[Ennath]

April 25, 1982
Battle of South Georgia

On April 2-3, 1982, Argentine marines had seized South Georgia Island, installing a garrison of 55 men. Prompted by the British war cabinet, which needed a demonstration of political resolve, the recovery of South Georgia was ordered by Adm. John Fieldhouse and planned by staff at 3 Commando Brigade. Maj. Gen. Jeremy Moore of the Royal Marines was told to provide a Commando company group for a secret mission. Originally selecting 45 Commando who had recently completed jungle warfare training, the final selection was 42 Commando who had recently been on a winter deployment to Norway. The second-in-command of 42 Commando, Major Guy Sheridan, an experienced mountaineer, was selected to be Landing Force Commander. M Company of 42 Commando was augmented by specialists from the Reconnaissance Troop, the Support Company, signals and medics; a total of 132 men. Sheridan was also given 19 (Mountain) Troop from D Squadron Special Air Service (SAS) from Ascension Island. In the event, the whole of D Squadron comprising not only the Mountain Troop, but also 16 (Mobility) Troop, 18 (Air) Troop and 17 (Boat) Troop along with the Squadron HQ all joined the force at Ascension. Finally, 2 Troop, Special Boat Squadron (2 SBS) and 2 Naval Gunfire Forward Observation Parties (NGFOs) also joined the task group.

The already crowded accommodations in available ships became difficult with the inclusion of the additional troops. The task group sailed from Ascension on April 11, pausing to redistribute the SAS troops between ships on April 13. The final disposition was that M Company was on the tanker Tidespring, 2 SBS, and the Mountain and Boat Troops on the frigate HMS Plymouth, with the rest of D Squadron on the destroyer HMS Antrim. Finally, 6 SBS were embarked in the submarine HMS Conqueror. This group, known as CTG 317.9, was commanded by Captain Brian Young of Antrim. The task group met with the icebreaker HMS Endurance on the 14th and on the following day, received written orders (dropped by an RAF Nimrod aircraft) for the operation from Adm. Fieldhouse.

Conqueror was first on the scene and carried out a survey of key areas of the South Georgia coast. The operation was originally supposed to involve both SAS and SBS forces being infiltrated onto South Georgia by helicopters from Tidespring and Antrim, but the plan had to be changed when the 2 Wessex helicopters transporting the SAS troops from a location on the northeast coast crashed in bad weather on Fortuna Glacier; the troops and aircrew were rescued by Antrim's Wessex, the last remaining to the expedition.

The Argentine submarine forces consisted of 4 boats. Two were modern West German Type 209s and 2 were GUPPY conversions of American World War II submarines. One of the latter, ARA Santa Fe, was the only Argentine submarine to see combat during the conflict. Her sensors were unreliable, and the charge capacity of her aged batteries was much reduced from their original design. Santa Fe transported troops while under orders to remain undetected, not to attack any ships, and to break contact with any ship which might detect her. Santa Fe left port in Argentina on the 9th with 11 technicians to restore utility services on New Georgia and 9 marines with Bantam AT missiles to reinforce the original invading force armed only with rifles and machine-guns. Storm conditions prevented use of the snorkel, which placed unexpected demands on the batteries, and required remaining surfaced during part of the approach. The reinforcements were successfully landed at Grytviken under moonless cloud cover in the pre-dawn hours of April 25. Santa Fe was underway by 0500, but was discovered by Antrim's Wessex helicopter before she could submerge. The Wessex was joined by task force Wasp and Lynx helicopters, which fired at least six AS-12 missiles at the submarine. Santa Fe returned to Grytviken in sinking condition while her crew fired at the helicopters with rifles.

There followed a helicopter assault by an improvised group of Special Forces and Royal Marines, with Antrim and Plymouth conducting a bombardment demonstration on the low hills opposite Grytviken. The garrison at Grytviken and the crew of the disabled Santa Fe surrendered to M Company, 42 Commando, at 1715 GMT, although the garrison at Leith Harbor, under Lt. Cmdr. Alfredo Astiz, surrendered the following day. Sweden and France requested Astiz's extradition from the British authorities after learning about his capture, but his captors rejected the petition.

An Argentine prisoner of war, Petty Officer Felix Artuso, a crewman of Santa Fe, was mistakenly shot dead on April 26 after a British marine thought he was sabotaging the submarine. He is buried at Grytviken Cemetery, the only fatality of the battle.

A message that was widely publicized in Britain was made by the Task Group Commander, Captain Brian Young, after the surrender at Grytviken: “Be pleased to inform Her Majesty that the White Ensign flies alongside the Union Jack in South Georgia. God save the Queen.”