20 minutes, the ship had listed 18 degrees. Mindful of how quickly the carriers <a href="https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/32.html" target="_top">Courageous</a> and <a href="https://historyofyesterday.com/the-sinking-of-the-hms-glorious-ec522487d200" target="_top">Glorious</a> had sunk and the heavy losses — 518 and 1,207 men, respectively — Ark Royal's commanding officer, Capt. Loben Maund, ordered the crew to abandon ship.</p><div type="image" title="British Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal crew evacuates" height="1358" width="2000" msid="89232554" hostid="261"></div><p>Most of the crew boarded the destroyers escorting Ark Royal, while damage-control teams made an hours-long effort to save the carrier.</p><p>Their work, and an attempt to tow the carrier to Gibraltar, ultimately proved fruitless. Just after 6 a.m. on November 14, the carrier capsized and broke in two before sinking.</p><p>Amazingly, only one of Ark Royal's 1,749 crewmen, Able Seaman Edward Mitchell, was killed.</p><p>In 2002, nearly 61 years after the ship sank, divers hired by <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2585887.stm" target="_top">the BBC</a> found the wreck of Ark Royal under 3,500 feet of water some 30 miles east of Gibraltar.</p>

The British navy still celebrates a famous World War II aircraft carrier that gave Hitler fits

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Forty years ago, the <keyword id="11897975" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="uk" source="Orion">UK</keyword> and <keyword id="11935753" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="argentina" source="Orion">Argentina</keyword> went to war over the <keyword id="11894874" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="falkland-islands" source="Orion">Falkland Islands</keyword>.</li><li>The <keyword id="11894875" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="falklands-war" source="Orion">Falklands War</keyword> involved major operations by air, sea, and ground forces.</li></ul><p>In April 1982, Argentine commandos landed on the Falkland Islands, a remote, rugged archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean.</p><p>The Falklands were British territory that Argentina claimed, and the invasion came after years of tension between the British government and Argentina's ruling military junta.</p><p>Once on the ground, the Argentine special operators went straight to the British governor's house, the headquarters of the local government. The small garrison of Royal Marine Commandos barricaded itself there but surrendered after a short, fierce firefight.</p><p>Photos of captured British troops — marching with their arms up or laying flat on their bellies — were soon circulating around the world as Argentines celebrated in the streets, compounding the British sense of humiliation.</p><p>British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, facing her own domestic challenges, vowed a strong response. The clash that followed would be one of the biggest but least-remembered conflicts between major forces in the second half of the 20th century.</p><h2>A conflict of 'firsts'</h2><div type="image" title="Argentina navy General Belgrano Falklands War" height="1314" width="2000" msid="91454652" hostid="261"></div><p>The Falklands, only 300 miles from mainland Argentina, have been a sore point between Argentina and the UK for centuries. Argentina has disputed British control of the islands since British settlers colonized them in the 1800s.</p><p>In many ways, the Falklands War was a conflict of "firsts." Both sides had competent militaries with strong air, naval, and ground forces, making it the first major conventional combined-arms conflict since World War II.</p><p>On the afternoon of May 2, the British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror launched three Mark 8 torpedoes at ARA General Belgrano, an Argentine light cruiser. Two torpedoes found their target, sinking the warship and killing 323 of its 1,100-member crew.</p><p>Conqueror became <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2-submarines-sunk-warships-in-combat-since-world-war-ii-2021-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only the second submarine to sink a warship</a> in combat since World War II — a distinction it still holds.</p><p>As the British armada approached the islands in spring 1982, the famed British Special Air Service conducted <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sas-revisited-wwii-roots-in-daring-raid-during-falklands-war-2021-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">its largest commando raid since the end of World War II</a>.