HMS Sheffield (D80)

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See HMS Sheffield for other ships of the same name.

Career
Ordered:
Laid down:	15 January 1970
Launched:	10 June 1971
Commissioned:	16 February 1975
Fate:	Sunk on 10 May 1982 after Argentine air attack on 4 May 1982 during Falklands War
General Characteristics
Displacement:	4,820 tonnes
Length:	125 m (410 ft)
Beam:	14.3 m (47 ft)
Draught:	5.8 m
Propulsion:	4 Rolls-Royce (2 Olympus and 2 Tyne) producing 36 MW COGOG (Combined Gas or Gas) arrangement driving through a double-reduction, dual tandem, articulated, locked-train gearing system, inputs by Synchronous, Self-Shifting Clutches
Speed:	29 knots (56 km/h)
Range:
Complement:	287
Armament:	Sea Dart missiles 114 mm (4.5 in) Mk 8 gun
Aircraft:	Lynx HAS1
Motto:

HMS Sheffield (D80) was the second Royal Navy ship to bear the name Sheffield, after the city of Sheffield in Yorkshire. She was a Type 42 Guided Missile Destroyer laid down by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering at Barrow-in-Furness on 15 January 1970, launched on 10 June 1971 and commissioned on 16 February 1975.

The ship was part of the Task Force sent to the Falkland Islands during the Falklands War. She was struck by an Exocet cruise missile fired by a French-made Dassault Super Étendard belonging to the Argentine Navy on 4 May 1982 and finally scuttled on the 10 May 1982.

Contents 1 The sinking of HMS Sheffield 1.1 British version 1.2 Argentine version 2 Roll of Honour 3 References 4 External links

[edit] The sinking of HMS Sheffield

[edit] British version

At approximately 10 A.M. on the 4 May, HMS Sheffield was at defence watches, second degree readiness, as part of the British Task Force dispatched to the Falkland Islands during the Falklands War. Sheffield had relieved her sister Coventry as the latter was having technical trouble with her Type 965 radar^[1]. Sheffield and Coventry were chatting over UHF. Communications ceased until an unidentified message was received stating simply "Sheffield is hit!"^[1]. The flagship, Hermes dispatched the escorts Arrow and Yarmouth to investigate, and a helicopter was launched. Confusion reigned until Sheffield's Lynx helicopter unexpectedly landed aboard Hermes carrying the Air Operations Officer and Operations Officer^[1], confirming the disaster.

Sheffield picked up the incoming missile on her ancient Type 965 radar (an interim fitting until the Type 1022 set was available), and the Operations Officer informed the Missile Director, who queried the contact in the ADAWS 4 fire control system^[1]. The launch aircraft had not been detected as the British had expected, and it was not until smoke was sighted that the target was confirmed as a sea skimming missile. Five seconds later, the Exocet impacted Sheffield amidships. Such was the lack of warning, there was no time to engage in defensive manoeuvres, leading to a change in policy that all ships believing to be even possibly under missile attack would turn toward the threat, accelerate to maximum speed and fire chaff to prevent a ship being caught defenceless again.

The Exocet was fired from one of two Super Étendards launched from Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego, and was piloted by Captain Augusto Bedacarratz, who commanded the mission. It was launched at the point-blank range of six miles; the British had expected it to be launched from long range (45 miles) at medium altitude, hence the difficulty in classifying it and taking effective countermeasures. It struck amidships, approximately 8 feet above the waterline on Deck 2, tearing a gash 4 feet by 10 feet in size in the vicinity of the galley^[1], which occupied the full width of the hull.

The MOD report into the sinking of the Sheffield concluded that; "Evidence indicates that the Warhead did not detonate" ^[2]. Some of the crew and members of the Task Force believe however that the missile's 363-pound warhead did in fact detonate upon impact^[1]. Regardless, the impact of the missile and the burning rocket motor set Sheffield ablaze. Accounts suggest that the initial impact of the missile immediately crippled the ship's onboard electricity generating systems and fractured the water main, preventing the anti-fire mechanisms from operating effectively, and thereby dooming the ship to be consumed by the raging fire. It is also suggested that the ship's anti-missile radar was incompatible with the satellite communications link which reduced the chance of the Exocet being intercepted, although neither the Type 965 radar nor the Sea Dart missiles carried by Type 42s are particularly well suited to intercepts of low-flying missiles.

After the ship was struck, her crew, waiting to be rescued, sang "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" from Monty Python's Life of Brian.

