The Royal Navy Lynx, page 11
‘The following day the good weather was back and I was detailed with the Flight Observer, Sub Lieutenant John Davies, to carry out a surface search down Falkland Sound with two Sea Skuas strapped on. We tried to get some intelligence on where our forces and the Argentinians were, but none was forthcoming. John later told me that part of the idea of this sortie by the ships ops team was that if we didn’t come back they would know a bit more about where the enemy was and their capabilities, particularly the defences around Fox Bay! We therefore proceeded at extreme low-level down the Sound feeling much better as we were able to exploit the Lynx manoeuvrability to the full, being free of the wretched Exocet decoy. As we weaved continuously I could see we were leaving our wake in the rather still water. We passed the remains of Ardent and later found a parachute washed up on a small island, which turned out to be that of Flight Lieutenant Glover, who had been shot down previously by the Fox Bay defences. Shortly after, we spotted a freighter which appeared in steam proceeding west to east across the Sound. This was an obvious Skua target as we had been told to attack anything we found, as it wouldn’t be one of ours. As we set ourselves up the light sequence went Arm, Lock, but not Ready, so the missiles might not be guided if we fired them. This left us two sub lieutenants in a little dilemma, as we had got about eight or twelve of these brand new toys, but I recall the figure of £300,000 had been quoted for each one so we were a bit concerned that somebody might be quite upset if we wasted one. However, it was a big target so might they just hit anyway if we pointed them in the right direction? We decided to return to the ship and have this investigated as the freighter didn’t appear to be going anywhere fast. In fact it wasn’t going anywhere at all, having been attacked by Harriers the previous day and abandoned and was the Rio Carcerina. We were sent to Broadsword, who had some Skua experts on the flight, to discover in the hasty Skua fit our Lynx had received before sailing south, that the little radar feed to the missile from the sponson (so it knows the frequency state of the radar it is expecting when it appears out front) had not been wired up. It is doubtful they would have guided, so I guess we saved a couple of Skua there. By the time this was remedied another flight had planted another two Skua in the Rio Carcerina, as the intelligence on the abandoned state of the ship had not been fed back.
‘The following evening John and I were detached to a Marines FOB with the Lynx as the ship was evacuated whilst work progressed trying to extricate the forward unexploded bomb. We landed on a hillside in San Carlos and found a tent with a bed of heather and spent an uncomfortable and damp night. In the morning we had to return to the ship, but having been watching the continuous air raids for the past few days the Marines didn’t envy us. A couple of nights later, on the 26 May, we were detached again, this time to HMS Arrow, she became a two Lynx fitted 21, I recall ours was stowed in the hangar and the Arrow Lynx was arranged in readiness on the flight deck. We thought this was to be highly civilised and peaceful as Arrow was undamaged, but on landing on and being met by Philip Barber and Chris Palmer, their Lynx crew, we were told that Arrow was going to provide Naval Gunfire Support all night as the battle for Goose Green got underway. Not having a gun on Argonaut it was a new experience as the ship reverberated to the continuous firing and we watched the starshell bursts and gorseline fires in the distance. Later in the night the gun jammed, so we did get a bit of sleep.
‘After over a week immobilised in San Carlos during the worst of the air raids, the remaining bomb was removed and we sailed to the TRALA out to the east for repairs courtesy of one boiler and a propeller shaft they had got working. We later swopped our Lynx with Cardiff flight as I recall they had vibration problems and Argonaut was being sent home. I believe XZ 233 later had another close encounter in the hands of Chris Clayton, this time with a Dagger.
Authors note: Al Walker and John Hopkins make light of the fact that they sat in Bomb Alley for some time with two unexploded bombs in the ship, one in a missile magazine. The rest of the fleet knew all about it and had nothing but admiration for an incredibly brave crew.
Now that time has passed there had been plenty of time for people from both sides to meet up. John Hopkins regularly keeps in touch with some of the people who many years before could have shot him out of the sky:
By John: The photo is of our last veterans meeting in Buenos Aires last October at the air force club whilst I was down on a trip. Mike Sear, who was 2 i/c the Gurkhas during the conflict, happened to be down there as he now works in airline safety, as does Juan Membrana, who was a Tracker pilot on 25 Mayo.