</p><div type="image" title="British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes Harrier Sea King" height="1322" width="2000" msid="91454653" hostid="261"></div><p>On the night of May 14, an SAS squadron of about 45 troops assaulted the Argentine airbase at Pebble Island. Argentine attack aircraft based there could threaten the British invasion force en route to the Falklands.</p><p>The raid was successful. The SAS operators destroyed all 11 aircraft at the airbase and knocked out a radar station without suffering any serious casualties. A few days later, however, 18 SAS troopers, some of whom had been at Pebble Island, were killed when a Sea King helicopter crashed into the Atlantic Ocean during a routine flight between ships.</p><p>The war almost saw another first at sea.</p><p>The two navies' aircraft carriers nearly engaged in what would have been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/falklands-war-almost-had-first-aircraft-carrier-battle-since-wwii-2021-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the first aircraft carrier battle since World War II</a>. Only weather prevented Argentina's ARA Veinticinco de Mayo and the UK's HMS Invincible and HMS Hermes from clashing in the South Atlantic.</p><p>Both navies maintained a strong concern about the other's anti-ship weapons throughout the war. Argentine missiles <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/british-navy-used-impromptu-aircraft-carriers-to-recapture-falklands-2021-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed one of the container ships</a> that the British converted into an aircraft carrier and the destroyer HMS Sheffield, the first Royal Navy warship sunk since World War II.</p><h2>Instructive to this day</h2><div type="image" title="Argentina armored car wreck in Falklands" height="1333" width="2000" msid="91454654" hostid="261"></div><p>Chinese military planners have studied the Falklands War with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-learns-lessons-about-seizing-taiwan-from-the-falklands-war-2021-4" target="_top">an eye toward potential similarities to a conflict with Taiwan</a>, especially if the US comes to <keyword id="12048018" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="taiwan" source="Orion">Taiwan</keyword>'s defense. Beijing sees Taiwan as a breakaway province and has vowed to absorb it, by force if necessary.</p><p>The Falklands and Taiwan are both relatively small and isolated. The UK is more than 8,000 miles from the Falklands. Taiwan is 1,700 miles from Guam, the US military's main hub in the Western Pacific, and about 5,100 miles from Pearl Harbor, the US Navy's home base in the Pacific.</p><p>Judging from Chinese military journals, <keyword id="11892748" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="china" source="Orion">China</keyword>'s People's Liberation Army <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/invasions-of-grenada-falklands-influence-china-thinking-about-taiwan-2022-3" target="_top">is</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/invasions-of-grenada-falklands-influence-china-thinking-about-taiwan-2022-3" target="_top"> paying particular attention to the role British special operators played</a> in the Falklands.</p><div type="image" title="Argentina veterans Dagger fighter jet Malvinas Falklands" height="1333" width="2000" msid="91454657" hostid="261"></div><p>The SAS and their naval brethren, the Special Boat Service, were crucial to the British victory.</p><p>The two units conducted direct-action operations, carried out special reconnaissance, coordinated long-range fires, and undertook unconventional-warfare missions — all of which enabled conventional British forces to defeat the Argentines and retake the Falklands.</p><p>The Chinese military might wish to replicate that British success, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chinas-special-operations-forces-are-taiwan-real-problem-not-warships-2021-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">using special-operations forces to undermine Taiwan's defenses</a> and open a path for conventional Chinese forces.</p><p>The Falklands War was one of the 20th century's most complex conflicts, but it has largely slipped from memory. Forty years on, however, it still informs the doctrine and planning of militaries around the world.</p><p><em>Stavros Atlamazoglou is a defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate.</em></p>

