The Royal Navy and the Falklands War

by David Brown

This military history reveals the untold story of the United Kingdom's Royal and Merchant Navies during the Falkland's War.Soldiers and journalists alike wasted no time in memorializing the campaign to recapture the Falkland Islands after the Argentinian invasion in April, 1982. With the overwhelming focus on the role of the Army, the vital contributions of the Royal and Merchant Navies have been largely overlooked. Yet no British military forces would have been there at all had the Royal Navy not provided the necessary transport, not to mention air cover and bombardment support.In this book, naval historian David Brown tells the extraordinary story of how the fleet was assembled. Merchant-ships ranging from luxury liners such as the SS Canberra to cargo-carriers of every description were quickly converted to their new role as STUFTs, or Ships Taken Up From Trade. Brown describes the stupendous problems presented by the assembling and stowing of the thousands of tons of stores and equipment needed by the Expeditionary Forces and the way in which these problems were solved.

Genres: Military Fiction

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A weird 19th century war happening in the 1980's. Detailed military action, day by day well described by the autor. The British had chosen to do away with attack carrier vessels (CVA) seeing them as too expensive and a drain on financial resources. So they had to make do with an Invincible class carrier and the old Hermes. Both vessels could carry 22-24 Sea Harrier jets together and these were not really designed for CAP (Combat Air Patrol) or acting as an interceptor. Transforming cargo vessels into helicopter and GR3 Harrier transport vessels proved to be a good stop gap measure on very short notice. Not having a CVA meant no dedicated radar planes offering long distance warning and no bona fide interceptors. Which probably was responsible for most of the losses to missile attacks (Exocet) coming from planes refueled in flight coming from Argentina. In the fight you had British and French equipment being use by both sides. The whole thing which was so costly to both economies proved to be a catastrophe for the military junta of Argentina. In the final analysis, Great Britain felt it had to defend a territory which did not have a high strategic value. Looking at the recent introduction of the Elizabeth class of CVA (except for the US CVA, these are the most powerful attack carriers with the Charles de Gaulle) one can figure that this strategic choice is in response to the lessons learned in this conflict, a rare classic military confrontation between two countries where modern warfare equipment was put to the test.

[Craig Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent synopsis of the Falklands War. Brown goes into great detail on the naval aspects of the conflict. He weaves the land battle seamlessly into the narrative. The use of British terminology and idioms can be confusing to the American reader but not overly so. I would have liked to see a better use of maps throughout the book to keep the reader abreast of the naval movements and flight movements. The most outstanding aspect was the inclusion of b&w photos that I had never seen before. I was most surprised by the vast number of ships utilized by the British. I was also surprised by the number of Harriers and helicopters available for the fight. Til now I had been under the impression that the lack of aircraft made the British fight a close run thing.

[Mr D Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

A very authoritative account and good to see an account focused for the most part on the naval element. So much more could have been added though and I know that because I was there. But then, how much can you cram into one book about a whole war? I will no doubt read it again.

[Martin Chlebek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even when published a few years after the war with limited knowledge of events from the Argentinian side and some materials classified in those times, it's still worth reading.