HMS Sheffield was the second Royal Navy ship to be named 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. She was launched by Queen Elizabeth
II on 10 June 1971 and commissioned on 16 February 1975.
An explosion during construction killed two dockyard workers and damaged a section of
hull which was replaced with a section from an identical ship, ARA Hércules, being built
for the Argentine Navy. The ship was part of the task force sent to the Falkland Islands
during the Falklands War. She was struck by an Exocet air-launched anti-ship missile from
a Super Etendard aircraft belonging to the Argentine Navy on 4 May 1982 and foundered
on 10 May 1982.
Sinking Sheffield was first detected by an Argentine
Naval Aviation patrol aircraft Lockheed SP-2H Neptune at 7:50 AM on 4 May 1982. The Neptune
kept the British ships under surveillance, verifying Sheffield's position again at 8:14
and 8:43. Two Argentine Navy Super Étendards both armed with Exocets 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 metres
and detected a large and two medium-sized contacts at the coordinates 52°33′55″S,
57°40′55″W map. A few minutes later, the Neptune contacted both Super Étendards
with this information. Flying at very low altitude, around 10:50, both Super Étendards
climbed to 160 metres to verify these contacts, but, not finding any, decided to continue.
25 miles 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, returned to low level, and after last minute checks, launched their AM39
Exocets at 11:04 from 20 to 30 miles away from their targets. The Super Étendards 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 were an Argentine Air Force Learjet 35 as a decoy
and two IAI Daggers as the KC-130 escorts At approximately 10 a.m. on 4 May, 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. Sheffield and Coventry
were chatting over UHF. Communications ceased until an unidentified message was heard flatly
stating "Sheffield is hit". 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, confirming the strike. Sheffield picked up the incoming missiles
on her Type 965 radar, and the operations officer informed the missile director, who
queried the contacts in the ADAWS 4 fire control system. 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 sea skimming missiles. Five seconds later, an Exocet hit Sheffield amidships,
approximately 8 feet above the waterline on deck 2, tearing a gash in the hull. The other
missile splashed into the sea half a mile off her port beam.
The Exocet missile which hit Sheffield did not detonate, but the missile severed the
high-pressure fire main on board. The resultant fire caused by burning propellant ignited
diesel oil from the ready-use tanks in the engine room, and other inflammable materials
used in the ship's construction. These fires burned unchecked for a number of days after
the ship was abandoned. The Exocets were fired from two Super Étendards
launched from Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego, Naval Air Base. The aircraft were piloted
by Teniente Armando Mayora and Capitán de Fragata Augusto Bedacarratz, who commanded
the mission. Such was the lack of warning, there was no time to engage in defensive manoeuvres,
leading to a change in British policy whereby any Royal Navy vessel that suspected it might
be under missile attack would turn toward the threat, accelerate to maximum speed and
fire chaff to prevent a ship being caught defenceless again. The codeword used to start
this procedure was "handbrake", which had to be broadcast once the signal of the Agave
radar of the Super Étendard was picked up.
The MOD report into the sinking of the Sheffield concluded that: "Evidence indicates that the
warhead did not detonate". Some of the crew and members of the Task Force believe that
the missile's 165 kilogram warhead had detonated, upon impact. This would not have been the
case, as Exocets are fitted with delay fuses, and do not detonate immediately on impact.
Irrespective of this, the impact of the missile and the burning rocket motor set Sheffield
ablaze. Some accounts suggest that the initial impact of the missile immediately crippled
the ship's onboard electricity generating systems, but this only affected certain parts
of the ship, which caused ventilation problems. The missile strike fractured the water main,
preventing the anti-fire mechanisms from operating effectively, and thereby dooming the ship
to be consumed by the raging fire. After the ship was struck and her crew waiting
to be rescued, Sub Lieutenant Carrington-Wood led the crew in singing "Always Look on the
Bright Side of Life" from Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Over the six days from 4 May
1982, five inspections were made to see if any equipment was worth salvaging. Orders
were issued to shore up the hole in Sheffield's starboard side and tow the ship to South Georgia.
However, before these orders were effected the burnt-out hulk had already been taken
in tow by the Rothesay-class frigate Yarmouth. The high seas that the ship was towed through
caused slow flooding through the hole in the ship's side. This was the cause which eventually
took her to the bottom. The ship sank at 53°04′S, 56°56′W on 10 May 1982, the first Royal
Navy vessel sunk in action since World War II. Twenty of her crew died as a result of
the attack. The wreck is a war grave and designated as a protected place under the Protection
of Military Remains Act 1986. The sinking of 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 Sheffield's superstructure was made entirely of steel. 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 Antelope
and Ardent, both of which had aluminium superstructures, probably also had an effect on this belief
though these cases are again incorrect and the presence of aluminium had nothing to do
with their loss. The fires on Sheffield and other ships damaged
by fire caused a later shift by the Royal Navy 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 the Sheffield, disclosed in 2006 under UK Freedom
of Information laws after an extensive campaign by ex-RN personnel, severely criticised the
ship's fire-fighting equipment, training and procedures and certain members of the crew.
Commanding officers 1973-1975: Captain Robin Heath RN
1975-1976: Captain Michael Prest RN 1976-1978: Captain Sandy Woodward RN
1978-1979: Captain Christopher Argles RN 1979-1982: Captain Peter Erskine RN
1982-1982: Captain James Salt RN References
External links BBC article about the sinking
Debunking of aluminium myth Official MOD Report into the sinking
http:www.hmssheffieldassociation.com Official Website
Sources for the study of HMS Sheffield Produced by Sheffield City Council's Libraries and
Archives