One of the 20th century's least-known major wars still has lessons for militaries 40 years later

<ul class="summary-list"><li>In 1922, US Navy collier <keyword id="13278694" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="uss-jupiter" source="Orion">USS Jupiter</keyword> was converted into the <keyword id="11898296" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="aircraft-carrier" source="Orion">aircraft carrier</keyword> <keyword id="13278693" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="uss-langley" source="Orion">USS Langley</keyword></li><li>Langley was the US Navy's first aircraft carrier, but it only spent 15 years in service in that role.</li></ul><p>On the morning of February 27, 1942, US Navy seaplane tender <a href="https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/langley-i.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USS Langley</a> and two destroyers broke off from a large Allied supply convoy and headed for the island of Java.</p><p>The Japanese were well into their invasion of the Dutch East Indies and were poised to attack Java. Langley was carrying cargo that was badly needed to defend the island: 32 Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters of the <a href="https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/american-underdogs-in-a-losing-battle/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">13th Pursuit Squadron</a>.</p><p>Just before noon, however, Japanese aircraft pounced on Langley. The onslaught sunk what was, for a few years at least, the US Navy's first aircraft carrier.</p><h2>The first carrier</h2><div type="image" title="USS Jupiter Navy collier" height="1187" width="1934" msid="89910668" hostid="261"></div><p>USS Langley began life not as a seaplane tender or an aircraft carrier but as the Proteus-class collier USS Jupiter.</p><p>Jupiter was laid down in 1911, launched in 1912, and commissioned into service in 1913. It was the Navy's first turbo-electric-powered ship, making it high-tech for a vessel that was not meant for combat.</p><p>The ship was used exclusively to transport personnel and supplies, particularly coal. It conducted the first ever west-to-east Panama Canal transit in 1914, dutifully carried out supply missions along the US's East and West coasts, and even conducted two coaling operations in France during World War I.</p><p>After Jupiter brought troops back to the US from Europe in 1919, it was decided to convert it into an aircraft carrier. Britain's <a href="https://www.militaryfactory.com/ships/detail.php?ship_id=HMS-Argus-I49" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HMS Argus</a> had shown the value of such a vessel, and with <a href="https://www.militaryfactory.com/ships/detail.php?ship_id=HMS-Hermes-95" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HMS Hermes</a> under construction, the US did not want to fall behind.</p><p>The conversion process began in 1920 and finished in 1922. In March of that year, the ship was recommissioned as USS Langley and designated CV-1, the US Navy's first carrier designation.</p><div type="image" title="Navy USS Langley aircraft carrier landing" height="577" width="800" msid="89910669" hostid="261"></div><p>The upper sections of its seven coal cranes were removed and their bases were used to support the new flight deck. Langley could carry 36 biplanes in a hanger below the flight deck, which was mostly open-air.</p><p>Its original complement of four 4-inch guns was replaced by four 5-inch guns, and a catapult was installed.</p><p>The carrier was nicknamed "Covered Wagon" by its crew because it resembled a pioneer wagon when viewed from below the flight deck.</p><p>Seven months after its recommissioning, Lt. Virgil C. Griffin flew the first plane — a Vought VE-7 — off its deck. Nine days later, Lt. Cmdr. G. DeC. Chevalier made the first landing on the carrier.</p><p>The following month, the ship's captain, Cmdr. Kenneth Whiting, became the first aviator to be catapulted from Langley's deck.</p><h2>Another change and wartime service</h2><div type="image" title="Navy USS Langley aircraft carrier takeoff" height="1618" width="2136" msid="89910670" hostid="261"></div><p>Langley spent 12 years with the Navy's Pacific Fleet. It operated mostly in the waters off Hawaii and California as a training and testing platform for sailors and pilots to inform future carrier operations.</p><p>By 1936, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-us-navy-aircraft-carriers-supercarriers-to-ford-class-2020-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the US Navy had commissioned larger, purpose-built carriers</a>, and Langley's deck and hangars were too small for modern carrier planes. The ship was decommissioned yet again in order to undergo another conversion.</p><p>In 1937, Langley was recommissioned <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/flying-boats-seaplanes-competition-with-china-in-pacific-2021-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as a seaplane tender</a> and given the designation AV-3. With the removal of the forward 40% of its flight deck, the ship's bridge was visible again.</p><p>It was assigned once more to the Pacific Fleet, serving mostly in a scouting and support role. It was sent to Manila in 1939 and was anchored nearby when the US's war with Japan began on December 7, 1941.</p><div type="image" title="USS Langley" height="1500" width="2000" msid="89910671" hostid="261"></div><p>Unable to offer much resistance on its own, Langley withdrew to the Dutch East Indies and then arrived in Darwin, Australia, on January 1, 1942.</p><p>Now part of the hastily assembled <a href="https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/abda-the-unsuccessful-band-of-brothers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">American-British-Dutch-Australian Command</a>, Langley operated out of Darwin and supported anti-submarine patrols until January 11, when it was tasked with transportation duties to support the defense of the Dutch East Indies.</p><p>Langley, with its cargo of P-40s, departed Freemantle, Australia, on February 22 as part of a larger convoy before meeting its escorts, USS Whipple and <a href="https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/e/edsall-i.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USS Edsall</a>, on the morning of February 27. The three ships then headed for the port city of Tjilatjap in Java.</p><p>Unknown to Langley and its escorts, they had been spotted by a Japanese reconnaissance plane. Around 11:40 a.m., Japanese Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bombers arrived from Bali and attacked.</p><div type="image" title="USS Langley is torpedoed" height="859" width="2000" msid="89910672" hostid="261"></div><p>Langley took five hits, which destroyed many of the planes it carried, impaired its steering, and caused a 10-degree list to port. With water flooding the engines, the ship soon went dead in the water. The order to abandon ship was given at 1:32 p.m.</p><p>All but 16 of the crew managed to evacuate to Whipple and Edsall. The escorts then fired nine 4-inch shells and two torpedoes into Langley to ensure it wouldn't fall into Japanese hands. Langley's survivors were then transferred to the nearby oiler <a href="https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/p/pecos-i.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USS Pecos</a>.</p><p>Two days after Langley was lost, Pecos was sunk by aircraft from the Japanese carrier Sōryū. Whipple managed to recover 232 survivors, but the destroyer left behind more than 400 other members of Langley's and Pecos' crews because it feared attacks by Japanese submarines.</p>

