Falklands War

Falklands War
Part of the Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute

Clockwise from top left: HMS Hermes (right) and HMS Broadsword (left) of the British Task Force; two Super Étendards of the Argentine Navy; Argentine Army POWs in Stanley; British HMS Antelope after being hit (later sank)
Date2 April – 14 June 1982 (1982-04-02 – 1982-06-14)
(2 months, 1 week and 5 days)
Location
Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Result British victory
Belligerents
 United Kingdom  Argentina
Commanders and leaders
  • Margaret Thatcher
  • Terence Lewin
  • Henry Leach
  • John Fieldhouse
  • Sandy Woodward
  • Jeremy Moore
  • Michael Clapp
  • Julian Thompson
  • Tony Wilson
Casualties and losses
  • Casualties:
  • 255 killed[1]
  • 775 wounded
  • 107 captured
  • Losses:
  • 2 Type 42 destroyers
  • 2 Type 21 frigates
  • 1 landing ship
  • 1 landing craft
  • 1 container ship
  • 1 light tank
  •  
  • 24 helicopters
  • 10 fighters
  • Casualties:
  • 649 killed[2][3]
  • 1,657 wounded[3]
  • 11,313 captured
  • Losses:
  • 1 cruiser
  • 1 submarine
  • 4 cargo vessels
  • 2 patrol boats
  • 1 naval trawler
  •  
  • 25 helicopters
  • 35 fighters
  • 2 bombers
  • 4 cargo aircraft
  • 25 COIN aircraft
  • 9 armed trainers
  • 3 Falkland Islanders killed by shelling

The Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas) was a war between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the Falkland Islands in 1982. The Falkland Islands are 480 kilometres from Argentina in the southern Atlantic Ocean.

Argentina and the United Kingdom have argued over which country the Falklands Islands belongs to since the 1800s. In the 1760s and 1770s, the British set up a town at Port Egmont, which nearly led to a war with Spain who had a town at Port Louis. Then Argentina became a separate country from Spain in 1817 and set up a colony on the islands (which they call "Malvinas") in 1820. An American warship later destroyed this town, and the British took the islands again in 1833.

1982

The British kept the islands until Argentinian Special Forces invaded on 2 April 1982 and took control of the island.

The United Nations Security Council asked Argentina to withdraw, and tried to end the crisis with diplomacy. After seven weeks, Argentina did not withdraw, so the British Armed Forces traveled more than 12,000 km to attack. After a short battle in the air and at sea, the British landed on 21 May and fought on land until Argentina's army surrendered on 14 June.

The British captured 11,313 soldiers, and killed about 650.[4] Almost half of these Argentinian deaths were when the warship ARA General Belgrano (323 muertos) was sunk by the British submarine HMS Conqueror. In total there were 258 British deaths including 20 sailors dead and 26 wounded in the destroyer HMS Sheffield.

Relations after the war

The diplomatic relations between the two countries were broken because of the war. Relations between the two countries came back in 1990.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Falkland Islands profile". BBC News. 5 November 2013. Archived from the original on 19 June 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  2. ↑ Burns, John F. (5 January 2013). "Vitriol Over Falklands Resurfaces, as Do Old Arguments". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Argentina, ed. (1993). Historia marítima argentina, Volume 10 (in Spanish) (1a ed.). Buenos Aires: Cuántica Editora. p. 137. ISBN 978-950-9257-00-9.
  4. ↑ "Falkland Islands War (Argentina-United Kingdom)". Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Retrieved April 16, 2009.
  5. ↑ "Blair y Kirchner adelantaron diálogo". BBC World Service (in Spanish). 14 July 2003. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
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