Left to right back row are:
Sergio Fernandez (now head of the Argentine Veterans association and retired general in Argentine special forces who was commander of forces in west Falkland), Ruben Zini (commander of Grupo 5 Skyhawks), Nicolas Karansew (only Argentine journalist on the islands and our interpreter for the meeting), Owen Crippa (pilot of navy Aeromacchi 339 that attacked Argonaut first thing on 21 May, holder of Cross of Heroic Valour), Juan Membrana (Tracker pilot 25 Mayo and now Safety Officer Aerolineas Argentina), Vicente Auterio (former Brigadier FAA and pilot of Skyhawk in port echelon of the raid that put Argonaut out).
Front row:
Alberto Fillipini (former Brigadier and leader of rear echelon of Skyhawks that hit Argonaut late in the day on 21 May), Mike Sear (2 i/c Gurkha Regiment), myself with Grupo 5 Skyhawk scarf that they presented to me.
HMS Antelope
Flight Commander – Lieutenant Tim MacMahon
Flight Observer – Lieutenant Gary Hunt
SMR – CPO Bob Shadbolt, PO D. Swayne, PO P. Hudson, PO A. Skelton, LAEM M. Beardmore, AEM P. Norman, AEM D. Marshall
Aircraft – XZ 723, nickname ‘Norman’. One story about the origin of this name is that when the aircraft originally embarked, the captain wanted to call it ‘Bambi’. Thinking on his feet the flight commander explained that it already had a name and Norman was the first one he could think of!
HMS Antelope shortly after being attacked. The bent mast was caused by being hit by an A4 which was subsequently shot down. A bomb hole in the starboard side of the ship can clearly be seen. (Tim McMahon)
By Tim MacMahon:
Preface: Prior to the conflict a series of Type 21 frigate refits were conducted which included modifications to the ASW weapons magazine (port side forward of the hangar) to accommodate Sea Skua missiles. Antelope’s refit completed in early 1982 and the ship was on workup at FOST Portland when the conflict began.
‘On the evening of Thursday, 1 April, following a Thursday war and other classic Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) serials, when turning in was uppermost in our minds, the CO, Commander Nick Tobin, called the officers to his cabin at 2300 to tell us we were at four hours’ notice to depart south. The effect of this thunderbolt, after decades of “cold war peace”, hardly needs emphasising. We awaited clarification in Weymouth Bay overnight without sleeping a lot and at 0500 were called again to be told we would land remaining FOST staff immediately and proceed at best speed to Devonport to store ship and head south on completion. In the end, Antelope, and most other ships leaving UK bases, headed south early on Monday, 5 April. The extra days allowed time to change the aircraft for a Skua-capable model and on Sunday morning I departed from alongside to Yeovilton, where, in a few short hours we traded up to XZ 723, and the SMR and L1 did the fastest Sea Skua course to date. It also allowed one or two of us to say our goodbyes to families who had been able to get to Yeovilton. The departure from alongside in Devonport had been at high tide, but the afternoon return was at low tide against a steep dockyard wall with other ships now moored outboard – an interesting manoeuvre.
‘The Task Force headed south, training hard, and after a pause at Ascension Island headed south again. Shortly after this departure, Antelope was detached to meet HMS Antrim and its Task Group heading north from South Georgia with prisoners of war and members of the British Antarctic Survey. We were ordered to transfer our Sea Skua stock to a destroyer heading straight to the Falklands, which prompted some understandable dripping, and led to suitable “goodwill” messages being written on the missiles for the receiving Flight.
‘On meeting Antrim and RFA Tidespring, we transferred by Lynx, the infamous Captain Alfredo Astiz – erstwhile commander of the South Georgia forces – to Antelope for shipment back to Ascension. We also transferred Cindy Buxton and Annie Price of the British Antarctic Survey, plus various scientific samples including sundry ducks. Captain Astiz was kept under armed guard in a vacated cabin. The ladies shared another and the ducks and other samples lodged in the captain’s bath! On arrival at Wideawake airfield on Ascension to land the POWs, everything was done to prevent them seeing any of the assets ashore. Consequently, they were landed at night and the Lynx flew into and out of a square landing site bordered by vehicles with headlights on main beam. This had the desired effect of blinding the POWs, but was no good for my night vision, so after each lift from Wideawake, I had to readjust to be able to land back on the ship for the next batch.