The short, historic life of the US Navy's first aircraft carrier

<ul class="summary-list"><li>After Argentina captured the <keyword id="11894874" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="falkland-islands" source="Orion">Falkland Islands</keyword> in 1982, the British navy sailed south to retake them.</li><li>The <keyword id="11894875" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="falklands-war" source="Orion">Falklands War</keyword> was one of the largest conflicts since World War II and featured major operations.</li></ul><p>In 1982, after years of simmering tensions, Argentina and the UK went to war over a small island chain in the South Atlantic.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/falklands-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Falklands War</a> was one of the largest conflicts since World War II and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sas-revisited-wwii-roots-in-daring-raid-during-falklands-war-2021-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">featured major operations</a>. British special operators <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-daring-british-sas-mission-during-falklands-war-went-wrong-2021-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raided deep inside Argentina</a>, submarines and aircraft attacked and sank warships, and infantry fought hand-to-hand for strategically located hills.</p><p>The Falklands War is also notable for a near-miss: The war almost had the first <keyword id="11898296" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="aircraft-carrier" source="Orion">aircraft carrier</keyword> clash since World War II.</p><h2>A war long coming</h2><div type="image" title="Sea Harrier jump jets on British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes" height="1295" width="2000" msid="88169820" hostid="261"></div><p>Located almost 8,000 miles south of the UK but only 300 miles east of Argentina, the Falkland Islands were a point of contention between the two nations ever since the British colonized them in the 19th century.</p><p>Argentina's junta ordered the invasion in spring 1982, partly to distract the Argentine public from the country's deepening socioeconomic problems and the junta's own abuses. Argentine leaders didn't think the British would go to war over a small group of islands where a few thousand people tended to a sheep-driven economy.</p><p>But British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/09/margaret-thatcher-falklands-gamble" target="_top">facing</a> her own domestic struggles, responded forcefully to the crisis, galvanizing the British people.</p><p>A task force of over British 100 ships sailed to war in the remote South Atlantic, and the Argentines prepared to intercept them before they arrived.</p><h2>The <keyword id="12500522" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="aircraft-carriers" source="Orion">aircraft carriers</keyword></h2><div type="image" title="Royal Navy crewmen aboard aircraft carrier HMS Hermes" height="1278" width="2000" msid="88169821" hostid="261"></div><p>The Falkland War found the British military in a bad state. Every service branch had been gradually downsizing since the end of World War II.</p><p>While reductions to the wartime military were essential for the British economy, deep cuts by successive Labor and Tory governments left the <keyword id="12018460" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="royal-navy" source="Orion">Royal Navy</keyword> only able to provide two small aircraft carriers — HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible — to protect the British task force.</p><p>The two carriers could only carry about 20 <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pepsi-legal-battle-with-college-student-over-harrier-jet-2021-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sea Harrier fighter jets</a>, short-take-off and vertical-landing (STOVL) aircraft that didn't need a "regular" flattop to operate. The two carriers had distinctive ski-jump ramps on their bows to aid the Harriers during takeoff.</p><div type="image" title="ARA Veinticinco de Mayo aircraft carrier" height="1116" width="2000" msid="88169824" hostid="261"></div><p>British also converted <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/british-navy-used-impromptu-aircraft-carriers-to-recapture-falklands-2021-9" target="_top">transport and cargo ships into aircraft carriers</a>. The converted ships were mainly meant to deliver aircraft to the true carriers, but they could also launch Sea Harriers and helicopters.</p><p>The Argentines weren't in much better shape. Their navy could only field one second-hand aircraft carrier, the 40-year-old ARA Veinticinco de Mayo, which was first commissioned into the Royal Navy. It was later sold to the Dutch, in whose service it suffered a fire that damaged its boilers, before finding its way to Argentina.</p><p>These forces almost clashed in what would have been the most significant naval battle since World War II.</p><h2>A near-run thing</h2><div type="image" title="Veinticinco de Mayo aircraft carrier" height="480" width="850" msid="88169825" hostid="261"></div><p>On May 1, 1982, as the British task force was approaching the Falklands, the Argentines prepared to strike, massing an armada of one cruiser, five destroyers, three corvettes, and the ARA Veinticinco de Mayo. Dozens of land-based aircraft would provide air cover.</p><p>The plan was to launch eight A-4Q Skyhawks from the ARA Veinticinco de Mayo to strike the British aircraft carriers, allowing other warships to get within range to launch their deadly Exocet anti-ship missiles against the slow-sailing transport ships carrying the British troops.</p><p>The Argentine ships spotted the British ships on May 1. Argentinian pilots prepared to take off from ARA Veinticinco de Mayo, but <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/40-years-ago-calm-winds-stopped-british-and-argentinian-navies-fighting-death-178315" target="_top">the weather</a> had other plans.</p><p>Aircraft carriers have always used the wind to help launch aircraft. Modern-day carriers still conduct flight operations while sailing into the wind.</p><div type="image" title="Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Hermes" height="1597" width="2000" msid="88169828" hostid="261"></div><p>The ARA Veinticinco de Mayo was an older carrier with a relatively small flight deck and limited speed due to its earlier boiler damage. That made it even more dependent on wind to launch aircraft. The A-4Q Skyhawks' heavy bomb loads only deepened their need for wind.</p><p>The forecast on that day predicted there wouldn't be sufficient wind to launch aircraft for at least 12 hours. The Argentine carrier didn't have that much time. On the evening of May 1, British aircraft — guided by US-provided intelligence — spotted the Argentine ships.</p><p>The Argentines wouldn't put their sole carrier at risk, and the Veinticinco de Mayo retreated. British forces <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvvLxC1rvrQ&amp;ab_channel=MarkFeltonProductions" target="_top">pursued</a> but were unable to catch the carrier before it reached safer waters.</p><p>Each side's window of opportunity to strike the other's carriers had closed, and the largest aircraft carrier clash since World War II was prevented.</p><div type="image" title="Sea Harrier approaches the container ship and aircraft carrier Atlantic Conveyor" height="1590" width="2000" msid="88169829" hostid="261"></div><p>The war did see major losses at sea.</p><p>On May 2, after following ARA General Belgrano for days, British nuclear-powered submarine HMS Conqueror sunk the Argentine cruiser, killing more than 300 sailors in what became one of the war's most controversial actions.</p><p>One of the converted flattops was also sunk. Atlantic Conveyor was struck by at least one air-launched Exocet anti-ship missile on May 25, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/british-navy-used-impromptu-aircraft-carriers-to-recapture-falklands-2021-9" target="_top">igniting ammunition and fuel stores</a>. Several crew members were killed, and the ship was left unusable. It sunk three days later.</p><p><em>Stavros Atlamazoglou is a defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate.</em></p>

