Chapter 1578: A Painful Attack on the American Ships

The huge cruiser General Belgrano, in formation with two Sumner-class destroyers, was still traveling quietly on the southern tip of the Malvinas Islands, bathed in a darkening sky.

“The General Belgrano was originally a light cruiser of the Brooklyn class “Phoenix” used by the U.S. Navy in World War II, and the Argentinean government purchased the “Phoenix” for the low price of one million two hundred and twenty thousand dollars. “Phoenix was purchased by the Argentine government for the low price of US$1.22 million.

Initially known as the “October Victory”, soon renamed “General Belgrano”, a 10,000-ton battleship with repair and modification costs are only a mere five million, General Belgrano is really good value for money.

After two refits, the old seaplane facilities were replaced with helicopter equipment, a new sea/air search radar was installed, and modern point-defense ship-to-air missiles were added.

Many of the components failed from time to time, and the Argentineans took care of the old ship, but it didn’t help. The battleship paddled laboriously, with an entourage of two destroyers escorting her on her right side to guard against potential British aircraft.

As for the other pride of the Argentine Navy, the aircraft carrier Twenty-Fifth of May, it was sold to Argentina by Britain, Alan Wilson was a man of few words at that time, but even if he had already had a say in the matter, he probably wouldn’t have been able to stop it, and it wasn’t the average person who would understand the British Navy’s hatred of giving it away for nothing after the war.

Think of the post-war British because of the huge debt of the struggling, and then look at today can still organize expeditionary force in the 10,000 miles away from the war, we know that the nobility of authority is absolutely right for this country.

And now the pride of the Argentine Navy is in the other direction, relying on Argentina’s own geographic advantages, to Tierra del Fuego to block in the South Pacific Task Force into the Atlantic Ocean. Thinking is not too much, Tierra del Fuego is Argentina’s inherent territory, just and the mainland separated by a strait, can always receive support from the mainland.

The only problem is that the British task force in the direction of the Pacific Ocean is still far away, and has not yet appeared in the line of sight of the Argentineans.

After a day of vigilance, the men on the cruiser were exhausted, not so much that they were singing and laughing, but they were secretly recuperating.

Although Britain has turned the Falkland Islands into a no-go area, but at this time the Argentine Navy did not enter the British designated zone of engagement in the middle, and South Georgia is even more far away from the 1,000 kilometers, Queen Victoria-class carrier battle group in the waters of South Georgia, the Argentine Navy belongs to the whip is out of reach.

The average naval officer did not even know that South Georgia had been recaptured by the British, but thought that the islands were still in Argentine hands. For the majority of Argentine soldiers, the war was too new, far more so than for British soldiers.

The British surface fleet has not yet moved south, only a sub-fleet is involved in the operation to retake South Georgia, but it definitely means that the sea is calm under the surface.

The nuclear submarines of the main fleet have already left Ascension Island and come to the waters around the Falkland Islands to build a blockade line against Argentina.

Above South Georgia, the British officers and men who had regained control at this time were unloading supplies delivered by ocean-going convoys, and the island’s airfields were welcoming Vulcan bombers, as was normal.

If the main islands of the Falkland Islands were recaptured, the British Expeditionary Force would suddenly discover that there was more than one field airfield that could be utilized, all of which had been built by the Supreme Authority with the money he had saved from his teeth, and that as long as they were leveled after landing, they could be put into use, not to mention allowing fighter planes to take off, but also transport planes as well.

It was built under the guise of establishing an airport for the Falkland Islands settlers, but since there were only a thousand or so settlers in the Falkland Islands, the commercial value of the airport was almost non-existent, so the route was not opened, but the airport was preserved.

London base camp wartime cabinet, at this time received two reports, whether to bombard the Falkland Islands defenders, as well as the discovery of the Argentinean task force centered on the cruiser General Belgrano, the task force outside the blockade line, to take an attack?

Defense Secretary John Nott and Prime Minister Thatcher discussed both issues, but to Alan Wilson there was little to discuss, “Send that second-hand American cruiser into the sea, of course. But the Falklands are our territory, there’s no point in bombing them, might as well leave a bit of valuable ammunition for a more valuable target.”

“I also think Sir has a point.” Mrs. Thatcher listened and sided directly with the Cabinet Secretary.

“Uh, the Prime Minister is right to consider it.” John Nott wanted to say something but eventually did not continue, he always felt that after the war started, the Prime Minister’s reliance on Whitehall had greatly increased, it was almost as if he was being played in the palm of his hand, hopefully it was an illusion.

In fact, if you think about it, who has been standing firmly behind the Prime Minister to give support, who is unwavering implementer of the reform of privatization, this answer is not very obvious?

If, in two more years, the richest woman kicks out the secretary-general of the Cabinet again, he could all just live at 10 Downing Street.

