The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #83512   Message #1924954
Posted By: Paul from Hull
02-Jan-07 - 02:39 PM
Thread Name: BS: Was Thatcher right?
Subject: RE: BS: Was Thatcher right?
Teribus is essentally right (as he's shown) about the Sir Galahad tragedy coming about because the Welsh Guards not disembarking in timely fashion.

Wld, you sort of misremembered the situation a bit, in that it was Hms Sheffield (& possibly her sister ship Coventry too, also lost) which had insulation around electrical wiring (stuff that looked like black-coloured pipe lagging) that burned & gave of toxic fumes, in 'companionways' (passageways) & workspaces.

Not only had the Government planned to withdraw Hms Endurance from Antarctic/South Atlantic waters, they had also had preliinary negotiations to sell one of the 2 larger Amphibious Landing Ships (larger than Galahad class I mean) either Fearless or Intrepid (I cant remember which). What the hell we thought they wanted a Landing Ship for though is one of the things that boggles my mind the most.

It was also the case that the discussions with the Foreign Office had possibly led the Argentinians to think that we wouldnt be unhappy to hav the issue of the Falklands resolved in whatever way.

As is often the case in war, this armed conflict was as a result of somebody calling the other guys bluff.