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HMS Conqueror (S48)

1971 COLD WAR FALKLANDS WAR

History of HMS Conquerors (S48)

The HMS Conqueror, nicknamed "Conks", was a Churchill-class nuclear-powered submarine that served with the Royal Navy from 1971 to 1990. The Conqueror was the third and last in her class, along with HMS Churchill and HMS Courageous, each with 103 officers and soldiers. The course is named after the British Prime Minister and First Lord of the Navy, Winston Churchill.

The main purpose of these submarines was to counter the Soviet threat by monitoring the movement and tracking of Soviet nuclear submarines at sea and, if necessary, attacking Russian ships and submarines as the Cold War heats up.

The Churchill class was ordered by the Royal Navy to replace the Valor class fleet and was built by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd. The company designed and built at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead. The size and displacement of the boat is the same as the Valor, but some internal changes to the sonar electronics and communications have been improved.

Displacement 4,900 tons, length 286.7 ft (86.9 m), draft 27 ft (8.2 m), beam width 33.3 ft (10.1 m).

Propulsion is provided by a single Rolls-Royce PWR nuclear pressurized water-cooled reactor. The reactor produced steam to drive two British electric gear turbines and produced a total of 20,000 shaft horsepower (15,000 kW) for a single shaft.

The maximum underwater speed of the power plant is 28 knots (52 km/h). A Kelvin 1008 surface search radar is installed.

The ships were built with a Type 2001 sonar array, but were replaced in the late 1970s by a Type 2020 array and a Type 2026 array towed to the stern, which could be omitted and retrieved.

Torpedoes include the reliable Mark 8, which entered service in 1913 with great success in World War I and World War II, and can also be airdropped. The 21-inch torpedo warhead has 320 lb (145 kg) of TNT and travels 2.3 km (2,500 yd) to the target at 35 knots (65 km/h).

The Mark 24 Tigerfish torpedo was a heavy duty acoustic homing torpedo that proved unreliable. In tests of the gun, it was found that when the torpedo overshot did not hit the target without exploding. Many people did not find the target when launching, because the homing computer failed, so the torpedo dropped.

The third weapon on board is the UGM-84 Harpoon missile purchased from the United States, an anti-ship missile system in an all-weather super-horizon submarine that is equipped with solid rocket boosters and enclosed in a container that allows water Submarines are fired through torpedo tubes to swipe at the target to avoid detection.

The Falkland Islands War was fought between Great Britain and Argentina for the legal ownership of the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. On April 2, 1982, Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, beginning an undeclared Falklands War that resulted in the capture of British civilians and troops. Argentina considered the original invasion legitimate because the disputed islands had been included in its constitution since 1994 and were therefore seen as reoccupying its own territory.

The UK sees landings and captives as an invasion of British Overseas Territories.

The day after Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands on 3 April 1982, the Royal Navy ordered HMS Conqueror Commander Chris Wreford-Brown Cdr Chris Wreford-Brown from Scotland on the River Clyde Fasland Naval Base Set Sail. Order will meet the Conquistadors with the British Task Force in the exclusion zone around the Falklands, sailing at flank speed for 21 days. The order of the conquistadors was to search the area for enemy ships, especially their designated main target, the light cruiser, the ARA General Belgrano. . she was assigned to a task force near the Falklands, with ARA General Belgrano to the south.

The UK has commissioned the nuclear submarine HMS Spartan to find and, if necessary, sink the 19,900-ton Veinticinco de Mayo Veinticinco de Mayo, previously known as HMS Venerable in the Royal Navy and HNLMS Karel doorman in the Royal Netherlands Navy service. In the early weeks of the Falklands War, Veinticinco de Mayo used her aircraft against a Royal Navy task force with some success.

The air group consists of A-4Q Skyhawks, supported by S-2 Tracker anti-submarine aircraft and Sikorsky Sea King helicopters.

On April 30, the Conqueror discovered the Argentine light cruiser ARA General Belgrano. Belgrano sailed southwest of the Falklands with a small contingent of two destroyers.

The Conquerors tracked the force for several days, requesting permission to sink the Belgrano, which was outside the restricted or combat zone designated by the British. Belgrano disengaged from her destroyer escort and approached the British task force. This was the trigger to increase the Royal Navy's pinning attacks on the Belgrano from the south and the Mayo from the north.

Belgrano's fate is doomed. After some debate in Whitehall, the Conquistadors were ordered to continue their attack on the Belgrano. Shortly after receiving the order, Belgrano changed course as the ARA Veinticinco de Mayo was absent and unwilling to launch aircraft against the British fleet.

Conqueror moved to the best firing position, allowing three torpedoes to be fired, with at least one successful hit. Three Mark 8 torpedoes were fired, the first hitting the bow forward. The shot attempted to strike far enough forward to blow up the bow and detonate the powder magazine ahead. Neither worked, the bulkheads remained the same, and there were no sailors nearby, which was lucky for the crew. The second torpedo exploded after the second hopper, outside the boundaries of the side armor in the rear nacelle.

The blast passed through the mess hall and crew wreck room, killing 275 people and blasting a 20-meter hole in the main deck. Again luck with the crew and the ship, there was no fire, but smoke filled much of the ship, and the explosion damaged electrical systems, preventing radio distress calls from being sent as SOS. The Conqueror retreated to a safe position, waited and watched as the ship began to squirm to port and sink overhead.

20 minutes after the attack, Belgrano's Captain Bonzo ordered the crew to abandon the ship and the life rafts were lowered. Sailors helped the wounded come aboard in calming but increasing seas.

The two escort destroyers were unaware of the sinking, as there was no distress signal or flare seen, so they moved on and dropped depth charges. By the time they realized what had happened to the Belgrano, it was dark and the waves were getting bigger, making it nearly impossible to rescue the scattered life rafts.

The crew of the Argentine and Chilean ships were not all found until May 5. There were 770 men on board, including 321 brave crew members and two civilians who were killed in the attack.

In the days following the attack, the Conqueror continued to evade attempts by the Argentine Air Force to locate and sink the ship. The sinking of the Belgrano has sobered up the Argentine people and government.

The presence of the Conquistadors and Spartans in the region provided the task force with sophisticated surveillance data to track Argentine aircraft leaving the mainland. The rest of the Argentine fleet retreated to their home ports and never ventured again.

Fearing for their own safety, they are rendered useless in conflict.

Argentina handed over the islands to the United Kingdom on 14 June 1982, but has so far shown no sign of giving up its claims to the islands. In 1994, the Argentine government and Captain Bonzo stated that sinking the Belgrano was a legal act under the rules of engagement at the time.

After the war, the Conqueror returned to her home port of Fasland and is now a museum ship.