Hail and farewell HMS Exeter
 

The sharpshooter of the Falklands Campaign. Two A4s at 250ft at 19 miles, 1 Learjet at 41,000 ft, 1 Canberra at 38,000 ft. Farewell old girl, you did us proud.

Leaving gib for the last time.

In 1980, from my office window, I watched her berth in Portsmouth for the first time. I remember thinking how out of place her pretty blue boot toppings looked. The things we do to test new paints. The first time I'd seen a 1022 aerial: reminded me of the big Marconi 264 Head at Manch.

Since then, she's earned 2 proud Battle Honours.

Do such ships get scrapped or sold on to lesser Navies?

No other Navy uses the Sea Dart system, so most likely she'll be "recycled" or used in a Sinkex. The T42s have done sterling service but they are now totally obsolete and should have been replaced years ago.

Remind me how many aircraft were shot down by the RAF during Op Corporate :E

parabellum, I think the RAN, Brazilian, Chillean and Argentinian, amongst others, might object to your description :)

The short answer is yes, and they are often refurbished to customer requirements too. The MOD UK has a disposal sales organisation that offers up all manner of surplus, much not surplus, for sale. I know that the landing craft from Fearless or Intrepid were sold to the Egyptians for instance.

Of course many are not bought.

Er, quite a few - or was that a Waaaaaaah?

Even if it were a Whaaaahhh, it deserves to be corrected. I think Flt Lt Dave Morgan 4 Kills (RAF at the time) and Sqn Ldr Bob Iveson (Super Mario) did their bit!

Edited to include:The pilots who took part in Operation Corporate were: Wg Cdr Peter Squire (OC), Sqn Ldrs Bob Iveson, Peter Harris and Jeffrey Pook, Flt Lts Mike Beech, Ross Boyens, Nick Gilchrist, Jeff Glover, Mark Hare, Tony Harper, Murdo MacLeod, and John Rochfort All who flew from Hermes.

I was fortunate to witness the EXETER despatching the Canberra. It took two attempts as the first attempt resulted in the surrounding hillside being the target.

Very impressive and a fine ship to boot.

SJ

AA: Remind me how the RAF got there in the first place...:E

Stop starting you lot! ;)

RAF kills in the Falklands
 

The book "Air War South Atlantic" by Jeffrey Ethell and Alfred Price lists the following:

Air to Air

1 May Mirage FLt Lt Barton
1 May Dagger Flt Lt Penfold
21 May Skyhawk Flt Lt Leeming
23 May Puma Flt Lt Morgan
8 June Skyhawkx2 Flt Lt Morgan


Air to Ground

21 May Chinook Flt Lt Hare
21 May Puma Flt Lt Hare
21 May Puma Flt Lt Hare and Sqn Ldr Pook
23 May Augusta109 Flt Lt Morgan and Flt Lt Leeming
23 May Puma Flt Lt Morgan
26 May Puma Sqn Ldr Pook

I think only shoes get soled:rolleyes:

That's a bit confusing Tommy. The air to air kills were achieved by RAF pilots serving in RN Sea Harrier units, but the air to ground ones were a mix of Sea Harrier and Harrier GR3. Doesn't the phrase "shot down" indicate a flying target?

Sorry for this pedantic moment.

Anyway, The possible early mothballing of Exeter and Southampton has been mentioned elsewhere on the net, such as here or on ARRSE. So now we will be down to six destroyers - which sort of answers the question I asked here regarding the 7th and 8th Type 45s.

A link to the Sea Jet thread seems apt. Our layered defence isn't looking so impressive now.

However, it would now appear that reports of the demise of Exeter and Southampton were premature. Both are due to be decommisioned next year however.

Are the Type 45s being brought into service at the same rate as the Type 42s leave service?

No. And nor should they.

An interesting mix of correct fact and even more interesting opinion. Let me guess; something to do with sand and wiley oriental gentlemen?

Have resisted this one as long as I can but here goes...

There were no 'RAF air to air kills' in the Falklands. All air to air kills were carried out by Royal Navy aircraft flying, under Royal Navy control, to Royal Navy rules, and so on. RAF aircrew (under RN command) made a significant and valuable contribution, as correctly recorded.

Now, if one DOES want to open up this can of worms, let's go back to the Battle of Britain, and start reminding people of the contribution by FAA pilots, Czechs, Poles, and so on. No? And with good reason. The Battle of Britain was an amazing and vital victory by the RAF. Full stop. The Falklands Air War was an amazing and vital victory for the FAA. Full stop.

Move on....

Quite so. Things in the air get shot down. Things on the ground get shot up. Obvious, innit?

err.... By a combination of good engineering by the ground crews prepping the planes, outstanding flying and brilliant navigation by the crews, a wee bit of luck and a whole pile of good old 'get the job done' .... :D


Oh and one hell of an AAR plan..... :ok: and then the fleet turned up...... ;)

"err.... By a combination of good engineering by the ground crews prepping the planes, outstanding flying and brilliant navigation by the crews, a wee bit of luck and a whole pile of good old 'get the job done' ...."

So nothing to do with ships then? Glad we've got it cleared up....