Word: cruiser
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Armed with surface-to-air Seacat missiles and 6-in. and 5-in. naval guns, the venerable Belgrano, first commissioned by the U.S. in 1939,* had more firepower than any ship of the British fleet. But unknown to the 1,042 men aboard the Argentine warship, the cruiser-was being watched. Shadowing the Belgrano, as it had been doing for days, was a British nuclear-powered attack submarine, H.M.S. Conqueror...
...skipper of the British sub, Commander Richard Wraith, the Bel-grano's movements seemed to indicate that the cruiser intended to close with the British fleet. TIME has learned the details of what happened next...
...first report, only about 125 members of the Belgrano's crew were said to have survived. Later, as Argentine rescue boats combed the waters of the area, the number of known survivors rose to about 800. But the strike against the cruiser was as much a psychological shock as a military one. The Belgrano was the second largest ship in the Argentine navy, behind the 39-year-old aircraft carrier Veinticinco de Mayo. Loss of the vessel was a substantive blow to Argentine prestige. Moreover, the decision to sink the Belgrano outside the 200-mile blockade constituted a sharp...
...European allies were more alarming than domestic doubts. Before the Belgrano sinking, Western Europe had been unanimous in supporting Britain, to the point of imposing stiff economic sanctions and suspending trade relations with Argentina. The first country to break ranks was Ireland. Immediately after the sinking of the Argentine cruiser, the Irish government declared that it was "appalled by the outbreak of what amounts to open war" in the South Atlantic, and said it was "imperative" that the U.N. become involved in settling the dispute. Irish Defense Minister Patrick Power went a dubious step further and declared that "obviously...
...Tigerfish MK 24 torpedo used by the British nuclear submarine H.M.S. Conqueror to sink the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano is typical of the new weapons. Built in Britain, the Tigerfish is 21 ft. long, weighs 3,400 Ibs. and has a range of approximately 20 miles. After launch, it speeds toward its target at about 58 m.p.h., playing out thin wires attached to the submarine's computer and changing direction as the computer dictates...