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Four Weeks in May: The Loss of "HMS Coventry"
In March, 1982, the guided-missile destroyer HMS Coventry was one of a small squadron of ships on exercise off Gibraltar. By the end of April that year she was sailing south in the vanguard of the Task Force towards the Falklands. As diplomacy failed, crisis became conflict. By the time the ship left Ascension Island, its company knew war was inevitable—a war in which they would be in the front line. For Coventry, the war began in earnest on May 1. Her job was to be "on picket" to the north west of the islands. She was to provide early warning of approaching enemy aircraft from the west, and fend off any incoming threat to the highly valuable ships and aircraft behind her. On May 25, Coventry was attacked by two Argentine Skyhawks, and hit by three bombs. The explosions tore out most of her port side and killed 19 of the crew, leaving many others injured—mostly by burns. Within 20 minutes she had capsized, and was to sink early the next day. In her final moments, when all those not killed by the explosions had been evacuated from the ship, her Captain, David Hart Dyke, himself badly burned, climbed down her starboard side and into a life raft. This is his compelling and moving story.
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First published January 13, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 8, 2012
I was ten during the Falklands Crisis - in fact the islands were liberated on my eleventh birthday - but I still remember the events incredibly clearly. Spurs beat QPR in the FA Cup final with the Spurs fans displaying a banner that said “Argentina can keep the Falklands if we can keep Ardiles and Villa” or some such nonsense (but that’s Spurs fans for you). Our family were on our summer holidays during half-term in the south-west when HMS Sheffield became the first ship to be sunk by the Argentinians; in fact I remember my dad tell me and my sister to behave ourselves the day after the Sheffield was lost when we visited Plymouth that day.
HMS Coventry was another Type-42 destroyer that was not to return to Portsmouth from the South Atlantic and this gripping book by the captain tells the truly heroic story of the crew aboard that vessel in the lead up to the invasion and their deployment, right through to the ship’s sinking and their return home aboard QE2. I remember watching QE2 steam into Southampton on the television news with the crews of HMS Ardent and HMS Antelope - two other ships sunk protecting the amphibious landing at San Carlos Water - with the company of Coventry holding aloft a banner bearing the name of their lost vessel.
The aftermath of the conflict; the memorial services, correspondence with the families of the men that did not return and the laying down of the keel of the vessel that was to continue to hold the battle honours belonging to HMS Coventry complete this fine memoir of the first conflict (though sadly, not the last) where the brave warriors of my nation were put into harm's way in my lifetime.
HMS Coventry was another Type-42 destroyer that was not to return to Portsmouth from the South Atlantic and this gripping book by the captain tells the truly heroic story of the crew aboard that vessel in the lead up to the invasion and their deployment, right through to the ship’s sinking and their return home aboard QE2. I remember watching QE2 steam into Southampton on the television news with the crews of HMS Ardent and HMS Antelope - two other ships sunk protecting the amphibious landing at San Carlos Water - with the company of Coventry holding aloft a banner bearing the name of their lost vessel.
The aftermath of the conflict; the memorial services, correspondence with the families of the men that did not return and the laying down of the keel of the vessel that was to continue to hold the battle honours belonging to HMS Coventry complete this fine memoir of the first conflict (though sadly, not the last) where the brave warriors of my nation were put into harm's way in my lifetime.
December 22, 2023
My uncle didn't fight in the Falklands War but he got a job after the war as a labourer based there to help with reconstruction around the airport so I've always had an interest in hearing about the islands and reading about the war. I'd previously read about an Special Forces unit and their missions there so I was keen to read this one.
It's a good book. It gives you an idea of the layout of the ship, who the important people are, a bit of history of the ship in its various forms, the battles that Coventry have fought in, and a bit of backstory on the author himself. He talks about some members of his crew and gives an insight into what life is like on one of these warships.
The book begins with Coventry on a training mission with other ships while Argentine aggression over the Falklands is being discussed in government. It means that Coventry, instead of going home after the exercise, is deployed instantly to start heading south with no prior warning, which is a shock to everyone on board. We follow their journey down to what has now become a war zone, see the preparations involved, and get an idea of how well everyone did to get that task force deployed and ready to fight so quickly.