Since the beginning of the war, the Prime Minister, who is facing great pressure, is all the time being PUA by the Cabinet Secretary without realizing it, and his understanding of this war with Argentina is becoming more and more convergent.

Front commander, submarine force commander General Woodward asked to sink the Argentine naval flagship, directly to the wartime cabinet’s approval, so that the other side boldly to do.

If left unchecked, once the British fleet began landing operations, Argentina’s three naval fleet will certainly be from the back to insert a knife, so that the British army back to back, the lesser of which forced the British side to divert their troops to achieve the support of the defending forces on the island of Malta, and the more serious of which the British fleet in the two sides of the attack under the risk of total annihilation.

London’s approval decided the fate of the pride of the Argentine Navy, on the fight, it is better than taking out another Argentine naval pride, that is the British sale of aircraft carriers, sinking the British will also be embarrassed.

The nuclear submarine Conquistador, hidden in the Bardot undersea mountain range in the south of the Falkland Islands, quietly approached Admiral Belgrano and began to take up positions. At this time, on board the General Belgrano, the Albanian army because they think that outside the two hundred nautical mile blockade zone, most of the personnel are taking a nap, actually not even equipped with a surveillance post!

Now the Conqueror just had to wait for its prey to fall into the net, its reactor core was stable, its temperature was normal, its torpedo room was loaded, and everything was ready to go.

An hour later, following the target, the Conqueror, already in a perfect firing position, was able to decide the fate of the cruiser within range, and there was no doubt that the cruiser General Belgrano should take her talent to the bottom of the icy South Atlantic.

With decision number one already in mind, Captain Riford Brown didn’t have to use the latest technology to make his decision. Lt. Commander Riford Brown, instead of using the newest “Tigerfish” wire-guided torpedoes, would attack with the old unguided MK-8 torpedoes.

As the famous British drama has said, new torpedoes can’t be used, but torpedoes designed and built during World War II can be used.

The MK-8 torpedo is the traditional weapon of the British submarine force and has been used for decades. The British submarine force has used the MK-8 to achieve outstanding results in sinking the Japanese heavy cruiser Ashigara. Now it would show its usual reliability and send the American-made cruiser to the bottom of the sea, emphasizing the special relationship between Britain and the United States.

“Fire!” A minute later, accompanied by Riford. Lt. Commander Brown’s mid-air command, three MK8s whizzed out, heading straight for the General Belgrano.

One hundred and twenty seconds later, the first torpedo fired by the Servant hit the port side of the General Belgrano’s hull, ripping through the hull of the first nacelle, with a muffled thunder, the ship’s internal lighting system was immediately interrupted, the Argentine Navy officers and men who were in the middle of the relaxation were shocked by the tremendous shaking, and fell to the ground, most of the officers and men’s faces were full of bewilderment, but there were also some people who guessed that it was the British who had encountered the attack.

God did not give the Argentines too much time to think, sixty seconds later the second torpedo hit the large cruiser’s bow between the anchor chain compartment and the forward ammunition depot, the violent explosion blew off the keel of the General Belgrano, the cruiser’s bow was broken, the forward deck bent downward.

The Argentine sailors on board woke up as if in a dream, rushed out of their cabins and ran to their battle stations, and the ship’s captain, Colonel Bonzo, ordered an inventory of the damage and attempted to salvage the damage control, but the 10,000-ton Belgrano had already begun to tilt violently.

The first torpedo was quite fatal, this torpedo hit the first main engine room, the violent vibration immediately caused all four main engines of the Belgravia to stop, the ship’s electrical system to interrupt the communication, the damage control system paralyzed!

The second torpedo hit the bow of the cruiser, just between the first turret and the anchor chain, this is the end of the cruiser’s side armor belt, without armor protection, the torpedo’s damage will be particularly serious, the warship’s bow keel blown off.

Communications were down damage control paralyzed the screens were empty, only the echo of the waves, the hands of the dismayed sonar operator were tied up, and all he had there was ocean murmur. The captain’s orders could only be conveyed to the cabins through primitive sounders and messengers, and then divided among the sailors in charge.

The General Belgrano began to pitch sharply to the left. Captain Bonzo began to do his best to save the ship, but after half an hour of futile struggle, the tilt had reached thirty degrees, and the helpless Captain Bonzo ordered the ship to be abandoned, and the Argentinean sailors boarded the lifeboats singing the national anthem.

The Atlantic stormy ocean has always been the name of the game, not to mention close to the Antarctic sea, the sea conditions at this time is very unfriendly to rescue, the most critical thing is that there is no one to rescue.

After the attack on the General Belgrano, the other two destroyers, terrified by the loss of command, not only did not carry out anti-submarine attacks, but instead fled from the battlefield, one south and one north, leaving the fate of their comrades in the hands of the icy waters.