A 1982 war in the remote South Atlantic almost sparked the first aircraft-carrier clash since World War II

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Almost 40 years ago, Argentina and Great Britain's long dispute over the <keyword id="11894874" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="falkland-islands" source="Orion">Falkland Islands</keyword> escalated.</li><li>The Argentines invaded the South Atlantic islands and the British counterattacked.</li><li>At the core of the British campaign were special-operations troops, who launched one of the largest SAS operations since World War II.</li></ul><p>Almost 40 years ago, Argentina and Great Britain went to war for a small patch of land in the South Atlantic.</p><p>Their long dispute over the Falkland Islands escalated in 1982, when the Argentines invaded and the British counterattacked.</p><p>At the core of the British campaign were special-operations troops: the <keyword id="11894872" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="special-air-service" source="Orion">Special Air Service</keyword> (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS).</p><p>During the opening stages of the British effort, the SAS were called in to take out an Argentine airbase that posed a threat to the Royal Navy. Their mission would become one of the largest SAS operations since the end of World War II.</p><h2><keyword id="11894876" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pebble-island" source="Orion">Pebble Island</keyword></h2><div type="image" title="Pebble Island in the Falkland Islands" height="1014" width="1532" msid="85457608" hostid="261"></div><p>Less than 10 miles long, Pebble Island was located just north of West Falkland, the second-largest of the Falkland Islands.</p><p>Pebble Island had a small civilian settlement with its own airstrip. When the Argentines invaded, they discerned the strategic value of the location and quickly went to work upgrading the small airstrip to a potent airbase and early-warning facility.</p><p>The Argentine Air Force relocated several aircraft there and built a radar station while planning to deploy hundreds of troops to protect what was becoming a major airbase.</p><p>The Pebble Island airbase housed several Argentine Pucara ground-attack aircraft and modified T-34 Turbo Mento aircraft that could damage or sink the cumbersome and slow British amphibious landing ships.</p><p>The Argentine Air Force fielded a hodgepodge fleet, including US-made A-4 Skyhawks, French-made Super Etendards and Mirage IIIs, Israeli-made Daggers, and UK-made English Electric Canberras. It was a fearsome and valiant opponent that came very close on its own to winning the conflict for Argentina.</p><p>The closeness of the small civilian settlement to the airbase precluded an air attack, so British commanders turned to their special-operations troops.</p><p>Although the main British armada was still far away, British special-operations forces had been operating in the Falklands for weeks, conducting reconnaissance operations to prepare the incoming force.</p><h2>In and out</h2><div type="image" title="British commands on HMS Hermes during Falklands War" height="1332" width="2000" msid="85457609" hostid="261"></div><p>On the night of May 11, a special-operations Sea King helicopter from the 846 Squadron, the pilots of which had just begun using night-vision goggles, inserted an eight-man team from D Squadron's boat troop at Keppel Island, a smaller island just across a sound from Pebble Island.</p><p>The SAS team was there to find the location and number of Argentine aircraft and their defenses. Their reports would inform their colleagues who were gearing up to assault the airbase.</p><p>The SAS reconnaissance team crossed the sound's freezing waters with Klepper canoes. Once ashore, six men found a hiding position while two commandos went forward and set up an observation post from which they could watch the airbase.</p><p>The SAS men rotated shifts between the hiding place and the observation post for the next two days, avoiding Argentine patrols and sending back crucial intelligence.</p><p>Meanwhile, the rest of D Squadron, about 45 men, was on standby to conduct the raid. When the reconnaissance was over, they would insert on Pebble Island, link up with the reconnaissance team, and proceed to the target.</p><div type="image" title="Argentina Air Force Skyhawk fighter jets" height="1239" width="2000" msid="85457611" hostid="261"></div><p>The SAS troopers were ready for anything. Besides their individual M-16 rifles, they carried LAW 66 anti-tank rockets, GPMG machine guns, high-explosive satchels, and even an 81 mm mortar.</p><p>Each commando carried at least 80 pounds of gear, including 400 to 600 rounds of machine-gun ammunition and two mortar rounds that they would give to the fire-support elements just before the raid began.</p><p>The assault force would take off from HMS Hermes, one of the two British aircraft carriers.</p><p>Because of the danger posed by the Argentine Air Force and the value of Hermes to the British campaign, the ship couldn't operate close to the Falklands during daytime. So the SAS troopers had only a few hours to launch, destroy the airbase, and return to the ship before dawn.</p><p>The recon team spotted 11 aircraft, which they believed to be real and not decoys, and radioed back. The mission was on.</p><h2>The raid on Pebble Island</h2><div type="image" title="British Royal Navy Falklands War" height="1282" width="2000" msid="85457613" hostid="261"></div><p>On the night of May 14, three Sea King helicopters inserted the assault force 5 miles from the airbase, where they linked up with the recon element. The mission started an hour late after one of the choppers had a malfunction just before takeoff.</p><p>Time was running out, so the SAS troopers ran the 5 miles to the airbase. Some elements got lost on the way, but all were in their positions by 7 a.m. on May 15, when a nearby destroyer started bombarding the Argentine barracks.</p><p>This was the signal for the attack, and the SAS got to work, planting explosives on the aircraft and destroying the radar and barracks.</p><p>The raid was planned for 15 minutes, but it took 45. By the end, everything had been destroyed, including the 11 aircraft. Two members of the SAS assault force were lightly wounded before getting extracted.</p><div type="image" title="Argentina troops soldiers prisoners Falklands War" height="1265" width="2000" msid="85457614" hostid="261"></div><p>"The operation came at an opportune time. It served, so to speak, as a grand rehearsal before the landings that were scheduled to take place in a few days," a retired SAS officer told Insider.</p><p>"Hitherto, we had conducted mostly recces [reconnaissance operations] in South Georgia and the main [Falkland] islands," the retired officer said. "Pebble Island presented us with an opportunity to test our combat mettle. It was a basic but brilliant operation worthy of the Regiment's annals."</p><p>Only a few days after the raid, however, disaster struck. During a routine daylight cross-decking operations between ships, a Sea King helicopter crammed with SAS troopers from D and G Squadrons crashed into the ocean after a bird hit its engines.</p><p>Eighteen commandos, some of whom had participated in the Pebble Island raid, were killed in what was the single worst loss of life for the SAS since the end of World War II.</p><p><em>Stavros Atlamazoglou is a defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate.</em></p>

