Originally Posted by
Asturias56
"Coward was inclined to station the two Type 42s Glasgow and Coventry well forward (west of West Falkland!) with combat air patrols flying forward of them … the carriers … should bring up the rear some fifty miles back."
I'd have thought it was more logical to put the T42's forward so they could fire away at anything without worrying about the CAP - put the CAP in between the T42's and the carriers to clean up anyone coming through?
I seem to remember reading that the forward positioning of the T42's was thought about but the stats on what happened to USN radar pickets in WW2 showed that for it to work you needed a lot more ships than the RN could provide in the Falklands. Casualties would have been high
I should be most grateful for confirmation of the informed logic on which this is based, especially in view of the contrary views expressed by those on the spot.
Jack