Member-only story
The Falklands War Almost Resulted In The First Modern Carrier Battle
Two opposing carriers steamed towards each other in the central Atlantic
Since the end of World War II, there have been no major naval engagements involving aircraft carriers. The duels between opposing carriers that erupted in the Central and South Pacific during the 1940s are a thing of the past. That was almost changed in 1982 when two aircraft carriers began maneuvering towards each other in the Atlantic. In a matter of weeks, the idea of a modern carrier duel went from hypothetical to nearly taking place.
On April 2nd, 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic and bounced the small British garrison from power. Argentina hoped that the anti-colonial sentiment that had swept the world following World War II and the Suez Crisis paired with the distance between Argentina and England would dissuade the British from responding. They were wrong.
The British hurriedly put together a large naval task force with the goal of recapturing the Falkland Islands by force. The distances and the haphazard way the task force came together made some skeptical that the venture would succeed. Shortly after the initial invasion by Argentina, a large group of ships began steaming south including two aircraft carriers and…