The burnt-out hulk was taken in tow by the Rothesay class frigate Yarmouth but was scuttled at 53°04'S, 56°56' W on 10 May 1982 because of bad weather turning the ship into a waterlogged hulk, making it the first Royal Navy vessel sunk in action in almost forty years. Twenty of her crew (mainly on duty in the Galley-area) died during the attack. The wreck is a war grave and designated as a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.

The sinking of the Sheffield is sometimes blamed on a superstructure made wholly or partially from aluminium, the melting point and ignition temperature of which are significantly lower than those of steel. However, this is incorrect as the Sheffield's superstructure was made entirely of steel^[3]. The confusion is related to the US and British Navies abandoning aluminium after several fires in the 1970s involving ships that had aluminium superstructures. The sinking of the Type 21 frigates HMS Antelope and Ardent, both of which had aluminium superstructures, probably also had an effect on this belief though these cases are disputed. In both cases, it is likely the ships would have been lost in any event, due to amount of explosives involved in such small ships, though aluminium fires did break out. Ardent in particular took a severe pounding, suffering eleven bomb hits, five of which exploded; no ship of her type of any era would have been able to survive such an attack. The fires on these ships did result in one clear change, which was the shift away from the nylon and synthetic fabrics then worn by British sailors. The synthetics had a tendency to melt on to the skin causing more severe burns than if the crew had been wearing non-synthetic clothing. The official report into the sinking of Sheffield, recently disclosed under UK Freedom of Information laws after an extensive campaign by ex-RN personnel ^[4], severely criticised the ship's fire-fighting equipment, training and procedures and certain members of the crew.^[5]

[edit] Argentine version

Sheffield was first detected by an Argentine Navy patrol aircraft Lockheed SP-2H Neptune (2-P-112) at 7:50 AM on May 4. The Neptune kept the British ships under surveillance, verifying Sheffield's position again at 8:14 and 8:43. Two Argentine Navy Super Etendards took off from Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego at 9:45 and met with an Argentine Air Force tanker KC-130H Hercules at 10:00 hrs. At 10:35, the Neptune climbed to 1,170 meters (3,500 feet) and detected a large and two medium-sized contacts at the coordinates 52º 33 55 South, 57º 40 55 West ^map. A few minutes later, the Neptune contacted both Super Etendards with this information. Flying at very low altitude, around 10:50, both Super Etendards climbed to 160 meters (500 feet) to verify these contacts, but, not finding any, decided to continue. 25 miles (40 km) later they climbed again and, after a few seconds of scanning, the targets appeared on their radar screens. Both pilots loaded the coordinates in their weapons systems, turned back to low level, and after last minute checks, launched their AM39 Exocets at 11:04 from 20 to 30 miles (30 to 50 km) away of their targets. The Super Etendards did not need to refuel from the KC-130 again, which had been waiting, and landed at Rio Grande at 12:04. Supporting the mission was an Air Force Learjet 35 as a decoy and two IAI Daggers as the KC-130 escorts ^{[6] [7]}

[edit] Roll of Honour

The 20 sailors killed when HMS Sheffield was hit by the Exocet missile.

• Petty Officer David R. Briggs, D.S.M.
• Catering Assistant Darryl M. Cope
• Lieutenant Commander David I. Balfour
• Weapons Engineering Artificer Andrew C. Eggington
• Sub-Lieutenant Richard C. Emly
• Petty Officer Cook Robert Fagan
• Cook Neil A. Goodall
• Leading Marine Engineering Mechanic Allan J. Knowles
• Laundryman Lai Chi Keung
• Leading Cook Tony Marshall
• Petty Officer Anthony R. Norman
• Cook David E. Osborne
• Weapons Engineering Artificer Kevin R. F. Sullivan
• Cook Andrew C. Swallow
• Acting Chief Weapons Mechanic Michael E. G. Till
• Weapons Engineering Mechanic Barry J. Wallis
• Leading Cook Adrian K. Wellstead
• Master-at-Arms Brian Welsh
• WEO Lieutenant Commander John S. Woodhead, D.S.C.
• Cook Kevin J. Williams

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• BBC article about the sinking
• Debunking of aluminium myth
• Official MOD Report into the sinking

Preceded by C24

HMS Sheffield 1971-1982

Succeeded by F96

Type 42 destroyer

Royal Navy

Sheffield | Birmingham | Newcastle | Glasgow | Cardiff | Coventry | Exeter | Southampton | Nottingham | Liverpool | Manchester | Gloucester | Edinburgh | York

Argentine Navy

Hércules | Santísima Trinidad

List of destroyers of the Royal Navy