The elite SAS went back to their World War II roots on a daring 1980s mission to protect the British fleet

<ul class="summary-list"><li>This month, <keyword id="11940053" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="us-marine-corps" source="Orion">US Marine Corps</keyword> F-35Bs landed on and took off aboard Japanese warship Izumo.</li><li>It was the first time a fixed-wing aircraft has operated from a Japanese <keyword id="11898296" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="aircraft-carrier" source="Orion">aircraft carrier</keyword> in 75 years.</li></ul><p>As China increases the size and capability of its military, <keyword id="6355311" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="japan" source="Orion">Japan</keyword> has responded by adapting its Self-Defense Force to meet what it sees as a growing threat.</p><p>Japan has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-chinas-marine-corps-compares-to-japans-amphibious-force-2020-8" target="_top">created</a> its first amphibious military unit since World War II and <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/06/japans-mhi-launches-noshiro-%E3%80%8C%E3%81%AE%E3%81%97%E3%82%8D%E3%80%8Dthird-30ffm-mogami-class-frigate-for-the-jmsdf/" target="_top">launched</a> a new class of high-tech frigates, and it's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/japan-rethinks-tank-use-to-prepare-for-potential-china-clash-2021-4" target="_top">restructuring</a> its tank force to be lighter and more mobile and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/missile-race-heats-up-in-asia-amid-concerns-about-china-2021-7" target="_top">building up its missile capabilities</a>.</p><p>Perhaps the most eye-opening move, though, is the conversion of its two <a href="https://www.mod.go.jp/msdf/equipment/ships/ddh/izumo/" target="_top">Izumo-class</a> helicopter carriers into dedicated aircraft carriers.</p><p>On Sunday, two US Marine Corps F-35Bs landed on and took off from the deck of the Izumo, the lead ship of the class - <a href="https://www.dvidshub.net/news/406706/marine-corps-f-35b-conduct-first-landing-aboard-js-izumo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the first time</a> a fixed-wing aircraft has operated from a Japanese carrier in 75 years.</p><p>The test is just the first step toward Japan getting its first carriers since World War II.</p><h2>Early adapter</h2><div type="image" title="Japanese aircraft carrier Hosho" height="1300" width="2000" msid="86871180" hostid="261"></div><p>Japan has a long history with flattops, commissioning its first, <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/meet-hosho-first-%E2%80%98true%E2%80%99-aircraft-carrier-194642" target="_top">Hōshō</a>, in 1922.</p><p>Hōshō was the world's first purpose-built carrier to enter service, beating HMS Hermes, which the British Royal Navy began constructing almost three years earlier.</p><p>Japan was one of the first countries to use carriers effectively. Their employment against China in the 1930s gave the Japanese considerable experience compared to their Western counterparts and led to better designs for Japanese carriers and carrier aircraft as well as high training standards.</p><p>By 1941, some of Japan's carriers were widely considered to be the best in the world. The Japanese navy used coordinated formations of multiple carriers, which showed their strength at Pearl Harbor and then helped Japan dominate the Pacific for the first six months of the war.</p><p>But while Japan started the war with one of the best carrier forces in service, it <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/we-now-know-why-imperial-japan-didnt-keep-building-aircraft-carriers-fight-america-108561" target="_top">couldn't match the industrial might of the US</a>, which built newer carriers and warships far more quickly and in much higher numbers.</p><p>By the end of the war, all the carriers Japan had in service had been sunk or damaged, and it lacked the manpower or resources to finish building the ones it had under construction.</p><h2>Aircraft-carrying warships</h2><div type="image" title="Japan Maritime Self Defense Force ship JS Haruna" height="1328" width="2000" msid="86871183" hostid="261"></div><p>After the war, Japan adopted a pacifist constitution. As a result, the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) never fielded carriers because of their traditionally offensive nature.