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Oberon · 06-13-12, 12:13 PM

Yeah, Marcantilan is right, the Argentinian navy took the correct action in withdrawing to more secure waters. From what I can tell on wiki, and I defer here to those with better knowledge of the make up of Task Force 79, but the ARA Veinticinco de Mayo was protected by only two Type 42 destroyers, and the Belgrano by two Sumner destroyers. We had six submarines in the area, five SSNs and the Onyx, which if co-ordinated into a strike force would have, most likely, decimated TF 79 as an organisational force.

The biggest threat from TF 79 would have been the planes from the de Mayo, because as Bomb Alley showed, Argentinian pilots were extremely skilled at low level attack. The threat from the remaining SSK would also have been substantial, and indeed it was enough to keep spooking the RN Task Force for most of the war.

Shows the psychological power of the submarine, both sides were deadly scared of the others submarine arm.

EDIT: Oh, and thanks for that info Marcantilian, I didn't know that Onyx actually claimed a kill during the war, I thought her primary role was landing SBS, that and breaking her forward tubes on rocks...

06-13-12, 12:13 PM	#7
Oberon Lucky Jack Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 25,976 Downloads: 61 Uploads: 20	Yeah, Marcantilan is right, the Argentinian navy took the correct action in withdrawing to more secure waters. From what I can tell on wiki, and I defer here to those with better knowledge of the make up of Task Force 79, but the ARA Veinticinco de Mayo was protected by only two Type 42 destroyers, and the Belgrano by two Sumner destroyers. We had six submarines in the area, five SSNs and the Onyx, which if co-ordinated into a strike force would have, most likely, decimated TF 79 as an organisational force. The biggest threat from TF 79 would have been the planes from the de Mayo, because as Bomb Alley showed, Argentinian pilots were *extremely* skilled at low level attack. The threat from the remaining SSK would also have been substantial, and indeed it was enough to keep spooking the RN Task Force for most of the war. Shows the psychological power of the submarine, both sides were deadly scared of the others submarine arm. EDIT: Oh, and thanks for that info Marcantilian, I didn't know that Onyx actually claimed a kill during the war, I thought her primary role was landing SBS, that and breaking her forward tubes on rocks...