The book follows Coventry through the war at sea in May, detailing the various attacks that the battle group suffered at the hands of Argentine air forces, the constant fear of submarine attack, the tracking of enemy ships. I was shocked by the lack of good defensive weapons on Coventry and how dangerous their position really was in light of this. You hear about a war and think about modern ship weapons but British troops had very little to work with here. Disaster could have struck at any time, replacement equipment was not always easy to come by and many of the men had to perform vital repairs themselves using what they could salvage.
It was sad reading about the various ships being hit, as you can imagine the terror for not just those involved, but the families back home waiting for news. After Coventry was hit but not named, families of various ships were fearing the loss of their men, then after it was named, everyone had a further wait to hear who on it was killed. It must've been a horrific experience. It seemed sad to me that Coventry was sunk on basically the last real day of the sea part of the war and it was scary to read about it.
I enjoyed the book and would certainly want to read more about the war from others who were there. This book lays out the events in a clear order, explains things well so that non military people can enjoy the read and I recommend it.
It's a good book. It gives you an idea of the layout of the ship, who the important people are, a bit of history of the ship in its various forms, the battles that Coventry have fought in, and a bit of backstory on the author himself. He talks about some members of his crew and gives an insight into what life is like on one of these warships.
The book begins with Coventry on a training mission with other ships while Argentine aggression over the Falklands is being discussed in government. It means that Coventry, instead of going home after the exercise, is deployed instantly to start heading south with no prior warning, which is a shock to everyone on board. We follow their journey down to what has now become a war zone, see the preparations involved, and get an idea of how well everyone did to get that task force deployed and ready to fight so quickly.
The book follows Coventry through the war at sea in May, detailing the various attacks that the battle group suffered at the hands of Argentine air forces, the constant fear of submarine attack, the tracking of enemy ships. I was shocked by the lack of good defensive weapons on Coventry and how dangerous their position really was in light of this. You hear about a war and think about modern ship weapons but British troops had very little to work with here. Disaster could have struck at any time, replacement equipment was not always easy to come by and many of the men had to perform vital repairs themselves using what they could salvage.
It was sad reading about the various ships being hit, as you can imagine the terror for not just those involved, but the families back home waiting for news. After Coventry was hit but not named, families of various ships were fearing the loss of their men, then after it was named, everyone had a further wait to hear who on it was killed. It must've been a horrific experience. It seemed sad to me that Coventry was sunk on basically the last real day of the sea part of the war and it was scary to read about it.
I enjoyed the book and would certainly want to read more about the war from others who were there. This book lays out the events in a clear order, explains things well so that non military people can enjoy the read and I recommend it.
March 27, 2026
Although generally not one for war memoires, this excellent book came highly recommended. I can recommend it on the same terms to others. It is the story of Captain Hart Dyke of HMS Coventry which was sunk in 1982 after intense Argentine air attacks off the Falklands.
Why is it so good? Because of the undoubted integrity and emotional honesty of Captain Hart Dyke who gives us what it is like to 'feel' your way through 'duty' and tragedy and out the other end, combined with a precisely written and readable technical account of 'modern' (1980s) warfare.
This is assisted by an exceptionally useful set of maps and diagrams giving us what we need to know about the war's conduct and the ship as well as plenty of photographs of the conflict as seen by the men of Coventry.
There is no editing out of difficult feelings here. The anxiety of going to war is honestly expressed as is the shift from anxiety to something almost like the loss of self in the task thence to the experience, where minutes become hours, of being sunk (and rescued) and so to recovery from PTSD.
The moments of being caught inside a ship hit by two aerial strikes and needing not only to get out from the Operations Room but ensure that the crew is safe are horrific. The Captain is stunned and burned and so training takes over as everyone else mobilises to help ship mates.
It is also an insight into, in particular, the service ethos of the naval mind and the way that the Royal Navy (and undoubtedly other navies) create the cohesion that makes both an effective fighting machine and the ability to react to a crisis in a disciplined and selfless way.
The Coventry was a full-on fighting ship, a destroyer, with alongside the Glasgow (severely damaged) and Sheffield (also sunk), in the very front line of the defence system designed to protect the aircraft carrier Invincible and the flagship Hermes.