‘The next day brought a stroke of luck, as on an HDS run into Wideawake with the supply officer on board, we spotted a recently arrived VC10 with four Sea Skua sitting on the open lateral cargo door as if waiting to be picked up. In the finest traditions of the RAF the crew had gone for lunch leaving a poor stores corporal to guard the aircraft. He was soon re-briefed on the meaning of a direct order and we set off back to the ship with four Sea Skuas underslung.
‘One role for which the Lynx was perfect was the pickup of air-dropped stores, usually from a RAF C130. This required some planning. The Lynx would get airborne with low-ish fuel to maximise available payload, wait clear of the drop zone, and as soon as the load was in the water, close to attach the 80ft strop. This would be done by a swimmer from the ship, who got to the load either by sea boat, if conditions allowed, or was winched down from the Lynx. All this depended on the load floating as advertised and its weight being as declared, but if the watertight packing had been torn during the drop, its weight would rapidly increase, hence the need for speed. Once VERTREPed back on board, a large stores party would break the load down at high speed to clear the deck to recover the Lynx. On one occasion a curious killer whale decided to check out the load whilst the swimmer was hooking on. The observer gesticulated furiously to warn the said sailor of the danger, but he merely thought this was the Flight having another jape – until he too saw the whale and tried to shin up the strop.
‘Approaching the Falklands, the Lynx was tasked, like others, to conduct EW patrols west of the Task Force. The idea, or hope, was that we might, with our new Orange Crop ESM equipment, detect an inbound Super Etendard should he use his Agave radar approaching the Task Force. We’d fit one overload tank and head west, for up to four hours, hoping not to be engaged by the Task Force during the return. These were long, lonely patrols and on the hour we’d briefly tune the HF radio to the BBC World Service to get the latest news. If I never hear Lillibulero again I’ll be quite happy.
‘Antelope entered San Carlos early on 23 May and was tasked as a picket at the entrance to the sound where Ardent had been sunk two days earlier. We had few illusions about the day to come, which was gin clear, though for a time all was quiet. The Lynx was then tasked to engage the Rio Carcaraña, an Argentinian freighter known to be conducting resupply between West and East Falkland. We had four Skuas, but chose to fire just two and conserve weapons for a re-attack if necessary, or for another mission. Skua worked exactly as in the manual – remember, none of us had used the system before so were reading draft Flight Reference Cards. One particularly acute memory is how long 1.5 seconds, the time from release to booster ignition, seems to last when in the combat zone. Two hits were achieved. The target was seen to be on fire and we returned uneventfully to the ship.’
A long-range shot of the Rio Carcaraña on fire after the attack. (Tim McMahon)
‘Later, we were tasked for a battle damage recce and on the way back up Falkland Sound were overtaken by three A4 Skyhawks, prompting the immediate unspoken question, “where’s No4?” (They always attacked in pairs or fours). An instinctive hard turn right proved to be a wise move and the Skyhawks continued up the Sound to attack ships in San Carlos. To cut a long story short, this attack led to the eventual sinking of Antelope, although, before the unexploded bombs (UXBs) detonated later that evening, the Lynx ferried casualties ashore to the field hospital. It was whilst awaiting instructions at the field hospital talking to Surgeon Commander Rick Jolly that the first bomb detonated and we got airborne to see what help we could give. The fire was midships and the captain and first lieutenant had split the ship’s company forward and aft to fight it, though with no power, communications, or firemain, it was soon clear this was a lost cause. On the flight deck, we were able to watch the SMR and the Flight’s heroic emptying of the torpedo/Skua magazine. They moved the weapons to the aft end of the flight deck to postpone the inevitable. As the evening turned to night, we stayed airborne to give illumination for firefighting, trying to balance the benefit of our illumination against our own noise, which won’t have helped. Once the ship had been abandoned, we searched for a deck for the night. It wasn’t an easy job as we lacked the next day’s communication plan, so after midnight it became strangely quiet. Eventually, we stumbled onto Fearless for the night.
‘The following day, although the ship was lost, we had a serviceable Lynx so we moved ashore and co-located with 3 Commando Brigade Air Squadron (3BAS), conducting miscellaneous tasks in the Amphibious Operating Area before leaving XZ 723 in a field to be collected by another Flight in due course. With the Flight personnel we then embarked in MV Norland for the start of the long trip home.
‘Postscripts: The deployment of Sea Skua to the Falklands was an inspired decision, but not without risk as the missile was still doing its development firing programme at Aberporth. As is known, it performed very well, but a contract is a contract, so in late summer 1982, after a spell of survivors’ leave, the Flight detached to Aberporth to complete the official firing programme!
