Word: sheffield
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...loss of the Sheffield sharpened the political situation for Thatcher and her Cabinet. Even before that setback, the spirit of unified support for the British government in its campaign to win back a territory taken by force had begun to give way, both at home and abroad. Indeed, the change in mood took effect almost immediately after the sinking of the Belgrano...
...French-built Super-Etendard Argentine fighter-bombers probably approached the British fleet flying at around 575 m.p.h. H.M.S. Sheffield 's radar would in all likelihood have picked them up only as they climbed to identify their target and launch their Exocet air-to-sea missiles. From that moment, the attack that crippled the British destroyer some four minutes later was no longer a matter of daring and courage. It had become a 20th century battle of microchips and computers, of decisions and reactions far too fast for the human brain to make. Says a weapons expert for Jane...
...speed gives it the capability of escaping from an attack by a conventional diesel-powered submarine, which can do 19 knots on the surface and 16 when submerged. The QE2 would still be vulnerable to the kind of air-to-surface missile attack that last week sank the destroyer Sheffield, but at least it would be fairly secure against an as sault by Argentina's diesel subs...
Defense against such weapons is, as the sinking of the Sheffield and General Belgrano attest, not easy. Modern torpedoes like the Tigerfish can be avoided only by throwing out decoys like big air bubbles, using acoustic countermeasures like sonar jamming or, better yet, sinking the attacking submarine. But deep-diving nuclear attack submarines and the noiseless Tigerfish are hard to detect until it is too late. Similarly, the Sea Skua and Exocet antiship missiles are almost impossible to evade. A would-be victim can use electronic countermeasures like radar jamming to confuse the attacking missile's guidance system...
...would probably have downed the Exocet. The British-built Seawolf, a 6½-ft.-long missile, is capable of intercepting a 4½-in. shell. It might have stopped the Exocet, but within the task force, only the frigates Broadsword and Brilliant are armed with the Seawolf. Instead, the Sheffield carried the Sea Dart, a reliable but older missile, that, so far as is known, was never fired...