Protecting these ships alongside Broadsword and Brilliant with their (then) advanced Sea Wolf missile systems was absolutely essential for the success of the mission. Broadsword later became involved in the battle that sunk the Coventry.
It is hard not to like and respect Captain Hart Dyke. Through his experience, the Senior Service, still probably under-resourced today, makes us appreciate that class war can only go so far. The culturally conservative mores of that service's officer caste is why the Royal Navy is so effective.
If you want an effective defence structure, you have to have officers who actually believe in something - whether it be the belief system of the Red Army or the IRGC. The British defence structure requires officers and men who actually believe in Crown, some Church, tradition and green fields.
Captain Hart Dyke, in fact, puts many armchair military and naval men to shame. This is war as it is, not the grandiosity of GA Henty and other imperial propagandists. The importance to him (as to others) is the righteousness of a cause (in this case defence of the Falklands) not war itself.
He reminds us that those in service are not at all enamoured of war, not from fear but because it is a blunt instrument that only gets used when politics and diplomacy have failed. He also reminds us that officers and men have families and live amongst us in the community.
There are some other lessons - that the Falklands victory was a much closer thing than many may think and that it could have gone horribly wrong. Whatever the weaknesses of Argentinian military conscripts, tribute is paid to the bravery and tactical ability of Argentinian airmen.
Argentinian pilots were quite capable of considerable feats of courage, prepared to sacrifice themselves for their cause as much as any Brit for his. The Captain of the Coventry, on his side, fully understood that its role was close to being a suicide mission in order to protect the landing.
There is little politics in this book. Servicemen (now women) know their place. Past underresourcing is referred to obliquely but that is a professional concern. However, it is interesting that the one political comment was to back the Archbishop of Canterbury over excitable MPs on reconciliation.
The Archbishop had been criticised by the usual posturing Tory suspects for asking us to think about Argentinian as well as British dead and had suggested working towards reconciliation (which is, after all, what Christians are supposed to do). Hart Dyke agreed with him.
This book also made me think again about the sinking of the Belgrano which probably was (strictly) outside the 'law' but the law (as we now know only too well) amounts to a hill of beans in an existential struggle. Removing a light cruiser dallying in that area may have been a no-brainer.
If you don't like the war, you can seize on the sinking as a 'war crime' (it almost certainly was not) but the fact is that the sinking had the effect of keeping the Argentinian Navy in port for fear of British submarines. This particularly meant the Argentine aircraft carrier.
Personally, I have always considered the war an absurd result of political incompetence (either in failing to put in preventative armament or coming to an understanding with Buenos Aires in advance) and that, in general, people die because politicians are stupid or malevolent.
However, once invaded, the British had little choice but to either fight or concede. Conceding to a tinpot dictatorship on a matter of national pride and principle is not what Governments can afford to do and survive, especially in a weirdly militaristic and then-proud nation still in hock to its history.
The lesson was intended. Do what you like but do not set foot uninvited on British sovereign territory. Sadly Thatcher's successors muddied those waters with liberal imperialist grandstanding which may well end up with British lives lost in the Persian Gulf to support a war of aggression.
Maybe history will see the Falklands as the last time a national defence operation of significant scale took place independent of being some poodle to a foreign power (whether the US, Israel, Ukraine) or as part of a 'Western' pack trying to secure resources.
Our military certainly rolled in with the adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan and our air force seems to be happy to defend the butchers of Gaza from the air 'defensively' and no doubt our navy will do its duty in the Persian Gulf or by boarding Russian oil tankers when the time comes.
But none of this is quite the same as defending British sovereign territory or (admittedly at worst) the 'Empire'. Over four decades everything has elided into a new form of liberal imperialism in which the half wits of politics seem confused in their aims and understanding of warfare.
This book is thus both additional useful data in assessing the human costs (British and Argentinian) of being ruled by half-wits and also evidence of just how impressive an under-resourced Royal Navy and military could and almost certainly will be under very difficult circumstances.
Let us just hope that this superb asset is maintained but not wasted on either the abstract fantasies of liberal internationalists and neo-conservatives or, equally bad, redirected into wars of resource capture and control. The Falklands actually appears like the last truly noble enterprise in retrospect.
