Task force ship says it shot down Exocet

Press, 2 June 1982, Page 8

Task force ship says it shot down Exocet

NZPA London (This dispatch, written by correspondents with the British task force, refers to the attack in which the Argentinian news media say the Invincible was hit.) British task force ships fought off an Exocet missile attack only hours before moving inshore to bombard the Argentinian garrison at Port Stanley, it was disclosed yesterday. At least two of the Exocetcarrying Super Etendards. backed by Skyhawk fighterbombers, launched a raid on the task force late on Sunday. Two Exocets are believed to have been fired, but none of the ships was hit. Argentinian pilots, who now know they have only a 50-50 chance of surviving a raid, loosed off their missiles

on the outer flank of the British fleet. The frigate in the defensive screen around the carriers that became the centre of the action reported afterwards: “We picked up the aircraft on radar. “Everyone was at action stations and we opened up. It looks very much as though we were successful in taking out one of the missiles. “But there were two of them, and another frigate in the screen told us she believed she had not only hit the second Exocet but brought down one of the Etendards as well. "The three Skyhawks followed in very low, weaving. One dropped a bomb 200 yards short on the starboard bow, lost control and cartwheeled into the sea. “Both bombs from the

other two fell short and then it got to hot for them and they cleared off." A search-and-rescue helicopter later found the inflated pilot's dinghy, some aircraft wreckage and human remains. Task force officers said: “This, was another case of the front-line warships stopping General Galtieri from achieving his basic aim at sea — to sink the two carriers." "This came as no surprise to us," the task force officer said. “In the past weeks, they have already claimed to have sunk Invincible and Hermes several times." Later, the frigate that took the brunt of the missile attack was part of a naval bombardment into the early hours on troop concentrations around Port Stanley.