</p><p>By the 1960s, however, the JMSDF had grown worried about the threat from increasingly sophisticated Soviet submarines and wanted ships capable of carrying helicopters for anti-submarine-warfare (ASW) operations.</p><p>The first of these ships were the two <a href="http://www.military-today.com/navy/haruna_class.htm" target="_top">Harun</a><a href="http://www.military-today.com/navy/haruna_class.htm" target="_top">a</a><a href="http://www.military-today.com/navy/haruna_class.htm" target="_top">-class</a> destroyers Haruna and Hiei. Commissioned in 1973 and 1974, respectively, they each had a large central hangar that carried three SH-3 Sea King and later SH-60K helicopters, and flew from a flight deck on the aft part of the ship.</p><p>In addition to the helicopters, the destroyers were armed with two Mk. 42 5-inch guns, two Phalanx close-in weapon systems, a single eight-barreled Sea Sparrow SAM launcher, an <a href="https://weaponsystems.net/system/581-RUR-5%20ASROC" target="_top">ASROC</a> launcher with eight barrels, and two triple torpedo tubes.</p><div type="image" title="Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Hyūga-class helicopter destroyer Ise" height="1331" width="2000" msid="86871185" hostid="261"></div><p>The Haruna-class was followed by the <a href="http://www.military-today.com/navy/shirane_class.htm" target="_top">Shi</a><a href="http://www.military-today.com/navy/shirane_class.htm" target="_top">r</a><a href="http://www.military-today.com/navy/shirane_class.htm" target="_top">ane-class</a> destroyers, Shirane and Kurama, which were commissioned in 1980 and 1981, respectively, and were similarly armed.</p><p>In 1998, the JMSDF commissioned the first of three <a href="https://www.mod.go.jp/msdf/equipment/ships/lst/osumi/" target="_top">Ōsumi-class</a> tank landing ships. The Ōsumis have a flattop deck and can carry multiple helicopters and amphibious vehicles. While similar in appearance to amphibious assault ships, they are used primarily for transportation duties.</p><p>In 2009, the JMSDF commissioned the helicopter destroyer Hyūga, the first of <a href="https://www.mod.go.jp/msdf/equipment/ships/ddh/hyuga/" target="_top">its class</a>. It has a 646-foot flattop deck and can carry up to 11 helicopters, mainly MCH-101s and SH-60Ks. It's armed with 16 Mk 41 vertical launch system cells, two Phalanx close-in weapon systems, and two triple torpedo tubes.</p><p>A second Hyūga-class vessel, Ise, was commissioned in 2011. Both ships are tasked primarily with ASW missions, and are classified as "escort ships" by the JMSDF.</p><h2>Japan's biggest ships</h2><div type="image" title="FILE PHOTO: File picture of Japanese helicopter carrier Kaga taking part in a joint naval drill with Japanese destroyer Inazuma and British frigate HMS Argyll (not in the picture) in the Indian Ocean, September 26, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo" height="3334" width="5075" msid="86871187" hostid="261"></div><p>Hyūga and Ise were the JMSDF's largest ships until Izumo, which was launched in 2013 and commissioned in 2015.</p><p>Izumo and its sister-ship, Kaga, are both 813 feet long, and, like the Hyūgas, were helicopter-carriers intended for ASW operations.</p><p>However, in 2018, after years of speculation, the Japanese government confirmed that it would convert the Izumo-class ships into aircraft carriers and that it would buy 42 F-35Bs with short-takeoff and vertical-landing capability.</p><p>It's not clear how many aircraft each ship can deploy with, but the conversion may allow them to carry well over a dozen helicopters and fighter jets.</p><div type="image" title="JS Izumo in Japan" height="1333" width="2000" msid="86871190" hostid="261"></div><p>The first phase of modification for Izumo began in 2020 and was <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/07/japans-izumo-helicopter-destroyer-modified-to-operate-f-35b-fighters/#prettyPhoto" target="_top">completed</a> in July. The ship now has a distinctive yellow line similar to that on the US Navy's <a href="https://www.naval-technology.com/projects/americaclassamphibio/" target="_top">America-class</a> amphibious assault ships. Izumo's deck was also given heat-resistant coating.</p><p>The second phase of modification is planned to start around early 2025 and will involve changing the bow from its current trapezoidal shape to one that is rectangular, as well as changes to the ship's interior.</p><p>Kaga is planned to begin its first phase of modification around early 2022, and the work is expected to take 14 months.