The HMS Conqueror, a Royal Navy attack submarine, is best known for having sunk the Argentine light cruiser, the General Balgrano, in the opening days of the 1982 Falklands War. But he greatest mission was shrouded in secrecy until recently.
But the UK Telegraph has recently revealed Conqueror’s most daring mission which took place just months after Britain liberated the Falklands from the Argentinians. It involved the mid ocean purloining of a top secret Soviet towed sonar array near or – as some analysts suggest – inside Russian territorial waters in the Barents Sea.
Conqueror snuck behind and below what was described as a “Polish flagged vessel” where it could not be detected. It used a specially designed set of pincers provided by the United States to cut the cable of the towed sonar array. After two failed attempts, the cable was cut and clamps were used to secure the array to the Conqueror. The entire operation was designed to make it appear that the Polish flagged ship had lost the array accidentally.
The submarine brought the towed sonar array back to her base on the river Clyde in Scotland. The array was bundled aboard a plane which took it to the United States for analysis. Thus ended one of the most daring operations of the Cold War.
The HMS Conqueror was one of three “Churchill class” attack submarines in service in the Royal Navy at the time. Her mission was to shadow Soviet submarines and, if the Cold War ever became hot, attack and sink Soviet shipping. The other two boats of her class were the HMS Churchill and the HMS Courageous. Conqueror served from 1971 to 1990, at which time she became a museum ship.
Before the revelation of the Barents Sea operation, the HMS Conqueror’s most famous – and controversial – action was the sinking of the Argentine light cruiser General Balgrano. As the British task force approached the Falklands, the General Balgrano was detected moving in from the south.
Conqueror moved to attack position and launched three torpedoes against the General Balgrano. The light cruiser listed and sank within 20 minutes, taking with her 321 sailors and two civilians. 770 men were eventually found in life boats by Argentine and Chilean ships.