‘In 1983, Westland persuaded MOD Defence Sales (DESO) to lend a couple of Falklands ‘warriors’ for a sales tour of the Middle and Far East. Off I went to tell the Lynx story, which was the start, among others, of the Korean interest in Lynx. My bonus is still in the post, I believe.
‘During the campaign the Argentinian Aircraft Carrier ARA Veinticinco de Mayo, complete with air group, briefly put to sea and a lot of feverish planning went into countering the threat. I wasn’t alone in considering whether, if it came to it, a Skua attack might be an option. Long before we had to consider it seriously, she returned to port with boiler problems. Decades later, I started going through my late father’s wartime memorabilia. He served in the British Pacific Fleet as a communications officer and I discovered a photo of him on the deck of HMS Venerable in Hong Kong in October 1945. Venerable went on to become the Veinticinco de Mayo, so, thirty-seven years after my father’s photo was taken I was considering how, and if, we might contribute to sinking his old ship.’
HMS Exeter
Flight Commander – Lieutenant Commander Ron Goddard.
Flight Observer – Lieutenant Charlie Devine.
Second Pilot – Lieutenant Phil Stonor, later Sub Lieutenant Derek Batty.
SMR – CPO Deryck Hiscox, CPO Steve Gibson (R1), CPO Les Smith (M1),
PO Bob Ault (Wpns), LAEM Joe Kear, NAM Nick Jowett, W/L Simon Wheeler.
Flight Deck Officers – Lieutenant Hank Armstrong (Capt. Sec), MAA George McCormack.
Aircraft – XZ 733, Nickname ‘Trigger’
Dedicated to the late Charlie Devine. (Ron Goddard)
By Ron Goddard:
‘The story really starts in July 1980, when I was appointed to 702 Naval Air Squadron together with a bunch of aviators with mixed experience. My colleagues were fixed wing aviators and others with considerable helicopter flying experience and some “third prongers” – aviators straight from training. I joined with over 1,000 hrs in various aircraft which included the Chipmunk, Hiller 12E, Whirlwind 7, Sea King and the Wasp; it was a delight to be introduced to the powerful twin engine Lynx.
‘Conversion went smoothly, I learnt new tactics, how to deploy the various weapon systems and above all experience deck landings in an aircraft with a wide operating envelope. At the end of the course, in January 1981, the Fleet Air Arm saw the formation of a new 815 Squadron; I was to join as the squadron Qualified Helicopter Instructor (QHI). During my time in 815, I was responsible mostly for the individual pilots flying standards, and enjoyed some exhilarating flying with Chris Waite from 702 Squadron as the Lynx display team.
‘The QHI appointment was short-lived and on 11 July 1981 we formed HMS Exeter Flight with Charlie Devine as the observer and CPO Derek Hiscox at the SMR. We commissioned the Flight at the Exeter Air show, where we put on a flying display. The captain of Exeter was captain of the 5th Destroyer Squadron, so I had some responsibility for the other helicopters in the squadron, and the Flight was augmented with a second pilot, Lieutenant Phil Stonor. During the remainder of 1981 and the beginning of 1982, the engineers got XZ 733 up to standard by installing Orange Crop and Sea Skua equipment. We spent some time embarked and more excitingly we started to develop Maritime Counter Terrorist (MCT) tactics with troops from the Royal Marine’s Special Boat Service. This involved being based at Lee on Solent, practising fast roping techniques both by day and night to land on targets before moving on to “attacking” HMS Bacchante and the Europic Ferry in the Channel. Mid-March 1982 saw us sail for a three month deployment as West Indies Guard Ship (WIGS). We did some whale counting off Bermuda, thoroughly enjoyed the colourful life in Key West, did some encounter exercises with some US Navy hydrofoils and generally slotted the Flight into being an essential part of the ship’s weapons system. In April, Exeter participated in Exercise Redex; a multi layered US led exercise and shot down two drones with her Sea Dart missiles. The Lynx was given the task of recovering the downed drones by underslung hook and diver. Always a tricky manoeuvre, as the diver had to be dropped first to disengage the parachute and hook on the drone, then be recovered before the drone could be picked out of the water and returned to the target launching ship. This called for close cooperation between the observer and the pilot, who was unsighted and relied entirely on verbal commands.