</p><p>Japan hopes to acquire its first 18 F-35Bs in 2023 or early 2024. They will be flown by Japan's air force and be based at Nyutabaru Air Base in Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four largest islands. The jets will embark on the carriers only in select situations.</p><h2>More aircraft, more options</h2><div type="image" title="Marine Corps F-35B lands on Japanese ship Izumo" height="1333" width="2000" msid="86871191" hostid="261"></div><p>The decision to convert the ships into carriers was prompted by China. Beijing has adopted an aggressive foreign policy, particularly in dealing with territorial disputes, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/despite-china-tensions-countries-dont-see-better-offer-from-us-2021-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">that has alarmed many of its neighbors</a>.</p><p>In 2018, Japan <a href="https://warp.da.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/11591426/www.mod.go.jp/j/approach/agenda/guideline/2019/pdf/20181218_e.pdf" target="_top">ac</a><a href="https://warp.da.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/11591426/www.mod.go.jp/j/approach/agenda/guideline/2019/pdf/20181218_e.pdf" target="_top">c</a><a href="https://warp.da.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/11591426/www.mod.go.jp/j/approach/agenda/guideline/2019/pdf/20181218_e.pdf" target="_top">used</a> China of engaging in "unilateral, coercive attempts to alter the status quo based on its own assertions that are incompatible with existing <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international" source="Orion">international</keyword> order."</p><p>Particularly worrying for Japan are China's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chinas-coast-guard-ships-worrying-japan-scrambling-to-keep-up-2021-2" target="_top">acti</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chinas-coast-guard-ships-worrying-japan-scrambling-to-keep-up-2021-2" target="_top">ons</a> around the Senkaku Islands, a group of uninhabited islands north of Taiwan that are administered by Japan but claimed by China as the Diaoyu Islands.</p><p>China's navy, which is the largest in the world and is still growing, includes two aircraft carriers with a third <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/09/02/chinas-type-003-aircraft-carrier-will-be-advanced-but-not-a-game-changer-for-us-experts-say/" target="_top">on the way</a>. It also has one <a href="https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/01/china-launches-3rd-type-075-lhd-for-the-plan/" target="_top">Type 075 amphibious assault ship</a> in service and two more in the water. China's air force and naval aircraft give it the largest aviation force in the region, according to the <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2020/Sep/01/2002488689/-1/-1/1/2020-DOD-CHINA-MILITARY-POWER-REPORT-FINAL.PDF" target="_top">Pentagon</a>.</p><p>In the face of China's growing air and naval fleets, the new carriers will enable Japan to bring its own aircraft to bear from multiple directions and will allow Japanese, US, and <a href="https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defence/royal-navy-flagship-hms-queen-elizabeth-woos-the-japanese-as-she-joins-major-military-drill-in-the-pacific-3379540" target="_top">maybe even European</a> F-35Bs to operate from each other's ships.</p>

You Searched For "hms hermes" and got 8 results

A high-seas chase in the South Atlantic 40 years ago almost ended with the first aircraft carrier sunk in combat since World War II

Benjamin Brimelow

58 years, 2 navies, one war: A short history of one of the world's longest-serving aircraft carriers

Stavros Atlamazoglou

The British navy still celebrates a famous World War II aircraft carrier that gave Hitler fits

Benjamin Brimelow

One of the 20th century's least-known major wars still has lessons for militaries 40 years later

Stavros Atlamazoglou

The short, historic life of the US Navy's first aircraft carrier

Benjamin Brimelow

A 1982 war in the remote South Atlantic almost sparked the first aircraft-carrier clash since World War II

Stavros Atlamazoglou

The elite SAS went back to their World War II roots on a daring 1980s mission to protect the British fleet

Stavros Atlamazoglou

Japan is converting its 2 biggest warships into aircraft carriers, and US Marines are helping it train to use them

Benjamin Brimelow