jamieooh
05-20-2012, 09:35 PM
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FALKLANDS WAR REMEMBERED: The day that luck ran out
30 years ago on Monday May 21 Plymouth felt the pain of loss when one of its warships, HMS Ardent, was severely damaged by Argentine forces and later abandoned. The loss of the Devonport frigate was the greatest loss to any fighting unit involved in the Falklands conflict. Herald Defence Reporter Tristan Nichols talks to Stephen Earp who witnessed first-hand the horrors that May 21 would bring.
AS A young sailor on his first Royal Navy deployment, Stephen Earp never considered the Falklands conflict would lead to bloodshed.
He, like many other of the young sailors on board Devonport-based HMS Ardent, thought the Argentine invasion would be over by the time the frigate arrived off the remote South Atlantic islands.
Little did he know that his ship would soon lose a greater number of her men than any other fighting unit in the entire two-and-a-half month conflict.
And Stephen, nicknamed 'Wyatt' by his fellow sailors, is sure to never forget the events of May 21, 1982.
HMS Ardent was actually tasked to the Falklands after the main task force had deployed.
She had been undergoing a refit in Devonport Dockyard when the Argentines invaded on April 2, and was forced to play catch up eventually leaving Plymouth on April 19.
After arriving off the Falklands HMS Ardent was chosen to be the first British vessel to pass through the islands (between east and west).
Her task was to lead a fleet charge into the bay of San Carlos Water and on to Grantham Sound.
As well as laying down fire on the airstrip at Goose Green to prevent Argentine aircraft from taking flight, HMS Ardent's task was also to provide a diversion to allow Plymouth's Royal Marine commandos to land safely on shore to begin their assault.
At the time 20-year-old Stephen and his fellow stokers were in the aft engine room looking after the frigate's pitch propeller system.
While the threat level was rising, he and his close colleagues were oblivious to it.
"In those times no-one ever thought we would be involved in something like this," said Stephen now aged 48 and landlord of The Royal Oak pub in Meavy.
"Joining the navy you knew you would see the world, but we didn't think we would be going to war.
"On that particular day we were completely sanitised to the situation upstairs. Because of the noise in the engine room we didn't hear the planes coming in, or the warnings on the Tannoy system."
At about 5pm he and his colleagues were called to report to the aft dining room where the rising level of threat was clearly evident.
"You saw the look on people's faces and you knew they had been through a traumatic time," added the married father-of-three who lives in Horsebridge.
HMS Ardent had survived 15 air attacks throughout the day from Argentine bombers.
But it's luck – and that of the 177-man crew – was about to run out.
"We heard the announcement 'air raid warning red' and I remember thinking that I needed to get out of that room," he said.
"I walked out into the corridor and everyone had hit the deck. Then there was an horrific noise and dust filled the air.
"The whole ship just seemed to lift up. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion.
"It was just horrible."
That was the first of 17 direct bomb strikes on HMS Ardent in the space of just 22 minutes.
Twenty two sailors on board lost their lives.
Stephen helped to put out fires in the aft end of the ship but he, and his shipmates, were fighting a losing battle.
The survivors transferred to HMS Yarmouth and the battle-scarred Devonport ship sank into Grantham Sound.
The grainy black and white photographs of the Type 21 frigate listing in the water having sustained 17 direct hits will long live in the memories of the servicemen on board – not least members of the public who watched the shocking footage on their televisions at home.
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/FALKLANDS-WAR-REMEMBERED-day-luck-ran/story-16127235-detail/story.html
FALKLANDS WAR REMEMBERED: The day that luck ran out
30 years ago on Monday May 21 Plymouth felt the pain of loss when one of its warships, HMS Ardent, was severely damaged by Argentine forces and later abandoned. The loss of the Devonport frigate was the greatest loss to any fighting unit involved in the Falklands conflict. Herald Defence Reporter Tristan Nichols talks to Stephen Earp who witnessed first-hand the horrors that May 21 would bring.
AS A young sailor on his first Royal Navy deployment, Stephen Earp never considered the Falklands conflict would lead to bloodshed.
He, like many other of the young sailors on board Devonport-based HMS Ardent, thought the Argentine invasion would be over by the time the frigate arrived off the remote South Atlantic islands.
Little did he know that his ship would soon lose a greater number of her men than any other fighting unit in the entire two-and-a-half month conflict.
And Stephen, nicknamed 'Wyatt' by his fellow sailors, is sure to never forget the events of May 21, 1982.
HMS Ardent was actually tasked to the Falklands after the main task force had deployed.
She had been undergoing a refit in Devonport Dockyard when the Argentines invaded on April 2, and was forced to play catch up eventually leaving Plymouth on April 19.
After arriving off the Falklands HMS Ardent was chosen to be the first British vessel to pass through the islands (between east and west).
Her task was to lead a fleet charge into the bay of San Carlos Water and on to Grantham Sound.
As well as laying down fire on the airstrip at Goose Green to prevent Argentine aircraft from taking flight, HMS Ardent's task was also to provide a diversion to allow Plymouth's Royal Marine commandos to land safely on shore to begin their assault.
At the time 20-year-old Stephen and his fellow stokers were in the aft engine room looking after the frigate's pitch propeller system.
While the threat level was rising, he and his close colleagues were oblivious to it.
"In those times no-one ever thought we would be involved in something like this," said Stephen now aged 48 and landlord of The Royal Oak pub in Meavy.
"Joining the navy you knew you would see the world, but we didn't think we would be going to war.
"On that particular day we were completely sanitised to the situation upstairs. Because of the noise in the engine room we didn't hear the planes coming in, or the warnings on the Tannoy system."
At about 5pm he and his colleagues were called to report to the aft dining room where the rising level of threat was clearly evident.
"You saw the look on people's faces and you knew they had been through a traumatic time," added the married father-of-three who lives in Horsebridge.
HMS Ardent had survived 15 air attacks throughout the day from Argentine bombers.
But it's luck – and that of the 177-man crew – was about to run out.
"We heard the announcement 'air raid warning red' and I remember thinking that I needed to get out of that room," he said.
"I walked out into the corridor and everyone had hit the deck. Then there was an horrific noise and dust filled the air.
"The whole ship just seemed to lift up. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion.
"It was just horrible."
That was the first of 17 direct bomb strikes on HMS Ardent in the space of just 22 minutes.
Twenty two sailors on board lost their lives.
Stephen helped to put out fires in the aft end of the ship but he, and his shipmates, were fighting a losing battle.
The survivors transferred to HMS Yarmouth and the battle-scarred Devonport ship sank into Grantham Sound.
The grainy black and white photographs of the Type 21 frigate listing in the water having sustained 17 direct hits will long live in the memories of the servicemen on board – not least members of the public who watched the shocking footage on their televisions at home.
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/FALKLANDS-WAR-REMEMBERED-day-luck-ran/story-16127235-detail/story.html