Word: sheffield
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...pall of smoke from the Sheffield had been clearly visible from the Hermes, where it brought a personal sense of loss to Fleet Commander Woodward. He was captain of the Sheffield from 1976 to 1978. There was another irony. While the Sheffield was being built at Barrow-in-Furness, England, a part of her hull was damaged in an industrial explosion. An identical type of destroyer, the Hercules, was being constructed alongside the damaged vessel, and the prospective owners, the Argentine government, generously offered to give the hull section intended for their ship to the British. The Hercules...
...ability of their task force to inflict damage without sustaining serious casualties. In reality, however, the British had never been enthusiastic about losing lives in defense of their remote colony, even if the lives were Argentine. A Market & Opinion Research International poll, taken four days before the Sheffield sinking, had shown that three out of five Britons were not prepared to lose one serviceman's life in defense of the Falklands...
...pouring rain outside the gates of the British naval headquarters for news of the fate of their loved ones. Special telephone lines installed to pass on information to next of kin were jammed with calls. In the destroyer's namesake city, Union Jacks were lowered to half-mast. Sheffield's Lord Mayor Enid Hattersley was on the verge of tears as she asked mournfully, "What is worth losing young lives for? One is too many." The re-action of most Britons was summed up by a Portsmouth man, who said he "had thought we might lose some because...
...first Harrier pilot to be shot down: "I am proud to have a son who died doing the job he loved for the country he loved. Nick was always fully aware of the dangers." But Joan Goodall, the Enfield, Middlesex, mother of a 21-year-old cook aboard the Sheffield, was far airport stoic. Said she of her son Neil: "He never joined the navy to die for something as wasteful as this. I feel totally shattered and heartbroken...
...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...