Word: port
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...fleet's commander, Rear Admiral John ("Sandy") Woodward, 50, had been to enforce a total air and sea blockade within 200 miles of the islands. In a daring, long-distance raid on May 1, a delta-winged Vulcan bomber blasted the airstrip near the Falklands' tiny capital, Port Stanley. Flights of carrier-based Sea Harrier jets pounded the airfield with more bombs and also attacked a second, grassy airstrip 50 miles away, near the settlement of Goose Green. A British Sea King helicopter reportedly launched a strafing attack near the settlement of Port Darwin. British warships pulled close...
...British missile-carrying Lynx helicopters as it searched for a downed Canberra bomber crew within the 200-mile zone. The British said that the Sobral and another Argentine boat had been hit and at least one sunk. A day later, the Sobral limped back into the Argentine port of Deseado with eight dead crewmen...
Britain also kept up the military pressure on land. Despite claims to have knocked out the airstrips at Port Stanley and Goose Green, the British sent another wave of Sea Harriers against both targets, followed by a second solo Vulcan attack on the field at Port Stanley. The initial attacks had left it possible for smaller aircraft to fly from the fields; the British also wanted to inhibit Argentine repair work. During these raids the British admitted to suffering their first loss: a Sea Harrier was downed, its pilot killed...
...used two air weapons for the first time. The 610-lb. BL 755 cluster bomb destroys armored and thin-skinned targets and mines the area with smaller bombs timed to go off at varying intervals. In addition, it is suspected, though not confirmed, that the Vulcan bombers that struck Port Stanley airfield may have used the new JP233 airfield attack bomb. The result of a collaboration between British and U.S. firms, the JP233 craters enemy runways by penetrating the concrete before exploding, causing the surface to lift and fracture over a wide area. The bomb also seeds the territory with...
...difficulty that towered above the rest was provision of air cover for a seaborne assault. Excellent though Britain's Sea King helicopters and the Harriers might be, Argentina's Skyhawks, along with the Israeli Daggers and French-made Mirage fighters, would have the advantage. The runway at Port Stanley had been improved by the invaders but could hardly be considered fully operational, even for the Skyhawks carrying lightened loads. The airbase could, moreover, be readily neutralized from the sea. But Argentine planes could still operate from the continental mainland. The air force could not be completely contained...