June 20, 2020
I joined the Royal Navy in January 1970 and was 29 at the time of the Falklands Campaign. That war has defined our generation of RN personnel and its effects are still with us now.
I had long wanted to read this but always found a different book to read, normally a novel, but this year, the 38th anniversary I decided it was time.
This is a very personal account of the sinking of HMS Coventry, by its captain. The book was never intended to add hugely to the general history of the Falklands Conflict, it provides the Commanding Officers perspective and gives insights into the emotional side of warfare. What I found particularly moving and completely understood was David Hart-Dyke's difficulties in coming to terms with its effects and aftermath.
It is difficult to get the emotion across to those outside our service that when a ship is sunk those aboard her lose everything, home, possessions, comrades, everything but what they stand up in.
I found myself immensely moved by this book.
I had long wanted to read this but always found a different book to read, normally a novel, but this year, the 38th anniversary I decided it was time.
This is a very personal account of the sinking of HMS Coventry, by its captain. The book was never intended to add hugely to the general history of the Falklands Conflict, it provides the Commanding Officers perspective and gives insights into the emotional side of warfare. What I found particularly moving and completely understood was David Hart-Dyke's difficulties in coming to terms with its effects and aftermath.
It is difficult to get the emotion across to those outside our service that when a ship is sunk those aboard her lose everything, home, possessions, comrades, everything but what they stand up in.
I found myself immensely moved by this book.
November 14, 2018
Modern Naval combat, and how it may transpire, is generally left to the imagination and forecasting of war games. The Falkland Islands’ War In 1982 is as close as we can come to assessing how a peer conflict at sea might transpire. Captain Hart Dyke gives the reader an inside look at how he prepared for combat, executed operations, and recovered from the sinking of HMS Coventry. His honest assessment of his emotions, concerns, and fears is refreshing and inspiring.
September 17, 2023
Interesting first-hand account written 20 years after the original Falkland War took place. Walks through the decision-making and tough lifestyle of a modern navy warship in conflict. It's also one of the few examples of war on the Cold War era. missle warfare shows how quickly things can go wrong in modern naval warfare. Good read for anyone curious about naval history and conflict. Recommend for people currently in any navy as well.
May 30, 2018
This book was excellent. I can really appreciate how the author focuses not on tactical decisions made in battle, nor on the politics that led to the conflict in the Falkland Islands, but rather on his personal view as a Captain of a warship sailing into harms way and then having his ship be sunk in battle.
September 14, 2024
This was a very interesting and human account of the service and sinking in combat of HMS Coventry during the Falklands War. As the author states, the book sticks to THEIR part of the war. For the grand scheme of things one will need to read other books, but it mentions all one needs to understand the importance of what they went through.
November 22, 2020
This is a personal account of the Falkland war and gives an insight into the emotions of the Captain and how he comes to terms with the loss of his ship and his men. As an ex navy wife I found the account gripping and very moving. Very well written
February 18, 2018
A very readable thought-provoking first hand account of the 1982 hostilities between Argentina and the UK.
April 9, 2021
Two of my friends died on the Coventry, I joined the Navy with them in 1964 and th8s made the book special for me.
December 18, 2021
A very interesting and moving account of leadership, cameraderie and loss in war. Enjoyed it very much.
September 5, 2016
A very personal account of the sinking of HMS Coventry, by its captain. While the book does not add hugely to the general history of the Falklands conflict, it provides a fresh perspective and gives many insights into the emotional side of warfare, and particularly the difficulties in coming to terms with its effects.
August 6, 2017
A very good account of the part HMS COVENTRY played in the Falklands War in 1982 and her eventual demise. The stories of the final day by various members of the crew was moving and shows how close men become to each other and the bonds that form during times of danger in wartime shown by how they totally trust and rely on one another. An extremely readable book.
January 1, 2009
An Ok read. HMS Coventry captain's account of 4 weeks in May 1982 leading up to and in the aftermath of his ship being sunk by the Argentinian Air Force. Does what it says on the tin but nothing to make it stand out in any way.
March 3, 2014
Well written, really takes you there.
August 14, 2024
Incredibly powerful perspective of an incredibly brave man. A fascinating and moving read. Humbling.
July 25, 2010
Hard to put down
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews