"Toby" wrote in message
...
IMM wrote:
"PoP" wrote in message

I've been on Sheffield (as was) before it got used for target
practice by the argies. Type 42.

I heard an interesting story back in the days of the Falklands.
Beware matelots tales...

Apparently in the war theatre ships like Sheffield are put on "picket
duty" in front of and to protect the carriers, to pick up and deal
with any incoming. That's why Sheffield was in harms way.

Sheffield was equipped with Sea Wolf missiles.
Sheffield was not. It had Sea Dart.

Blimey IMM gets it right.

I am always right.

Close to HMS Arrow on the fateful day (A Type 21 which had Sea Cat)

Sea Wolf was only on the type 23s.

But the Type 23 was not in the South Atlantic, only on drawing boards.
So nearly right, try Type 22s.

I was only one out.

When HMS Sheffield was struck the Type 22 frigates HMS Brilliant and HMS
Broadsword were assisting the carrier HMS Hermes and cvs HMS Invincible,
using the close defence Sea Wolf. HMS Sheffield was 20 miles away. It's
Sea
Dart system, unlike the Sea Cat and Sea Wolf systems, was not really a
close
defence system, but a high speed high altitude missile & had successfully
taken out Argentinean surveillance aircraft at altitude of almost 40,000
feet. It's beam tracking guidance was not really suited to surface
skimming
threats.

Unfortunately when the UK went to war they forgot to inform the
onboard computer systems on Sheffield that Exocet was to be
considered a hostile missile. It's manufactured in France which is
part of the NATO pact. You don't expect your friends to be firing on
you so any Exocet which is in the sky can't be coming your way.

Not true at all. The UK knew all about the limited number of Argentinean
Exocets, down to the serial numbers.
The radar on a Type 42 had less detailed resolution than that of other
ships
in the task force.
The Sheffield was operating closer to the coast than most of the task
force,
it's radar subject to clutter from the mainland. The ship was not in a
full
state of preparedness and it had not had information about the threat
passed
on to it from HMS Invincible which had been tracking the incoming
aircraft.

Subsequently no further ships were lost to long range Exocet during
the conflict
The Exocet used were short range variants, the HMS Glamorgan seriously
damaged when attacked by them for the third time.

Sheffield had it radar off as it was used to talk to London. the radar
interfered with the satellite link to London. That is what it was unable to
launch chaff deflecting rockets. Another Leander class ship did see the
exocets and launched chaff.

The Sheffield was lucky hit. The Exocet was a poor missile. Hit the
Sheffield by more luck than anything and did not sink her. The desastation
was due to the poor design of the ship. Hit the unarmed Atlantic Conveyor
and the Glamorgan was hit from the land, saw it, although alittle too late,
turned stern on and survived.

The British fleet was equipped with Sea Eagle which had (from memory) 3
times the range, twice the speed and twice the TNT. The Argies ****ed off
rather than engage the British fleet. Very wise, as many mothers sons are
still here.